Texas Border Business
By Roberto Hugo González
“Good morning, everybody. Thanks again and welcome… to this presentation of Friends of Council for South Texas Economic Progress (COSTEP) from the Rio South Texas Region,” said Adam Gonzalez, CEO of COSTEP, as he opened the quarterly learning event. “We have AEP and Sharyland Utilities that are gonna share some insight as to what is going on with power transmission… and their plans for the next 10, 20 years.”
Gonzalez noted, “A lot of us don’t know exactly what they’re working on to improve our region’s electricity output. As economic developers, we all need this knowledge to attract the industries we want.” He thanked event sponsors and the COSTEP board and handed the program to Rick Carrera, Director of Economic Development.
“We try to bring these to you because they’re value-added and informative,” Carrera said. “Dale Fowler hears from me more than he probably wants to… the questions he’ll answer today are the ones many of us in economic development get all the time.”
Dale Fowler, Economic Development & Business Manager at AEP Texas, presented “Electricity 101: How Texas Powers Economic Development.” “Let’s put together a presentation to help economic development understand electricity… right down to the basics of watts, volts, and amps,” Fowler said. He opened with a safety message: “Never assume downed wires aren’t live… stay 25 feet away, and if you’re in a car and it’s not on fire, stay put.”
Fowler explained electricity basics, noting the importance of demand over total consumption: “That’s what we have to build infrastructure for.” He added, “AEP Texas currently has 15 signed agreements for gigawatt-scale projects. If we serve them all, we could double or triple the size of our operations.”
On infrastructure, he said, “We’ve traditionally served industrial loads with 138 kV, but today, even customers want to tap directly into 345 kV.” With 765 kV lines now under planning, Fowler urged business parks to reserve space for substations and transmission easements.
He also explained Texas’s deregulated electricity market: “We build and maintain the grid, but don’t sell the power. That’s done through Retail Energy Providers (REPs).” He addressed Winter Storm Uri’s lessons and noted progress on grid modernization, battery storage, and renewable integration.
Brad Schwarz, Director of Planning for Hunt Utility Services, followed with an overview of long-term transmission planning. “Dale did a great job of giving us the basics,” Schwarz said. “I’m here to give comfort that there are folks thinking about the Valley and ERCOT… and what’s coming in the next 20 years.”
Schwarz explained Sharyland Utilities’ role as a transmission-only utility and its involvement in joint projects with AEP, including a new San Antonio to Brownsville circuit and a San Benito transmission loop. “That project is expected to energize next year,” he said.
He discussed the Port of Brownsville and the 650 MW Rio Grande LNG project: “I was there just yesterday… dozens of cranes in the air.” He outlined plans for a 345 kV loop connecting several substations, scheduled for service by 2029.
Introducing ERCOT’s 765 kV initiative, Schwarz called it “a game-changer.” He said, “Each 765 kV line carries the same capacity as three double-circuit 345 kV lines.” The Valley will be served by substations in Laredo, San Benito, and near Corpus.
“We need Phase 2 of 765 kV build-out to move forward sooner rather than later,” Schwarz said, encouraging developers to speak with legislators. He explained the cost—$30–40 billion statewide—and emphasized the urgency.
In a closing comment, Fowler added, “We can build all the wires we want—but without more generation, it won’t matter. The 765 system makes moving power more efficiently and across longer distances easier.”
The Friends of Council for South Texas Economic Progress (COSTEP) Electricity 101 event gave economic development leaders crucial tools to support infrastructure-ready growth across the Rio South Texas Region.
