Burnet County residents and representatives spent hours at the Capitol building in Austin on Wednesday, July 29, offering public testimony to the Texas Senate Committee on Business and Commerce regarding their concerns about a massive state transmission line project looming over the county.

Watch the 15-hour and 22-minute hearing at this link: July 29, 2026 Senate Committee on Business and Commerce hearing

The project would see hundreds of miles of the highest voltage lines in the state run across land between Bell and Schleicher counties in an effort to bring more power to the Permian Basin region of West Texas. On Wednesday, many Highland Lakes locals voiced their criticisms of that plan, because every possible route cuts through Burnet County. That could mean large eminent domain purchases and land acquisitions, along with a host of potential cultural, financial, ecological, and health impacts for many residents.

“A lot of places I go, I hear people say ‘they’re going to do it no matter what you say,’ but that fuels me to speak even louder,” Burnet County Precinct 2 Commissioner Damon Beierle told DailyTrib. “Even if they do it, at least I know I tried. That’s my job, to represent, and most of my constituents  feel like this is a trampling of their property rights.”

Beierle represents the vast majority of the land that would be impacted in Burnet County. He arrived at the Capitol building on Wednesday morning, and waited over 10 hours to make his official statement before the Senate Committee on Business and Commerce. 

“The fact that the legislature is having a senate hearing to listen to the people is, I think, a big step toward the fact that they’re actually going to listen, and there is a chance they’ll relook at these lines,” he said. 

One Burnet County resident, Mia Sarot, has been especially involved in the ongoing transmission line battle. A regular speaker at Burnet County Commissioners Court meetings and a local organizer for opposition to the project, she attended the hearing, offering her own testimony.

“We’re here to bring a little bit of awareness of the landowner perspective to the legislature in the hopes that maybe they can change some of the process to better respect what we’re going through and just how significant this project is,” she told DailyTrib at the Capitol.

Sarot, along with dozens of 765 kV protesters wore yellow to identify themselves in solidarity against the lines.

“I just really think that Texans need an opportunity to believe that they can have an effect in the system that they want to participate in,” she said. “I feel like our rights are refined by participation.”

The lines would include 18-story steel towers every 1,000 feet and 200-300 foot easements that would cut through vast swathes of northern Burnet County.

Beierle shared what he is hearing from his constituents overall, including concerns about losing some of their property.

“It’s a mixed bag of what I’m hearing from folks, but most of it is the fact that the overreach of takings of private property,” he said. “We’re talking about Precinct 2 which is kind of unique. It is full of family legacies, generations and generations of family land and beauty and ranches and tourism and all of the things that make us great, and this is just an ugly thing that not only figuratively but literally go right through Precinct 2, and nobody above local government seems to care.”

Right now the Public Utility Commission of Texas is weighing its options on how to proceed regarding the proposed 765 kV transmission line project. The state agency is expected to make a decision by September, but Beierle, residents potentially impacted by the line, and dozens of Texas legislators are asking for a pause on the process until the next legislative session begins in 2027.

Burnet County’s state representative, House District 19 Rep. Ellen Troxclair, voiced her continued support for a hold on the project following the senate committee’s hearing. 

“Save the Hill Country; pause the plan. Hours of wise and heartbreaking testimony about the 765kV transmission line plan, from rural Burnet County and beyond, could not have been clearer,” she wrote in a Thursday, July 30 statement. “There are still too many unanswered questions about whether these transmission lines are even necessary.”

The transmission line project originated in 2023 during the 88th Texas Legislative Session, when House Bill 5066 was passed, ordering the PUCT to come up with a way to strengthen the state’s power grid, and to specifically bring power to the Permian Basin region of West Texas.

“I do not believe we have an option of doing nothing,” PUCT Chairman Thomas Gleeson told the Senate Committee during the hearing. “We have to get electricity to the Permian customers.”

Gleeson explained that, based on analysis by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), that there was an expected massive increase to power demand in the Permian Basin, from its current level of 11 gigawatts to a predicted 27 gigawatts in 2038.

“If you see that amount of load growth, we have to find a way to get the power from where it is generated to where the load is,” he said.

Once ERCOT’s study was completed, the PUCT tasked Oncor Electric Delivery and the Lower Colorado River Authority with devising a plan to deliver more power to the Permian Basin. After months of planning the organizations created a preliminary plan and route for 765 kilovolt powerlines to be run from Central Texas to West Texas. Burnet County was notified of the plans, and the fact that it would likely be included in all possible routes, in May 2025.

The project, to be paid for by the state, has an estimated total cost of $33 billion, and would include three major lines, including the Bell County East to Big Hill project.

Burnet County resident Mike Smith told DailyTrib that his property and his father’s property would likely be tangled in the path of transmission lines.

“There’s never been any 765 kilovolt lines built in the state of texas and the PUCT and ERCOT dont know how they’re going to affect the public health and safety, environment, wildlife,” he said. “I want to get them to realize that they don’t know how it’s impacting the public and get them to pause and stop this line.”

Background on the Bell County East to Big Hill 765 kV Transmission Line

The Bell County East to Big Hill 765-kV Transmission Project has been on Burnet County’s radar since June 2025. Since then, public opposition and protest has risen and the county has officially taken up opposition to the state project. 

The transmission line project’s intention is to bring power to West Texas, but many Burnet County residents believe that it would be at the expense of Hill Country landowners.

The project was mandated by the Texas Legislature in 2023 through House Bill 5066. The bill aimed to increase the reliability of the Texas electric grid, and also specifically targeted bringing power to the Permian Basin region of West Texas. 

The Public Utility Commission of Texas took on the task, requesting the Electric Reliability Council of Texas to conduct a study on the power needs of the Permian Basin, resulting in the Permian Basin Reliability Study. 

The results of that study showed a massive increase in the projected demand for electricity from that region, mostly to satisfy an estimated addition of 11,695 megawatts to the grid from the non-oil and gas industry. Per ERCOT’s study, this load would be made up of 59 percent cryptocurrency operations, 22 percent “green hydrogen” projects, 13 percent “other” commercial and industrial projects, and 6 percent datacenters. Power would also be used to electrify the petroleum industry in West Texas.

Once ERCOT’s study was completed, the PUCT tasked Oncor Electric Delivery and the Lower Colorado River Authority with devising a plan to deliver more power to the Permian Basin. After months of planning the organizations created a preliminary plan and route for 765 kilovolt powerlines to be run from Central Texas to West Texas. Burnet County was notified of the plans, and the fact that it would likely be included in all possible routes, in May 2025. 

The project, to be paid for by the state, has an estimated total cost of $33 billion, and would include three major lines, including the Bell County East to Big Hill project. 

Read the DailyTrib stories below to learn more:

• ”Massive transmission line would cut through Burnet County,” June 6, 2025
• ”Burnet County considers careful next steps in response to transmission line,” June 25, 2025
• “Burnet County seeks legal counsel for transmission line project,” July 10, 2025
• “Burnet County OKs funds for transmission line legal help,” July 22, 2025
• “Power line project protesters: Why here?,” Oct. 13, 2025
• “Questions raised, but few answered, at transmission line town hall,” Oct. 24, 2025
• “Burnet County takes official stance against transmission line,” Oct. 29, 2025
• “Oncor and LCRA update transmission line timeline,” Nov. 4, 2025
• “Llano County joins transmission line opposition,” Nov. 11, 2025
• “Transmission line opposition creates protest schedule and theme song ‘Two Hundred Miles of Greed’,” Nov. 24, 2025
• “Troxclair takes public stance against transmission line project,” Jan. 20, 2026
• “Burnet County considers intergovernmental commission to combat transmission line; community workshop Feb. 3,” Jan. 29, 2026
• “Burnet County group hosting anti-transmission line meeting series: ‘The time to advocate for our area is now,” Feb. 20, 2026
• “Burnet County and city of Burnet join forces to battle state transmission line project,” Feb. 25, 2026 
• “Transmission line plans expected soon; Llano County now in possible impact zone,” March 10, 2026
• “The countdown starts: 30 days to file intervention/protest in state transmission line project,” March 27, 2026
• “Burnet County steps up for landowners in transmission line filing,” April 7, 2026
• “Republican Club holding transmission line talk,” April 8, 2026
• “State reps question controversial transmission line project,” May 8, 2026
• “More legislators join transmission line opposition,” May 13, 2026
• “Burnet County leaders file testimonies against state transmission line project,” May 21, 2026

dakota@thepicayune.com