By , Staff Writer
A $9.4 billion network of long-distance power lines will be built across the eastern swath of Texas to create a new “superhighway” for the state’s power grid, after state officials voted unanimously to approve the plan this week.
The project, made up of more than 1,100 miles of power lines and transmission towers, would cut through the Houston area, though exact routes haven’t been determined yet.
Once completed in the early 2030s, the 765-kilovolt power lines would be able to carry more than twice as much electricity as the existing 345-kilovolt power lines across the state.
This new “superhighway” is needed so that the state’s power grid can keep the lights on amid an expected boom in electricity demand in the coming years, said Kristi Hobbs, vice president of system planning for the Electric Reliability Council of Texas.
ERCOT manages the power grid that serves most of the state’s electricity demand. By 2031, that demand could increase more than 70%, according to ERCOT’s forecasts, primarily because of electrification in the oil and gas industry and an influx of data centers powering artificial intelligence technologies.
“We realized we could not keep planning the system the way we always had,” Hobbs told ERCOT’s board during the grid operator’s quarterly meeting this week.
