Study shows potential benefits for Valley in transmission investments

A press call Tuesday morning focused on the need for improved electric transmission infrastructure throughout the state while discussing the potential benefits to the Rio Grande Valley.

The call was hosted by Cliff Walker, a partner with Seeker Strategies, and featured a discussion with Rio Grande Valley Foundation President and CEO Daniel Silva as well as Perryman Group Founder and CEO Dr. Ray Perryman.

“As we’re seeing mega projects in the Rio Grande Valley now, it becomes very important for us to make sure that adequate transmission is being brought into the region,” Silva said during the call. “Adequate transmission is being brought all across the state because the state of Texas is growing very fast, and we want to make sure that it’s serviced well.”

A Magic Valley power plant north of Edinburg is seen on Dec. 21, 2022. (Delcia Lopez | The Monitor | dlopez@themonitor.com)

He said that he does not want electric transmission to be a barrier as more companies look to the region as a potential destination.

“However, the grid’s capacity hasn’t caught up with the explosive growth in generation, population, and economic development in the 20 years since Texas made a major investment in transmission lines,” the organizations said in a media advisory. “As a result, electricity generated in the Rio Grande Valley, East Texas, or the Permian Basin can’t be delivered to the bustling population centers and industries driving increased demand.

“Instead, that energy ends up curtailed and ultimately wasted. In 2022, transmission congestion cost the state an estimated $2.8 billion worth of energy.”

Perryman, who touted a report from the Perryman Group regarding the economic impact of electric transmission in the Valley, called for more investment in transmission as more jobs are moved to Texas.

“We have to be able to move the power quite often,” Perryman said. “As many of you know, in Texas, about 85% of our population lives east of Interstate 35. A lot of the capacity to generate power is located west of Interstate 35. We have to move that power from where it is to where it’s needed, and that’s where transmission comes into play.”

The blades of a wind turbine turn in the breeze Thursday, March 25, 2022, on Olmito North Road in San Benito. (Denise Cathey/The Brownsville Herald)

He said that there would need to be an investment in transmission facilities in the range of $3.6 billion to $12.6 billion.

“We would need to invest $12.6 billion in order to generate $160 billion in gross state product,” Perryman said. “That’s a pretty good rate of return for our investment in infrastructure. And so, again, that becomes a critical piece of everything we’re doing going forward.”

Silva explained that the Rio Grande Valley Foundation created the Transmission Education Task Force which in turn commissioned the Perryman Group’s report. Through the group, he said that he hopes to be a regional voice.

“We’re a chamber. We have membership. We want to increase our membership, and that’s going to give them access to a lot of the things that we do,” Silva said. “But the advocacy for the region really is all four counties.”

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