On Thursday, July 17, the Texas Public Utility Commission approved a plan to install new transmission lines to bring wind power from West Texas to the metro areas in the eastern half of the state. Texas Impact members were among more than 5,000 Texans to sign an online petition started by Representative Mike Villareal of San Antonio urging the PUC to "go big" on wind.

THANK THE PUC

The PUC's plan will provide for the transmission of about 18.5 megawatts of electricity at a total cost of about $4.9 billion, or around $4.00 per residential customer per month. The cost of the transmission for residential customers is expected to be more than offset by diminished fuel charges--since there is no fuel charge associated with wind energy, the more wind power there is in the grid, the lower the overall cost for electricity is for all consumers.

Quantifying the Benefit

Given the fuel mix in Texas' current electric generation, the increased access to wind power from the new transmission lines is expected to yield a 3:1 savings for residential consumers. If the cost of natural gas continues to increase and/or if coal power becomes more expensive because of new taxes on carbon, that savings would increase.

Renewable energy experts point out that the same transmission lines will be able to carry electricity generated from utlity-scale solar projects in the future.