On the heels of an Aug. 25 meeting at the Medina Library, where concerned residents gathered to learn about a proposed high-voltage transmission line across parts of Medina, Vanderpool, Utopia and Tarpley, the Bandera County Commissioners passed a resolution opposing the project at their regular meeting Aug. 28.
The resolution targets the Howard- Solstice 765-kilovolt transmission line, a project managed jointly by CPS Energy and AEP Texas.
According to CPS Energy, the line would stretch 370 miles through 14 Texas counties, including Bandera.
Bandera resident Susan Tracey spoke to the commissioners before the resolution passed, warning of the impact the project could have on local land and communities.
“This transmission line will take power from San Antonio to Fort Stockton to improve the reliability grid in that area,” Tracey said. “The electric companies that are proposing the line have to present several viable alternative, geographically diverse routes. Several of those go through Bandera County.
“The towers are the first of this scale and size to be built in Texas. They are about 140 feet high — imagine an 18-story building in Bandera County, every 1,400 feet or so. The right-of-way will go through mostly private lands and will be 100 feet on each side, so imagine a 16-lane highway going through our hills.
“Private landowners were contacted at the start of August and told they have until Sept. 3 to state comments and concerns. For Bandera County, there is no advantage. This isn’t power coming to us. It’s power coming directly from San Antonio to the Permian Basin. It is ripping through our landscape, our private land. As a private landowner, I object, but the government has a right to take my land by eminent domain for public use. What is this doing to all of us? Not just our property values, our visitors, the motorcycle riders that use Highway 337, the businesses that depend on it. Truly we are only temporary stewards of this pristine, beautiful land. We need to protect it. It belongs to all of us. Potentially, if we can protest it now, if we can get this route eliminated before the companies send in their final application to the Public Utility Commission of Texas in February, then we can stop it.”
Rebecca Neill of The Nature Conservancy thanked the commissioners for drafting the resolution, saying it would lend strength and support to landowners and others voicing opposition.
Judge Richard Evans read the resolution aloud, citing Bandera County’s reputation as a premier Hill Country destination and its unique natural areas.
The resolution notes that private citizens have established conservation easements and that the county economy is driven by tourism.
It states that the proposed transmission line would have a detrimental effect on endangered species, habitats and the ecosystem.
The resolution formally opposes the construction of the Howard-Solstice 765-kV transmission line in any part of Bandera County. The commissioners approved it unanimously.
Commissioner Jody Rutherford said surrounding counties are also opposed.
Evans encouraged citizens to submit comment cards Tracey brought to the meeting.
Rutherford questioned the necessity of routing the line through Bandera when similar lines have already been built in West Texas.
Commissioner Troy Konvicka highlighted additional concerns, including a 100foot easement on each side of the line and a 500-foot restriction on structures. He said the towers would generate a constant 55-decibel hum.
“So if it’s cutting through your land, you lose up to 500 feet of your land that you can put anything on,” he said.
He called on citizens to support the effort by writing to CPS Energy.
The court also scheduled a special meeting for Sept. 4 at 3 p.m. to speak with engineers from the Howard-Solstice project, who initially requested a private meeting. Rutherford predicted a full courtroom.
Audience members responded enthusiastically when asked if they wanted to meet the engineers.
Evans referenced past controversy over the Rio Lago Solar Project, emphasizing that discussions with the engineers would occur publicly with the full commission.
“They like to divide and conquer,” Evans said. “They want to come talk to you, come talk to me, then they’ll say this commissioner said this, this commissioner said that. They’re not always truthful.”
Rutherford added, “They like to turn everybody against each other, and that’s wrong.”
Konvicka said, “This has already been approved at the state level. This power line is going to happen. We can’t stop it, but we can stop it from being in Bandera County. That’s what we’ve got to focus on.”
Rutherford said the line would supply power for new data centers and that planning had been underway for 18 months, but local residents and county officials had little time to respond.
According to PR Newswire, Texas is on pace to add several new AI-ready data center loads as companies including Damac, Google, Nvidia and OpenAI invest heavily in the state’s power- rich corridors.
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