A coalition of landowners in Texas
working to stop construction of power transmission lines from Central and East Texas to energy-rich West Texas
This boondoggle, created by the Texas Legislature in HB5066, is an enormously expensive
soluation to a problem that does not exist. Its perpetrators have cleverly created a zero-sum
game that pits land owners against each other by proposing three different routes and having
the land owners focus on getting the final route not to be in their back yard.
The correct response is for all land owners to band together and have the legislature undo this
entire project.
Ask yourself: why carry energy from Central Texas to fossil-fuel-rich West Texas? To support
data centers, which are private enterprises fully capable of, and actually doing, making their
own power sources?
What to do now?
As of April 8, 2026, here is an idea:
Attorneys are asking landowners to anticipate legal fees of $30,00 to $50,000 in exchange for a
best-efforts attempt by the attorneys to move the power lines onto someone else's land.
Why don't we use donations of similar sums to help the general public in Texas understand what
their electricity bills will look like in the coming years if this boondoggle is not stopped now?
The Edward Plateau Alliance (see below) seems to have some ideas how to do this but they do not seem to be
getting far.
As of December 14, 2025, here is an idea:
I am writing to you today to ask for your help. The Edwards Plateau Alliance and myself, whom I have been working with for several months,
have decided to extend our advertising outreach beyond the Livestock
Weekly Newspaper to the Austin area and Dallas market to garner more
attention from electricity customers and environmentalists. The goal is
to gain grassroots support and get in front of legislative eyes in
Austin.
I have been working with several nonprofit organizations and the word is
spreading. But we need this to happen faster since our Oncor
applications for CCN's will be due in February. We want to delay the
process as much as we can, if not stop it altogether - that is our main
goal.
I am asking for your support in the form of donations to cover the cost
of this educational outreach and advertising campaign. The cost of the
advertising will be around $15,000 for one month. Edwards Plateau
Alliance is a 501-c-3 non profit organization, so any donations are tax
deductible.
Please consider this and mail your donation to: Edwards Plateau
Alliance, PO Box 316, Eldorado, Texas 76936 or go to our website at
EdwardsPlateauAlliance.org and click the donation button. Or for those
of you who know me, call me and I can pick up a check and we can grab a
cup of coffee! Thank you for your support and dedication to the
preservation of our land for future generations.
Joanna Friebele