The Public Utility Commission of Texas voted to extend time to the maximum extent authorized by law to consider rehearing motions on the Howard to Solstice 765-kilovolt transmission line. AEP Texas and CPS Energy are the utilities behind the project, which would span about 370 miles from the San Antonio to Fort Stockton areas. The line is the southernmost of three proposed lines in the STEP Permian plan, which would move power from East Texas to the Permian Basin.
The commission approved the Howard to Solstice line on September 11. Several parties filed rehearing motions, including the landowner group American Stewards of Liberty. The group argued that the commission wrongly found the Permian Basin Reliability Plan established a need for more service. It also questioned whether the commission is going beyond what state lawmakers instructed it to do under House Bill 5066, passed in 2023.
State law says rehearing motions are overruled if commissioners do not act within 55 days of an approval order. In a written order, they may extend that deadline up to 100 days. Attorney Connor Ellington said the utility cannot use eminent domain or begin construction until the order is final, and that the extension delays landowners' ability to take the matter to court. AEP Texas and CPS Energy did not respond to a request for comment before publication. The third line is on hold after the commission sent the Bell County East to Big Hill segment to the State Office of Administrative Hearings.