Expert breaks down DOE plan to connect Texas with the national power grid

For nearly a century, Texas has maintained an isolated power grid, separate from the rest of the United States, primarily to avoid federal regulations. However, a series of recent power challenges, including severe winter storms and hurricane-force winds, have prompted the Lone Star State to move forward with plans to connect to the national power grid in the hopes of preventing future large-scale outages.

The project, which involves a $360 million investment from the Department of Energy, aims to enhance the state’s ability to manage energy supply and demand more efficiently.

Pete Kohnstam, a sales director at Nexans — a global fiber-optic company that works with the same technology Texas will use to link to the U.S. grid — has emphasized the benefits of this connection.

“Texas is being connected to the rest of the grid, you have to hope that that helps a lot with balancing the challenges that they have,” Kohnstam told Straight Arrow News. “I think the ability to inject 3,000 megawatts, essentially, into the system is tremendous. What you’re doing is you are diversifying your generation supply and having a diversity of sources of generation and geographical diversity is huge.”

The move is not just expected to help Texas’ energy infrastructure but also to benefit other states by enabling the transfer of renewable energy.

According to the Energy Information Administration, Texas leads the U.S. in renewable power generation, accounting for about 16% of the nation’s energy derived from these sources.

“Texas has the highest amount of wind generation in the U.S. by a significant margin, they are powerhouse for renewable energy,” Kohnstam explained. “And so what this link will allow to happen is export of some of that excess renewable energy to states that don’t have such good resources, but also allow those resources in the east to support the Texas grid when they have challenges.”

Despite the planned connection, state officials are keen to maintain Texas’ longstanding independence from federal oversight. The state’s power system will remain autonomous, continuing to avoid the federal regulations that influenced its initial decision to isolate from the U.S. grid in the 1930s.

“This means that Texas retains its independence,” Kohnstam said. “It does not become part of the federally regulated transmissions, which is very important for the residents.”

However, Kohnstam estimates that it could take up to a decade to complete this project, considering the various approvals needed from regulators before the construction process even begins, although he expects there will be a push to get it done faster.

“The permitting processes can take multiple years. The lead time for the equipment is probably five years, and then construction time for the line will be two to three years,” Kohnstam explained. “So, I I would suggest that 10 years is a good window. I’m sure the developers are looking to improve on that significantly.”