Oncor on Thursday submitted an application to build a more than 200-mile-long 765-kilovolt transmission line from Somervell County to Howard County.
Company and state officials have said the project is an important piece of improving Texas’ power grid, but certain segments of the proposed routes nearby a state park have caused local frustration.
The Public Utility Commission of Texas will review the application — including information such as the need for the project, proposed routes, cost estimates, an environmental assessment and more — and make a decision as to which route Oncor will ultimately construct.
Landowners who live within 500 feet of proposed routes will be mailed a notice with information on how to take part in the PUCT’s regulatory process as intervenors or protestors.
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Ellen Buck, Oncor senior vice president and chief operating officer, said the agency is helping to build the next generation of Texas’ electric grid, calling the Dinosaur-Longshore 76-kV project a “key component.”
“Oncor appreciates that routing a new transmission line requires thorough study, meticulous consideration of numerous details, and collaboration with landowners, local officials and other critical stakeholders, and we look forward to continuing this important process in support of this filing,” Buck said.
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Headquartered in Dallas, the agency is one of multiple electric companies planning to build the highest voltage lines in the state in an effort to help fortify the electric grid, and electrify the oil-rich Permian Basin.
Officials said the 765-kV line delivers the same capacity as three 345-kV double-circuit lines with a slightly wider footprint. The full 765-kV transmission line, which more than 60% will be led by Oncor, is Texas’ first major voltage upgrade since the 1960s.
Oncor first published public notices about its Dinosaur-Longshore transmission line project last spring. It proposes constructing a 765-kV transmission line from a proposed switch in Somervell County to an existing switch in Howard County.
The line would be between 235 to 270 miles long, depending on the route. Similar projects in other parts of the country have steel lattice towers as tall as 130 to 180 feet, or about the height of a 15-story building. A right-of-way about 200 feet wide would also be cleared along the route.
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The transmission project gained negative attention in the Glen Rose and Somervell County communities in recent months due to a segment of one of three proposed routes skirting Dinosaur Valley State Park on two sides.
That segment or link, referenced as “A3” in planning documents, was included in Oncor’s application.
During the coming months, the public utility commission will review the proposed routes, supplemental information, and public feedback, before selecting the final route Oncor will construct. It is possible the commission could choose a route not included in Oncor’s application.
Once the commission has made a final decision, which is expected to happen in August, the project is scheduled to be energized by 2029.
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Oncor has already filed two other 765kV projects: the Big Hill Switch to Sand Lake Switch and Longshore Switch-Drill Hole Switch, both in West Texas. The company anticipates filing a fourth 765kV project application — for Bell County East-Big Hill — next month.
This reporting is part of the Future of North Texas, a community-funded journalism initiative supported by the Commit Partnership, Communities Foundation of Texas, The Dallas Foundation, the Dallas Mavericks, the Dallas Regional Chamber, Deedie Rose, Lisa and Charles Siegel, the McCune-Losinger Family Fund, The Meadows Foundation, the Perot Foundation, the United Way of Metropolitan Dallas and the University of Texas at Dallas. The News retains full editorial control of this coverage.
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