PUC Approves Step Forward For Wind Power

Finally the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) has done something to help clean up the energy production here in Texas.   They approved building the first stretch of transmission lines (about 91 miles worth) that will be used to carry wind-generated electricity from the Panhandle of Texas to more urban areas downstate (like DFW).  

This is just one leg of the needed lines and many more miles of transmission lines must be approved and built before the renewable electricity can finally make it to the areas that need it.   But this is a good start, and every job must be started before it can be finished.   The route approved will run west and north of Amarillo.

There are some who are complaining that the lines will destroy some grassland and possibly some farmland, but the other two proposed routes were even worse.   One would have cut through a fairly well-populated area between Canyon and Amarillo, and the other would have run along the north rim of the Palo Duro Canyon State Park.   Neither of those needed to happen.

This is really a win-win situation for the Panhandle and downstate areas needing electricity.   It will prevent the building of more polluting coal-powered plants while giving consumers clean and renewable energy, and it will also bring income to landowners and new jobs to the Panhandle.   Many more wind farms are waiting for the transmission lines to be built before they can be built.

Thank goodness the actual building of the lines can now be started.