GRIMES COUNTY RESIDENTS ANGRY OVER TRANSMISSION LINE

  

Grimes County residents are angry over CenterPoint Energy’s plan to use their county to bring more power to the Houston area by creating a $300 million transmission line from the Gibbons Creek substation in Grimes County to Harris County.

The line would draw power from power plants in west and north Texas, through the Limestone substation in Limestone County, to the Gibbons substation, and finally, to Harris County.

CenterPoint officials claim they no longer have the capacity to serve the huge demand in the Houston area, so they need new lines and new corridors to deliver it.

One of several proposed plans would run a transmission line through private land in Grimes County. Landowners are concerned that the lines would decrease property values by as much as 40 percent and have a negative impact on local businesses and farms.

CenterPoint has several proposed routes, and will hold informational meetings to get input from landowners. They will then submit a final report to the Public Utility Commission in September of 2015. Once approved, it will take about two years to build the transmission lines.

The first informational meeting will be held tonight (Thursday) from 5 to 8pm at the Grimes County Expo Center at 5220 FM 3455