The US Department of Energy has closed a loan to a utility in Texas for transmission projects across the state. Its Office of Energy Dominance Financing announced it in a release on the loan, dated July 8, 2026. The loan is for up to $3.26 billion. The release says it is the third utility financing completed through the department's Energy Dominance Financing Program. Parts of the release follow, not the whole.
The Projects
The loan will finance approximately 100 transmission projects across Texas, the release says. They include rebuilding or reconductoring existing transmission lines. They also include constructing new transmission infrastructure spanning roughly 2,800 miles.
The department says the projects will double the power-carrying capacity of the upgraded transmission infrastructure. It says they will reduce power interruptions. And they will connect new sources of reliable baseload generation to the grid.
The release gives no date for any line to be energized, and a data center waiting on one would need that date.
The Demand It Names, and a Forecast Saving
By expanding transmission capacity, the release says, the projects will help meet rapidly growing electricity demand. It names three sources of that demand: data centers, advanced manufacturing, and oil and natural gas development in the Permian Basin.
Data centers are one of three demand drivers named. The release does not say how much of the new capacity any of them will use.
The release also puts a number on what households and businesses would save. In the department's forecast, "the investment will save" Texas households and businesses approximately $685 million in electricity costs over the next 30 years.
Sources
- U.S. Department of Energy, Office of Energy Dominance Financing (EDF). Release on a loan to a Texas utility for transmission projects (the window's description: the release's own title names the borrower). 8 July 2026. energy agency