"This year, a sprawling network of new high-voltage power lines was completed, tying the panhandle area and West Texas to the millions of customers around Dallas-Fort Worth, Austin and Houston," Wald writes. "By any standard, the scale is enormous. Anywhere else, a big transmission project is a few hundred miles long and costs a few hundred million dollars; this is a network of 3,600 miles built at a cost of $7 billion, which is more money than the whole country has spent on transmission in some recent years. It comes to about $300 per person served by the Texas grid."
"Nationally,
transmission infrastructure is built only when circumstances demand it;
in Texas, however, lawmakers have ordered an 'if-you-build-it,
they-will-come' approach," Wald writes. "And it is working."
"The new lines are meant to handle up to 18,000 megawatts — millions of
households," Wald writes. "While there are still problems — the wind generally does not
blow strongly on the hottest days, when its power generation is needed
most, for example — scientists say that the supply will become somewhat
more stable as more transmission lines, and more wind farms, are built
in diverse locations."
But the project has its share of critics, especially since the $7 billion is being charged to taxpayers, Wald writes. But that only amounts to an extra $6 per month in utilities, and supporters say the move has cut monthly costs by more than that much.
While the project is considered a success, some people wonder if it can be duplicated in other states, Wald writes. "Texas is one of only three states (along with California and New York) with borders roughly contiguous with a
grid operator, putting its electric system under the control of a
single legislature and a single public utilities commission, and it is
by far the largest in that category. Anywhere else, every state on the route must agree on how the
transmission costs will be shared, and a consensus established among the
generators and the utilities." (Read more)
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