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LCRA TSC board approves three transmission projects and authorizes land-rights acquisitions
Summary
The Lower Colorado River Authority Transmission Services Corporation board approved funding and authorizations for three transmission projects — including a new Euclid substation — and authorized staff to negotiate easement acquisitions for a Bearcat-to-North McKinney line after executive session.
The Lower Colorado River Authority Transmission Services Corporation (LCRA TSC) Board of Directors on March 26 approved capital improvement projects that include a new Euclid substation, a transformer upgrade at the Giddings substation and property acquisition for a planned Pine Pass substation, and separately authorized staff to acquire land rights for parts of a Bearcat-to-North McKinney transmission line following executive session.
An LCRA staff member told the board the Euclid Substation addition would be built on a greenfield site of just under 28 acres northwest of Lockhart in Caldwell County, provide about a half-gigawatt of additional capacity and is estimated to cost $97,500,000 with land-rights purchases “in excess of $600,000.” The board was told the project’s recommended completion date is Nov. 30, 2026.
The board approved the three projects together by voice vote. The vote was recorded as “motion carries” in the meeting minutes; no roll-call vote with individual names was recorded in the transcript.
Why it matters: LCRA’s transmission projects are intended to add capacity and replace aging equipment to serve growing electric loads, including data centers, and to prepare property acquisitions ahead of future substation construction.
Details of the projects
Euclid Substation addition: The staff presentation described roughly a 28-acre greenfield substation site in Caldwell County northwest of Lockhart that would add about 0.5 GW of capacity and serve a “large load data center.” The staff member said the recommended completion date is Nov. 30, 2026, and estimated the total project cost at $97,500,000; land-rights purchases for the parcel were described as exceeding $600,000.
Giddings power transformer upgrade: The board was told the work would install a new power transformer at the Giddings substation west of Giddings in Lee County to increase capacity and replace aging equipment, and would include relay installations to improve responsiveness. The staff presentation listed an estimated cost of $7,600,000 and a recommended completion date stated in the transcript as December 30, 2025.
Pine Pass Substation property acquisition: The board was told LCRA would acquire approximately 5.8 acres of property in Bastrop County east of Lake Bastrop near the Sim Gideon power plant to reserve a site for a planned Pine Pass Substation. The staff member said the acquisition is expected to be completed by Dec. 30, 2025 and estimated the cost at $2,300,000. The presentation noted the future substation would also serve the Griffith League Ranch area.
Executive session actions and land-rights authorizations
After an executive session that the board said was held under Texas Government Code provisions, the board returned to open session and approved two separate motions authorizing the president and chief executive officer (or a designee) to negotiate, execute and take necessary actions to acquire land rights for transmission-line easements related to the Bearcat-to-North McKinney transmission line addition project. Both motions were adopted by voice vote with the transcript recording “Aye” and “Motion carries.”
The first authorization, moved in open session immediately after the executive session, states the acquisition authority applies to the Bearcat-to-North McKinney project in Upton County “as discussed in executive session.”
The second authorization in the transcript is recorded as a motion “for acquisition of land rights in Oakland County” but the motion text repeats the Bearcat-to-North McKamey (sic) transmission-line description and again references Upton County. The transcript therefore contains an internal inconsistency about whether the second acquisition pertains to Oakland County or Upton County; both motions were approved as recorded in the meeting.
Board process and next steps
During the presentation staff reminded the board that individual projects are brought forward after scopes and cost estimates are developed and that, per the staff presentation, these projects “will all be funded by LCRA TSC regulated rates upon completion and consideration approval by the Public Utility Commission of Texas.” The board moved approval for the capital improvement projects by a voice vote and later approved the two land-rights authorizations after executive session; the transcript does not record a roll-call tally for any of the votes.
The board adjourned at 11:14 a.m.
