If you're like me, you wonder why Texas hasn't taken the plunge and connected to the east-west power grid. We are the energy capital of America. But that's not the case. That won't happen. Federal regulators are not welcome here.
But there is a viable alternative called Southern Spirit Transmission, which I first reported on in January.
This month, ERCOT officials spoke publicly for the first time about the proposed 320-mile transmission line. The line would pass through Louisiana and into Mississippi, connecting Texas' power grid with major power grids in the eastern United States.
When the nonprofit Electric Reliability Council of Texas connects to the larger power grid, power can flow into or out of Texas. Surplus energy can be sold outside and electricity can be received in times of crisis.
The plan could satisfy Texas' desire to maintain an independent power grid unregulated by federal authorities. Electricity flows as direct current rather than the more common alternating current. Federal authorities approved the project in 2014.
The project was first proposed by Pattern Energy in 2014 and took on added urgency after the 2021 ice storm.
Jeff Biro, ERCOT's director of operational planning, told members of the 111-year-old Dallas Electric Club that the grid operator has no official position on Southern Spirit. He said his job is not to promote the project, but to provide accurate information.
After listening to Billo's presentation, I received a follow-up note from ERCOT spokesperson Trudi Webster. It reiterated that “ERCOT is not directing or cooperating with Pattern Energy in the development of the project.”
Nor should you. Pattern is a private company. But if it is built, it would account for his 4% of ERCOT's current peak resource demands.
It may not seem like much, but in a forever growing Texas, every little thing helps.
3,400 new jobs
The project will cost $2.6 billion, create 3,400 jobs, mostly in construction, and generate millions of dollars in tax revenue for Louisiana parishes, Pattern said.
“This project will create valuable connections to diverse energy resources, improve grid reliability during extreme weather events, and provide consumers with low-cost, clean, and It will provide energy.”
The project faces major obstacles. Some parishes in Louisiana oppose this. They believe the project will take away some of their private land and build giant towers on their land. But the flow of electricity does not benefit Louisiana.
“We have strong support in the Louisiana parishes,” said Pattern's Lentz. “To date, more than 150 landowners have expressed support for this project. Nearly half of the sites in the Louisiana project has already been obtained.”
Louisiana residents are also concerned that prominent land will be used to usurp private property as a right-of-way.
The Louisiana Legislature passed a bill this year that could kill the project. The new law would prohibit transmission projects from taking over the property of private landowners if the project would not benefit Louisiana. Pattern officials said they are “evaluating new legislation that could work to reduce the impact.”
Construction schedules continue to be pushed forward. Pattern said on its website in January that construction could begin in 2026 and end in 2029, but now the target start date is 2028 and the expected completion date is 2031. It states that there is. Nothing groundbreaking so far.
From a local perspective, Garland Power & Light is part of the plan. That's because the line would connect to the state of Texas and to a power company that operates a substation on the Texas border.
The line was to cut through northern Louisiana and into Mississippi. DC current is converted to AC.
ERCOT already has small partnerships with both the western and eastern U.S. grids and Mexico, but none come close to the scale of this project.
Not “political bravado”
At the Electric Club, Biro spoke about the benefits of being an energy island for which we are solely responsible. ERCOT is more flexible than the major grids. He said major power grid operators are watching closely to see if Texas' innovation works.
Biro cited former Gov. Rick Perry's infamous statement after the 2021 ice storm.Texans would do that. Power outages must occur for three or more days to halt federal government operations. ”
It’s not just political bravado,” Biro said. “There are really a lot of benefits to being able to maintain an independent power grid. I think it's really good for the country.”
It could be even better if it were linked to a larger power grid, both in times of crisis and for selling surplus power. Could Southern Spirit be the answer?
“There are a lot of people who aren't sure if this project will happen because there are hurdles to overcome,” an ERCOT official said.
“We are confident that this innovative and much-needed project will move forward,” the pattern official said.
i hope so. An additional 1 million people have moved to Texas since the 2021 storm. We need all the help we can get.
