Oncor and LCRA Transmission Services Corporation have filed an application to build a 765-kV transmission line from Schleicher to Bell Counties in Texas to help meet the state's current and future electric reliability needs.
“The proposed line is part of a state-led effort to secure a next-generation transmission network that will move more electricity, more efficiently to support ongoing growth in communities throughout Texas,” Oncor noted.
New transmission lines in Texas require Public Utility Commission of Texas approval of an application known as a Certificate of Convenience and Necessity. The CCN is a thorough application that describes the proposed line and includes information about its need, proposed routes, and environmental and routing studies.
In 2002, the Lower Colorado River Authority transferred ownership of its transmission facilities to LCRA TSC to satisfy state requirements. Since its creation, LCRA TSC has invested more than $5 billion in transmission projects to meet the growing demand for electricity, improve reliability, connect new generating capacity, address congestion problems that affect the competitive market, and help move renewable energy to the market.
The Bell County East–Big Hill 765 kV Transmission Line Project study area is comprised of 15 counties. The regulatory process for building a new transmission line requires Oncor and LCRA TSC to propose a geographically diverse set of routes for the PUCT to consider.
Over the past year, Oncor and LCRA held a number of open houses and received comments from thousands of Texans on preliminary routes. These preliminary routes evolve as the routing study progresses and this feedback is received, and it’s common for preliminary routing options to be updated and expanded as more data is gathered.
Based on feedback received after the publication of preliminary routes and during the course of the routing study, Oncor and LCRA TSC expanded the study area, added and modified routes, and thoroughly studied proposed routes for this project and recorded detailed findings in an environmental assessment and routing study. These are included with the project’s CCN application as supplemental attachments.
As part of Oncor and LCRA TSC’s application, landowners who live within 500 feet of the proposed routes will be mailed a notice with information about how they can engage in the PUCT’s regulatory process as intervenors or protestors. Landowners within this area are identified at the time of filing, receive the same notification and project information, and have the same opportunity to engage in the process.
Over the coming months, the PUCT will review the proposed routes, supplemental information and public feedback before ultimately selecting the final route Oncor and LCRA TSC will construct.
The PUCT is expected to select this route in September. If approved, Oncor anticipates the transmission line will be energized by 2030, pending future schedule changes.
Oncor’s work on this and three other 765kV transmission lines in Texas is part of the state’s first phase of the 765-kV Strategic Transmission Expansion Plan (STEP). Oncor will help construct four projects, two of them jointly with LCRA TSC, for STEP Phase One.
With the March 2026 filing, all four of these projects are now in various stages of the regulatory process.
