Hill Country Preservation Coalition

09/12/2026

A TRANSMISSION LINE MOVES ELECTRICITY. IT DOES NOT GENERATE IT.

That distinction matters.

A 765-kV transmission line cannot produce electricity during the next winter storm.

It cannot generate another megawatt when demand rises.

It moves electricity that has already been generated from one place to another.

So when Texans are told that massive new transmission corridors are necessary for reliability, we should keep asking:

WHERE WILL THE ADDITIONAL RELIABLE POWER ACTUALLY COME FROM?

And why aren't we having a bigger conversation about generation before committing Texas landowners and ratepayers to an enormous transmission buildout?

These proposed lines will have real consequences for private property, ranches, communities, rivers and landscapes.

Texans deserve more than assurances that they are necessary.

SHOW US THE NEED.

Show us the alternatives that were evaluated.

Show us who benefits.

Show us who pays.

And show us how this actually solves the reliability problem Texans are being told it will solve.

Those are not unreasonable questions.

They are questions Texans should have been asking from the beginning.

SILENCE IS AGREEMENT.

Keep asking.

EdwardsPlateauAlliance.org

09/11/2026

A note we wanted to share with the Public Utility Commission of Texas and all of y’all.

We’re so proud of your fight! It wasn’t the outcome we’d hoped for as wished it would have been paused.

And if there’s any silver lining at all it’s the connections made. We are stronger together. We are unified and will continue to fight for landowners and protecting our precious resources and rivers! ✨

📢Official PR Release:
PUC Approves Howard-Solstice 765-kV Transmission Line and Final Route
Approved Route Partially Follows HCPC’s Least Harmful Path But will Still Cause Lasting Damage to Landowners and Texas

Today, the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) approved the joint Certificate of Convenience and Necessity (CCN) application from CPS Energy and AEP Texas for the Howard-Solstice 765-kV transmission line – part of largest transmission project in state history – despite calls for a pause or denial from statewide elected officials, legislators, local leaders and thousands of landowners.

The approved route, Alternative Route 4 Mod 1, partially aligns with the Least Harmful path, a mitigation-focused framework advanced by the Hill Country Preservation Coalition (HCPC) to stay along existing highway infrastructure to minimize damage to pristine river basins and limit land fragmentation. However, the PUC did not adopt the western route improvements proposed during the proceeding.

“While we’re grateful our river basins and aquifer recharge zones in the hill country were spared this time. Let’s be very clear: this transmission line will permanently scar Texas,” said Jada Jo Smith, Founder of HCPC. “By approving this project, the PUC has disregarded the concerns of Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, Attorney General Ken Paxton, dozens of state legislators, many more city and county leaders, and thousands of landowners. These lines will cut through multigenerational ranches, homes and vistas. The vote may be over, but our responsibility to the landowners facing the consequences is not.”

The Howard-Solstice line will introduce approximately 160-foot lattice-steel towers and a right-of-way approaching 200 feet in width across hundreds of miles of private land.

Now that the transmission line and route have been approved, HCPC stands by its commitment to assist landowners across the corridor as they navigate the next phase of the process, protect their property rights and pursue fair compensation for required easements.

HCPC will also continue working with state and local leaders to pursue reforms that provide landowners with stronger notice, greater transparency, meaningful due process and better protections in future transmission proceedings.

May God Bless Texas!

09/11/2026

Had an extensive interview with Texas Tribune yesterday. Here’s the article with our small quote.

The Public Utility Commission will vote to greenlight three proposals to build first-of-their-kind transmission lines after approving two massive lines last month.

09/10/2026

With all the disappointed law makers speaking out and thousands of disappointed Texans.. you’d think the Texas Public Utility Commission would listen?!?

We shall see tomorrow..

Criticism comes as regulators prepare to discuss next phases of extra-high-voltage transmission project.

09/10/2026

‼️PUC Likely to Vote Friday on Howard-Solstice 765-kV Transmission Line
Final Opportunity for Landowners and Concerned Texas to Make Their Voices Heard

The Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) is likely to vote on the proposed Howard-Solstice 765-kV transmission line this Friday, September 11, for an open hearing scheduled to begin at 9:30 a.m. in Austin, TX.

“This is the last opportunity for Texas landowners to make their voices heard before the PUC decides whether to approve this destructive and wasteful transmission project,” said Jada Jo Smith, founder and president of the Hill Country Preservation Coalition. “Months of advocacy, litigation, hearings and direct communication have led to this consequential decision. Opposition spans thousands of landowners, hundreds of intervenors, dozens of state legislators and two statewide elected officials who agree that the current 765-kV process should not move forward. Now the PUC must decide. We urge every landowner who can attend Friday’s meeting to be there and continue contacting their elected officials.”

The PUC previously considered the Howard-Solstice (Docket No. 59336) application but delayed taking action. At its August 28 meeting, the commission approved the Dinosaur-Longshore and Longshore-Drill Hole projects, the first 765-kV transmission facilities approved under the Permian Basin Reliability Plan.

Earlier this summer, both the Texas Senate and Texas House of Representatives conducted marathon interim hearings where lawmakers heard extensive testimony concerning the proposed lines’ effects on landowners, communities, private property and the environment. Following the Senate hearing, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Business and Commerce Committee Chairman Charles Schwertner called on the PUC to deny the pending 765-kV applications so the Legislature could reform the approval process before the projects move forward.

Statewide leaders opposed to the project intensified in late August when Attorney General Ken Paxton also filed an amicus curiae brief supporting a motion to pause the 765-kV transmission buildout pending further legislative review of its need, cost and effects on private property.

The Howard-Solstice line would extend approximately 370 miles from the Howard Road Station in Bexar County to the Solstice Station in Pecos County. The project would introduce approximately 160-foot towers and rights-of-way approaching 200 feet in width across private land, rural communities and environmentally sensitive regions.

HCPC continues to oppose routing this transmission line through the Hill Country and West Texas. However, if the Howard-Solstice line is approved under current geographic constraints, the coalition is advocating for a mitigation-focused Least Harmful path. This approach prioritizes existing infrastructure corridors, avoids major river basins and aquifer zones, and minimizes new land fragmentation across sensitive landscapes. No transmission line is impact-free, but some routes pose significantly greater long-term risks to water resources, private property, and rural economies.

09/10/2026

This is for the middle line running through Burnet.

09/08/2026

This episode is spent with Tom and Merily Keller on the Hodge Keller Juno Ranch in Val Verde County, a 21,500-acre place their family has held together since 1912. They show the barn where Merily packed wool as a child, the Divide cave with handprints and paintings thousands of years old, and the one-room schoolhouse that once had 115 students. It is the kind of country people come to for dark skies and long views, and it is also working land that still has to pay for itself.

The Howard-Solstice line is the 765-kV project running more than 300 miles from south of San Antonio out to the Permian. Its structures towering over 160 feet tall. One of the routes on the table would cut across the Kellers ranch, take a two-hundred-foot strip, put towers on the highest ground, and leave roads and concrete that do not fade in this desert. The Kellers would be paid once for the easement. The towers would be there forever, and so would the break in the hunting country, the wildlife, and the views that keep people coming back. Their story is not an exception. It is a clear look at what this project means for landowners throughout this project all the way from San Antonio to Fort Stockton.

The PUC still has not decided on the Howard-Solstice project. The decision is on their agenda this Friday 9/11 at their open meeting starting at 9:30am ask the Commission to hold off on a final route and wait until the Legislature reconvenes, or until the Governor calls a special session, instead of pushing the decision through.

Please share this video, contact your state representative and senator, and send the same request to the Public Utility Commission of Texas under Docket 59336. Find more information preservethehillcountry.com.