AUSTIN, Texas—Today, Texas Oil & Gas Association (TXOGA) President Todd Staples testified before the Texas House of Representatives Committee on State Affairs on the urgent need to address electricity demand and transmission capabilities in West Texas.

See below for excerpts from TXOGA President Todd Staples’ opening remarks:

(Edited for Clarity Purposes Only)

“West Texas is the epicenter of American energy security. Production has increased 430% in just a ten-year period, from 2015 to 2025. These unmet needs have been well documented for a dozen years.

“Dating back to 2019, we have documents where ERCOT has done assessments specifically identifying the deficiencies and the need for transmission in West Texas and started contemplating solutions.

“The reality is a pause on the clock only stops the solution; it doesn’t stop the clock on the problem. We all know that when you pause these solutions, it increases the cost when you ultimately get to it.

“Reliability and affordability are the key measures we use for all these decisions, and we think that’s what you look at as well. That’s what customers expect, and we want to make certain that we’re doing that.

“Our members want to be connected to the grid for the same reason that you want to be connected to the grid at your home. You want reliability, you want cost-effectiveness, you want it to work when you need it. That’s what our members are asking for.

“We strongly believe the rights of private property owners should be protected. All the comments that are being heard today, we want regulators to take a look and listen, and find ways to accommodate them.

“The reliability plan for this region was contemplated and passed long before data centers became a topic in the state. It is needed separately and apart from the data center issue, and it is very important.

“We need generation and transmission. If natural gas generation [alone] were a solution to this problem, I’d be leading the parade for that, because my members produce 90% of the natural gas produced in the state. It’s simply an engineering and physical matter; you have to move those electrons where they’re needed, and this system will work.

“We have never supported transmission unless there were customers to pay for it. We don’t support transmission build-out just for the sake of building it out because of a generation type. We want to make certain that there are customers to pay for it. We’re paying for what we’ve signed up for today. We’re going to pay for our share of what we’re using. There are six gigawatts of unmet demand that’s ready to be signed up for, ready to be paid for, and we’re ready to go.”

BACKGROUND:

TXOGA President Staples penned an op-ed for the Midland Reporter-Telegram titled “Protect the Permian, Power West Texas.”

See below for excerpts from TXOGA President Staples’ op-ed for the Midland Reporter-Telegram:

“As the oil and natural gas industry continues to evolve and lead the way in innovations to meet domestic and global energy needs, power demand has outpaced the electrical infrastructure needed to sustain West Texas’ growth.

“The current electric transmission serving West Texas is so constrained that ERCOT has notified power users in the region they will likely face regional rotating outages at peak times because the load growth has overloaded the transmission infrastructure and its ability to deliver power. This is a threat to all electricity customers in the region.

“Electricity is a pillar of modern infrastructure; hindering its growth is a disservice to the pro-business, pro-growth beacon Texas has become.

“Implementing the Permian Basin Reliability Plan strengthens West Texas, and when West Texas is strong, America is stronger.”

To read the full op-ed, click here.