Data Center Power Lines Divide Far East El Paso
Operators and property owners near the proposed transmission corridor should track the route decision and how the McCloud plant's costs are allocated.
Updated on Nov. 5, 2026 in Utilities
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County Commissioner Jackie Butler has invited Far East El Paso residents to a community meeting on El Paso Electric's proposed McCloud power plant and the high-voltage transmission lines tied to it. The meeting is set for 6 p.m. at the Montana Vista Fire Station, 13978 Montana Ave. Operators and property owners near the proposed Pine to McCloud Central 345 kV line route should track the outcome, since no final transmission route has been selected.
Why it matters
El Paso Electric says the roughly $500 million McCloud natural gas plant is meant to meet new power demand from Meta's nearby data center, and that Meta, not existing ratepayers, would pay for it. The City of El Paso filed testimony with the Public Utility Commission of Texas in June opposing the plant, arguing the utility conducted no long-term cost-benefit analysis, revenue requirement projections, or customer rate impact studies.
The McCloud plant carries an estimated $500 million price tag and the associated transmission lines are rated at 345 kV, sized to support a 1 gigawatt interconnection for the Meta data center. The filing record does not provide a rate impact comparison or a cost-benefit baseline against which to judge those figures.
The players
El Paso Electric
El Paso Electric is a regulated investor-owned electric utility serving the El Paso region of West Texas and southern New Mexico, and is the proponent of the McCloud plant and transmission project.
Public Utility Commission of Texas
The Public Utility Commission of Texas is the state regulator that oversees electric utilities and approves major transmission and generation projects for investor-owned utilities.
Meta
Meta is a major technology company operating large-scale data centers, and is the intended customer whose new power demand the McCloud plant is designed to serve.
City of El Paso
The City of El Paso is the municipal government that filed testimony opposing the McCloud plant on behalf of local residents and ratepayers.
The details
El Paso Electric describes McCloud as a proposed natural gas facility near the Meta data center, with a transmission expansion needed to interconnect the site. The proposed high-voltage Pine to McCloud Central 345 kV lines could run through the Montana Vista and Homestead Meadows neighborhoods in Far East El Paso. Residents in Homestead Meadows received letters about the proposed lines in April, and the City's June testimony argues the utility has not documented how the project would affect rates.
Timeline
April: Homestead Meadows residents received letters about the proposed power lines.
June: The City of El Paso filed testimony with the Public Utility Commission of Texas opposing the McCloud plant.
Thursday, November 5, 2026: Commissioner Jackie Butler invited residents to a community meeting.
Market Landscape
Large data center loads are prompting utilities in Texas to propose dedicated generation and transmission built around a single customer, which puts cost allocation at the center of PUC review. The McCloud dispute tests whether a data center customer can be charged for infrastructure that also crosses residential neighborhoods.
Businesses in Far East El Paso and along the proposed transmission corridor should monitor the route decision, since the line could affect property use and neighborhood development. Operators with large power loads should watch whether PUC review assigns generation and transmission costs to Meta or spreads them across ratepayer rates, as that will shape future utility pricing.
The takeaway
Track the PUC docket and the community meeting record, because the cost-allocation ruling will set the pricing precedent for large data center loads in El Paso. Operators near the proposed Pine to McCloud Central 345 kV route should request the final route notice from El Paso Electric once a route is selected.
Further reading
For background on how regional power projects are planned and priced, see the Utilities coverage on We are Main Street.
Source note: This article includes information reported by KDBC.
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Should local utilities pass data center power infrastructure costs onto residents?
