Last week, Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, President of the Texas Senate, filed Interim Charges for Senate oversight hearings on dozens of issues affecting Texas.
One of the charges filed is entitled “Managing the Impacts of 765-kV Transmission Lines on Private Property Rights.”
Thousands of Texas landowners affected by this “Permian Basin” project, bombarded their State Representatives and Senator’s offices and Dan Patrick listened and took action.
The 765 charge provides a great opportunity for citizens, landowners, and local government entities to address their concerns and objections to the project and explain how it will detrimentally affect their personal lives and their local economies. It reads:
“Review the proposed 765-kv transmission line route plans to determine their impact on homes, businesses, and communities. Assess whether the current regulatory processes and timelines are sufficient in protecting landowner rights, including allowing for proper consideration of the effect of high voltage transmission lines on long-term land use, property values, and environmental factors. Recommend ways to improve transmission planning, permitting, and siting decisions for the infrastructure necessary to serve growth in the state.”
This will totally complement the efforts of the three 391 Sub-regional Planning Commissions American Stewards has been helping to form, as well as ASL’s direct intervention into the routing process. Combined with the Interim study, the 765kV project will finally face serious legal scrutiny and local objections challenging whether the project will increase reliable energy durability.
Landowners have been heard and they will finally have a say in protecting their private property rights from a poorly-planned scheme where they lose an estimated 10 billion in lost land valuations.
