Republican Club holding transmission line talk
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During its next meeting, the Burnet County Republican Club will dive into the potential adverse impacts of a proposed state transmission line project looming over the Highland Lakes area.
The meeting is free and open to the public, and it is scheduled for 5:30-7:30 p.m. on April 14 at the Burnet County AgriLife building, 607 N. Vandeveer Street in Burnet. A light supper will be served at 5:30 p.m. and the meeting will begin at 6 p.m.
“You’ve probably heard about the proposed 765,000 volt transmission line,” reads a notice from the club. “As Republicans, we care about property values and rights, free enterprise, the economy, and of course, our health. This line will affect all of us in many ways.”
Burnet County Precinct 2 Commissioner Damon Beierle will be the featured speaker at the meeting. He is also on the Highland Lakes Sub-Regional Planning Commission, a coalition of local governments that was recently formed in an effort to combat the proposed transmission line.
The line, dubbed the Bell County East to Big Hill 765 kV Transmission Project, would run over 200 miles total, from Bell County to Schleicher County, passing through Burnet County along the way. According to the project developers, it is meant to bring power to far west Texas to help power an array of rising power needs for cryptocurrency mining, “green hydrogen” projects, industrial uses, data centers, and the electrification of the petroleum industry.
Critics of the transmission line say that if it is approved, it would likely have severe impacts on property owners resulting in large eminent domain seizures, reduced property values, and negative impacts on the daily lives of nearby residents. The line would likely require 200-300 foot easements and 15-18 story towers suspending the highest voltage powerlines that Texas has ever seen.
Most recently, Burnet County officially filed to intervene in the transmission line approval process with the state in the hopes of mitigating any negative impacts it may cause on private and public property across the Highland Lakes.