U.S. Rep. Chip Roy, R-Texas, last week sent formal letters demanding detailed answers from AEP Transmission and CPS Energy about proposed routes for the Howard-Solstice transmission line, which may traverse the Texas Hill Country including Bandera County.
Roy cited constituent concern about aesthetic impacts, environmental risks and potential use of eminent domain. “One of the proposals … would run straight through Bandera County and Real County,” he wrote, adding that “residents … are concerned with the aesthetic impacts these lines pose … and the potential threat of eminent domain being invoked across a historic landscape.”
He also highlighted the economic risks to the region. “Tourism is the lifeblood of the Hill Country economy,” he wrote, warning that “largescale construction of transmission lines poses a threat to the economic ecosystem … local community relies on for jobs and tax revenue.”
Roy’s letters pose several questions to the utilities, including:
• For what reasons are Hill Country routes being considered?
• How many people attended open houses, and will more be held in Bandera or Real counties?
• Why are none of the proposals aligned with the existing I-10 transmission corridor?
• Will eminent domain be used, and how many private property owners would be affected?
• Do any routes intersect conservation easements or endangered ecosystems?
• What is the estimated footprint and pole height of the project? The letters come amidst growing local pushback. In late August, the Bandera County Commissioners Court unanimously passed a resolution opposing the Howard-Solstice 765 kV line in any part of the county. The resolution cites risks to endangered species, conservation easements, private property and the area’s tourism industry.
At a special meeting Sept. 4, utility representatives told commissioners that some of the potential corridors already under evaluation slice through parts of Bandera County, with right-ofway widths of up to 200 feet and tower heights reaching 140 feet. THE BANDERA PROPHET+1 Local residents like Susan Tracey, who addressed the commissioners, described the project as “ripping through our landscape, our private land” and warned that the line would not bring power to Bandera — instead, it would transmit power between San Antonio and the Permian Basin. THE BANDERA PROPHET+3Facebook+ 3Bandera Bulletin+3 Construction is not expected until fall 2028, and the utilities plan to file their formal application with the Public Utility Commission of Texas in February 2026.
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