As reported on AFN, in preparation for population growth and more data centers, seven 765 kilovolt (kV) transmission lines have been proposed that would cover a lot of the state's territory.
Some Texans are protesting due to concerns regarding the environment, property rights and increased costs for Texas ratepayers.
Texas Scorecard says at a recent hearing, questions were raised about environmental, social, and governance (ESG), which was previously criticized by then State Comptroller Glenn Hegar in a 2024 report by the outlet. The questions where to determine if ESG was a basis for the project.
ESG is a way of investing in companies based on their commitment to such policies. For example, environmentally, it deals with policies such as reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving energy efficiency and addressing climate-related risks. AFN reported previously that some state attorneys general view ESG as woke and something that harms investors and consumers.
Brent Bennett is policy director for Life:Powered, an initiative the of the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
“The large consumers of electricity, the oil and gas companies in Texas, big manufacturers, the tech companies — almost all of them have been pushed to adopt net-zero goals. They are trying to cut their carbon emissions both within their internal operations and also their operations of their vendors who they buy from,” states Bennett. “A lot of them have goals, and they're going to be net zero by 2035.”
Bennett says the emissions goals are choices. The question they ask is “How can we meet this goal at the lowest cost possible?”
“For them, that means they're going to chase subsidies for zero emissions power. They're going to chase subsidies for carbon capture because they want the taxpayer to pay for some of it, and then they're going to chase subsidies within the context of the electric grid transmission costs,” says Bennett. “The lines are needed — from their perspective — to power their operations, wind and solar.”
They also ask, he says, how they can shoulder less of the transmission cost for the 765 (kV) line — how much of that do the need to build and how much of that cost can be pushed onto other ratepayers.
