Texas Border Business
By Roberto Hugo González / Texas Border Business
HARLINGEN, Texas — Texas is expanding power generation and transmission infrastructure as population growth, industrial development and emerging large electricity users increase demand across the state, Public Utility Commission of Texas official Mike Hoke told business and community leaders in Harlingen.
Hoke, director of public engagement for the PUC, spoke during the “Powering Texas & Regional Growth: Infrastructure + Workforce Exchange,” an event planned and executed through a collaboration between the Harlingen Economic Development Corporation and I-LinCP.
Harlingen EDC Chief Executive Officer Orlando Campos echoed earlier remarks by Harlingen Mayor Norma Sepúlveda on the importance of regional economic growth and introduced Hoke. Campos noted that Hoke’s public engagement office was created in 2022 to educate Texans about the PUC and how they can participate in its proceedings.
Hoke said the PUC regulates electricity, certain water utilities and some telecommunications services. He said public participation is important because electricity decisions affect residents, businesses and major industrial operations.
“I strongly believe that the commission makes better decisions when we’re hearing from the people who are affected by those decisions,” Hoke said.
Hoke said ERCOT covers about 75% of Texas’ land mass and approximately 90% of its electricity demand. Within ERCOT, he said, about 1,400 generation units produce electricity from a diverse mix that includes natural gas, wind, solar and battery resources.
Texas has structured its market to encourage private investment in generation, Hoke said. Developers generally do not need PUC approval to build a power plant, although facilities such as natural gas plants may require environmental permits.
He also pointed to the $10 billion Texas Energy Fund, approved by lawmakers and voters to provide financing for dispatchable generation. Hoke said the PUC has approved eight projects representing 5,000 megawatts and about $3.6 billion in low-interest loans.
Transmission is another major component of meeting growing demand. Hoke said ERCOT has about 55,000 miles of major transmission lines and described the grid operator as the system’s “air traffic controller,” coordinating with utilities to identify congestion and determine where additional transmission capacity is needed.
The Rio Grande Valley has already benefited from that planning, he said. After hearing concerns from regional leaders about growing electricity demand, PUC commissioners took the unusual step of directly identifying the need for additional transmission lines in the Valley.
“After hearing so much from the folks from the Valley, we took the step of the commissioners directly saying we need more lines in the Valley,” Hoke said, adding that some projects have been energized while others remain under construction.
Hoke said Texas recently reached a record electricity demand of about 90 gigawatts. He said the ability to serve that demand without major disruption demonstrated the strength of the state’s grid.
Data centers are adding another challenge. Hoke said a single large facility can require electricity comparable to the demand of a city such as Brownsville and can be developed relatively quickly. He said recent state legislation gives regulators additional tools to determine which proposed facilities are likely to move forward, plan infrastructure, and address how associated costs are allocated.
Hoke concluded by stressing that managing Texas’ increasingly complex electricity system requires cooperation among regulators, utilities, businesses, consumers and local communities.
“The Public Utility Commission is part of it, and we can’t do our job without our local partners,” Hoke said. “It is a big collective effort.”
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