The Texas Oil & Gas Association warned that a State Office of Administrative Hearings recommendation to set aside additional transmission infrastructure in West Texas would put the reliability of the state’s electric grid at risk, according to an Aug. 24 statement from TXOGA President Todd Staples.
The statement responds to administrative law judges weighing transmission capacity for a region that supplies much of the nation’s oil and natural gas. The association said the need for interconnection and transmission capacity in West Texas has been documented for more than a decade through extensive studies, public workshops, stakeholder meetings and regulatory proceedings.
“The Administrative Law Judges’ recommendation to disregard the demonstrated need for additional transmission infrastructure in West Texas is a radical departure from both facts and the long-established planning processes that built Texas,” Staples said in the statement.
Staples argued that the state does not have to choose between building infrastructure and protecting property owners. “Progress and protection are not in conflict,” he said. “We can move critical infrastructure forward while ensuring due process and safeguarding landowners’ rights.”
He framed the question as one of basic connectivity rather than regional politics. “This is not a West Texas issue and not a political issue; it is a basic connectivity issue,” Staples said. “Electricity must be produced and delivered in perfect balance, every second of every day. Transmission is what makes that balance possible. When lack of needed transmission prevents power from flowing where it is needed, the reliability of the grid is put in jeopardy.”
Staples pointed to what he described as ERCOT’s repeated warnings of imminent regional rolling blackouts in West Texas, saying the stakes are “not just about businesses; it is about communities and homes across the region and the state.” He said all Texans should rally to ensure that no community, homeowner or business is denied what he called an urgent need.
“Because of this uncertainty, many are asking, ‘Is Texas still open for business?'” Staples said. “We should also be asking, ‘Will the Friday Night Lights stay on?'”
Founded in 1919, TXOGA is the oldest and largest oil and natural gas trade association in Texas and represents every facet of the industry, according to the statement.