FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 30, 2026
New Businesses Commit to Covering Their Transmission Costs in Texas
A Minimum Transmission Charge Can Help Alleviate Rising Grid Infrastructure Costs, New Study Shows
AUSTIN — The Lone Star State can put downward pressure on Texans’ transmission costs — and ensure new large energy customers are paying their fair share — by adopting a minimum transmission charge (MTC) for major electricity users, according to a new study from the Texas Energy Buyers Alliance (TEBA).
“Texas is quickly becoming the nation’s leader in both advanced computing and manufacturing industries,” said Bryn Baker, TEBA’s state director. “As the state builds the grid needed to support this economic development, our members are bringing solutions that will help protect households and small businesses from price increases. A minimum transmission charge, among other solutions, can ensure Texas remains a great place for new business without shifting energy infrastructure costs to existing ratepayers.”
The TEBA study, conducted by consulting firm J. Pollock Inc., found that an MTC of 80% of contracted load over nine years would place downward pressure on residential customer rates. At that level, along with a shift to monthly transmission billing charges (see factsheet linked below), residential transmission charges could be 3.6% lower.
An MTC, also known as minimum billing demand, would set a floor on transmission charges tied to large energy users’ contracted load. Establishing the charge would help generate enough revenue to guarantee critical investment in the state’s system of power lines, poles, substations, and other transmission equipment that carries electricity from power plants to communities. Without these new large loads putting downward pressure on transmission costs, transmission rates on average are increasing by about 3.5% every year.
Read the full report here: https://txenergybuyers.com/full-teba-study-on-minimum-transmission-charge/
View a report fact sheet here: https://txenergybuyers.com/lower-power-bills-with-more-large-loads/.
The Texas Energy Buyers Alliance (TEBA) is a business trade association that activates a community of energy customers and partners to advance reliable, affordable, clean energy for Texas. TEBA is a state chapter of the Corporate Energy Buyers Association. TEBA’s members include more than 200 companies that have more than $36 trillion in market capitalization as well as thousands of facilities and hundreds of thousands of employees across Texas. For more information, visit txenergybuyers.org.
For more information, please contact:
Steve Scheibal, steve@newwestcomms.com, 512-762-8808