Reading and Podcast Picks is a collection of what we’ve been reading and listening to over the last week or so about energy topics. In addition to these R&P Picks , paid subscribers receive access to the full archives, Grid Roundups , and select episodes of the Energy Capital Podcast . Please subscribe today. Subscribe now Texas landowners seek pause in $2B, 765-kV transmission line case over notice concerns | Utility Dive As we noted last week , the PUC paused its approval process for the Bell County East to Big Hill 765-kV line upgrade. Now hundreds of Central Texas landowners have filed a formal petition alleging they weren’t properly notified after route changes. Utilities, meanwhile, are pushing back on any slowdown: “Load in West Texas, specifically, is growing much faster than local generation is able to provide, and even if local and on-site behind-the-meter generation resources come online, they’re all still needed to maintain a reliable system for Texans,” said Andrew Clark, an Oncor spokesperson, in an interview. PUCT staff recommended the 765-kV lines based on a 2024 ERCOT study, citing their ability to move more power over longer distances with fewer losses. Despite higher upfront costs, planners [maintain] the lines are better suited for the region’s expanding load. How data centers are complicating transmission expansion | Latitude Media Latitude Media’s Catalyst podcast this week explored how opposition to infrastructure such as transmission lines and data centers can become a channel for broader concerns. If you’re in a community where a data center is getting built, you’re also hyper aware of all of the infrastructure that is going on around that… And I think there is sort of the negative sentiment around data centers and AI in general, but it’s all snowballing with all of these other concerns that folks have about costs and again, like property value and pace of life and the views out there front windows, all of these things kind of coming together into just a generalized opposition. Federal regulators tell electric grid operators to fix their rules on data centers | Inside Climate News Earlier this week FERC gave the nation’s six major grid operators 60 days to propose reforms, or justify their existing rules, governing how data centers and other large customers connect to the grid. The purpose of the order is to expedite connections between large customers and utilities, but with some proposed protections for residential and small commercial customers… The order also requires grid operators to examine how they accommodate co-location agreements, which allow data centers to be built at or near power plants, and “behind-the-meter” energy supplies, in which the data centers themselves build their own power plants… Additionally, within 30 days, grid operators must submit a detailed report describing how they intend to ensure that adequate generation will be available to serve existing and new large loads. Inside Climate News covers the specifics of where grid operators have flexibility, including in the definition of what large load is, in their piece. Read more
Transmission Lines and Good Times | Reading and Podcast Picks - June 28, 2026
Brief
Transmission expansion and data-center interconnections are colliding in Texas and at the federal level. In Central Texas, hundreds of landowners have petitioned to pause the $2 billion, 765-kV Bell County East–Big Hill upgrade—arguing they weren’t properly notified after route changes—after the PUC already paused approval; PUCT staff’s recommendation relied on a 2024 ERCOT study that highlighted 765-kV lines’ ability to move more power farther with fewer losses despite higher capital costs, and Oncor cites rapid West Texas load growth. At the same time, Latitude Media’s Catalyst podcast outlines how local opposition to data centers compounds resistance to transmission. Federal regulators moved to address the tension: FERC gave six major grid operators 60 days to reform interconnection rules for large customers and 30 days to report how they’ll secure adequate generation, including guidance on co-location and behind‑the‑meter arrangements.
Why it matters
Hundreds of Central Texas landowners have filed a formal petition seeking a pause in approval of the $2 billion, 765-kV Bell County East to Big Hill transmission upgrade, alleging they were not properly notified after route changes; the PUC had already paused its approval process and PUCT staff recommended 765-kV lines based on a 2024 ERCOT study that favored long-distance, lower-loss capacity despite higher upfront costs.
Key details
- Data centers are intensifying local opposition to transmission and other infrastructure projects—Latitude Media’s Catalyst podcast notes community pushback tied to concerns about property values, pace of life, views and broader anxiety about AI/data centers, which can aggregate and amplify resistance to new lines and facilities.
- FERC this week ordered the nation’s six major grid operators to either propose reforms within 60 days (or justify existing rules) governing data center and other large-customer interconnections and to submit, within 30 days, a detailed report on how they will ensure adequate generation for existing and new large loads; the order also directs review of co-location agreements and behind-the-meter arrangements and aims to speed large-customer connections while protecting residential and small commercial customers.