Solving the "Chicken and Egg Deadlock"

The age old question, which came first the chicken or the egg, illustrates the problem for wind energy development in Texas. Without transmission developers don't want to build wind farms and without wind farms utilities don't want to build transmission. Throughout Texas people are hopeful that the proposed transmission construction within the Competitive Renewable Energy Zones (CREZ) will help to solve this problem.

The Texas Wind Energy Luncheon on Thursday February 26th in Sweetwater, Texas, hosted by the Texas Wind Energy Clearinghouse and the West Texas Wind Energy Consortium, featured Ken Donohoo, Oncor's director of system planning. Donohoo highlighted topics concerning scenario 2 of the CREZ, the companies who will be building the proposed lines, as well as time lines for completion of the project.

The lines that are planned to be constructed by several different utility companies will allow for approximately 18,500 MW of installed capacity in the state. Oncor who was awarded approximately $1.3 billion to construct an estimated 866 miles of transmission will be building lines around the Sweetwater and Synder area as well as lines coming North and West of the Dallas/Fort Worth area.

Relevant most directly to our area, Sharyland Utilities was chosen to construct an estimated 253 miles of transmission lines and was awarded approximately $394 million to do so. According to the map provided at the luncheon, one of Sharyland's lines is planned to go through Floyd County. Mark Caskey of Sharyland Utilties was also present at the luncheon and said that Sharyland will begin conducting research and contacting landowners in the area in order to develop a plan of action for constructing the lines.

The plan for construction of these lines was separated into priority and second tier projects. The Oncor project around the Sweetwater area was selected as one of the priority projects. All priority projects must file a certificate of convenience and necessity (CCN) by October of this year. When the company files their CCN they must have all primary and alternative routes that they intend to build selected. The timeline for second tier projects has yet to be announced, but it is estimated that they will have to file a CCN by April of next year.

During the planning stages the utilities companies involved will conduct public meetings in order to receive input from affected parties. Donohoo of Oncor said that they will negotiate proposed construction with landowners. He stated that while the use of eminent domain is always there, it is a last resort and the last thing their company wants to do.

The entire project (both priority and second tier) is estimated to be in service by 2012.