Transmission line opposition creates protest schedule and theme song ‘Two Hundred Miles of Greed’
Adobe Stock image for illustrative purpose only.
Opposition to a proposed state transmission line project that would cut through Central Texas is powering up, with at least three scheduled protests on the calendar and a theme song released online, “Two Hundred Miles of Greed.”
Burnet County residents learned in May that a planned 200-mile 765 kilovolt transmission line would likely cut through the north end of the county if proposed plans from Oncor Electric Delivery and the Lower Colorado River Authority moved forward. Since then, landowners along the proposed lines have become increasingly vocal in their opposition to them.
(See the proposed routes for the Bell County East to Big Hill 765 kV Transmission Line using the LCRA interactive map, available at this link.)
Landowners are not alone in their protests, as the governments of Burnet and Llano counties have both filed official resolutions opposing the project.
A loose coalition of Burnet County-based transmission line protesters plan on holding public demonstrations Jan. 10, Feb. 14, and March 14. This same group was behind the original protest on Oct. 11 at the corner of U.S. 281 and Texas 29 in Burnet. The exact location and details of the demonstrations have not yet been released, but will be updated closer to the events on the BIG HILL 765 kv Transmission Line Project Updates Facebook page.
Clare Nelson is one of the strongest voices in Burnet County speaking out against the proposed transmission line. She is responsible for the protest’s anthem, “Two Hundred Miles of Greed,” a three-minute song she created with help from Grok, a free artificial intelligence chatbot, and hired musician Richy Luke.
The song is available on Youtube here. Other protesters took it upon themselves to create a music video to accompany the song on Facebook.
The song refers heavily to the specifics of the project, citing the intention of the transmission line, and the Permian Basin Reliability Plan, to provide electricity for fueling growth in West Texas related to the petroleum industry, “green hydrogen” generation, cryptocurrency mining, and the operation of massive data centers.
The project would see 15-story transmission line towers constructed every 1,000 feet along the line with all proposed routes running through Burnet County.
“We have a big challenge,” Nelson told the Burnet County Commissioners Court during its Nov. 13 meeting. “We need to raise $100,000 for attorney fees. All of the other segments are engaging attorneys. If we don’t, we lose.”
Nelson was referring to the various “segments” of the proposed transmission line. The exact path of the line has not yet been determined, but there are many different routes it could take based on preliminary plans from Oncor and the LCRA. She, and others, hope that getting an attorney involved could help sway the decisions of the Public Utility Commission of Texas when it decides which path to take or whether it will approve the project at all.
The LCRA and Oncor were tasked with developing a transmission line plan by the PUCT to help fulfill the requirements of the Permian Basin Reliability Plan, which was part of a state legislature decision in 2023. The plan would see hundreds of miles of transmission lines run from north, central, and south Texas out to West Texas to help power the expected growth in that region in the coming years.
Along with Nelson, about a dozen Burnet County residents gave nearly an hour’s worth of public comments during the Nov. 13 meeting of the Burnet County Commissioners Court, all citing strong concerns about the transmission line project.
Ammie Jo Glimp Busby, a fourth-generation Burnet County resident with land along one of the proposed transmission line routes, gave an emotional testimony at court, fearing for the future of the land that has been in her family for over a century.
“My house will be uninhabitable and the land that I had hoped to be a good steward of will be devastated and devalued,” she said.
Her mother, Shirlie Glimp, also spoke.
“These towers will be a constant reminder that our property isn’t fully ours anymore,” she told the court. “Please help us keep Oncor out of our land and out of Burnet County.”
RESOURCES
Keep up with the protest of the 765-kilovolt transmission line project at stop765kvtransmissionlines.com or BIG HILL 765 kv Transmission Line Project Updates on Facebook.
Visit the Burnet County transmission line information hub on the county’s website.
File a public comment on the project under filing no. 58559 on the Public Utility Commission of Texas website.
View an interactive map of the proposed transmission lines on the LCRA website.
See Oncor’s side of the project on its website.
Burnet County residents may contact the following government officials and entities to voice their concerns:
- Governor Greg Abbott
- U.S. Senator John Cornyn
- U.S. Senator Ted Cruz
- U.S. Congressman 31st District of Texas John Carter
- State Senator District 24 Pete Flores
- State Representative District 19 Ellen Troxclair
- Public Utility Commission of Texas
- Oncor Electric Delivery, transmissionprojects@oncor.com
- LCRA, BCBH@lcra.org
dakota@thepicayune.com