Reports related to this article:
Project(s): View 6 related projects in PECWeb
Plant(s): View 5 related plants in PECWeb
Released July 16, 2025 | SUGAR LAND
en
Written by John Egan for Industrial Info Resources (Sugar Land, Texas)--Privately held Oncor Electric Delivery Company LLC (Dallas, Texas), a large transmission and distribution (T&D) utility, earlier this year said it planned to make capital expenditures (capex) totaling about $36.1 billion over the 2025-2029 period. That represented a 50% jump, or $12 billion, over its previous five-year plan, for 2024-2028. The utility said it planned to spend about $7.1 billion of its five-year capital budget in 2025. Oncor's service territory includes much of Texas.
And $36.1 billion may represent only a down payment on the utility's capital needs over the next four and one-half years. In a FAQ posted to the utility's website regarding its capex program, it said, "it is worth noting that Oncor anticipates its capital plan will grow further over the 2025 through 2029 period. ... Oncor has identified potential additional capital opportunities from 2025-2029 that are likely to exceed (the) $12 billion (increase)." In other words, it is likely that Oncor's capital investments over the next five years will soar well beyond $36.1 billion.
For instance, the company's 2025-2029 capital plan only includes the expected spend for major transmission projects that had obtained all regulatory approvals as of February 2025. Additionally, it only includes large commercial and industrial projects for which interconnection agreements with Oncor had already been executed as of February 2025.
Industrial Info is tracking 66 active capital projects involving Oncor, valued at about $5.85 billion. But only 12 of those projects, worth approximately $672 million, are deemed to have a high probability of beginning construction according to their current schedules. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project Database platform can access a list of Oncor's high-probability projects by clicking here.
To begin recovering its capital outlays, on June 26, Oncor filed a price increase request for about $834 million with the Public Utility Commission of Texas. The utility listed the forces driving up its capital spending: recovering storm damage outlays (45% of the $834 million request), maintaining the utility's creditworthiness as it executes on the largest capital budget in its history (25%) and recovering costs tied to inflation and customer growth (20%). It did not disclose what the remaining 10% of the rate case would cover.
In a press release, the utility broke out the $12 billion jump in five-year capex programs as follows:
Regarding growth, in a FAQ posted to its website about the rate case, Oncor said that Texas "continues to experience unprecedented population, economic and load growth across Texas." It added that it is going through "record construction and maintenance efforts, increased storm recovery efforts and a continued focus on safety and reliability."
In a press release issued February 25 to report its 2024 earnings, Oncor said it increased its customer "premise count" by a near-company record 77,000 in 2024, roughly 4,000 more than in 2023. As well, the utility placed over $2 billion of transmission projects in service in 2024, strengthening the scale of its infrastructure development efforts to meet growing demand.
The utility said growth across its service area resulted in the construction or upgrading of approximately 4,300 miles of transmission and distribution lines and included more than 75 substation projects and more than 45 switching station projects, all of which were placed into service in 2024. "The continued dynamic growth across Oncor's service territory provides additional opportunities to deploy capital to grow the Oncor system," it added, a signal that capital outlays could rise above $36.1 billion over the 2025-2029 period.
Electric load growth in Texas, driven by population growth and increased oil and gas operations, data centers, advanced manufacturing and artificial intelligence (AI), have alarmed Texas officials. Last year, the state's electric grid operator, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), said the state's peak electric demand could soar to about 152,000 megawatts (MW) by 2030, nearly double its then-current 85,508 MW of peak demand. For more on that, see April 25, 2024, article - Data Centers, Oil & Gas Industry to Drive Surge in Texas Electricity Demand.
"Oncor has been entrusted with the extraordinary responsibility of helping power the unprecedented growth across Texas," said Debbie Dennis, Oncor's senior vice president, chief customer officer and chief HR officer. She added that some of the spending would be spend seeking "to minimize the impacts of increased storms on our customers."
Oncor, together with its subsidiaries, operates the largest transmission and distribution system in Texas, delivering electricity to more than 4 million homes and businesses and operating more than 144,000 circuit miles of transmission and distribution lines in Texas. Oncor is owned by two investors: Sempra (San Diego, California) and Texas Transmission Investment LLC (Dallas).
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
And $36.1 billion may represent only a down payment on the utility's capital needs over the next four and one-half years. In a FAQ posted to the utility's website regarding its capex program, it said, "it is worth noting that Oncor anticipates its capital plan will grow further over the 2025 through 2029 period. ... Oncor has identified potential additional capital opportunities from 2025-2029 that are likely to exceed (the) $12 billion (increase)." In other words, it is likely that Oncor's capital investments over the next five years will soar well beyond $36.1 billion.
For instance, the company's 2025-2029 capital plan only includes the expected spend for major transmission projects that had obtained all regulatory approvals as of February 2025. Additionally, it only includes large commercial and industrial projects for which interconnection agreements with Oncor had already been executed as of February 2025.
Industrial Info is tracking 66 active capital projects involving Oncor, valued at about $5.85 billion. But only 12 of those projects, worth approximately $672 million, are deemed to have a high probability of beginning construction according to their current schedules. Subscribers to Industrial Info's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) Power Project Database platform can access a list of Oncor's high-probability projects by clicking here.
To begin recovering its capital outlays, on June 26, Oncor filed a price increase request for about $834 million with the Public Utility Commission of Texas. The utility listed the forces driving up its capital spending: recovering storm damage outlays (45% of the $834 million request), maintaining the utility's creditworthiness as it executes on the largest capital budget in its history (25%) and recovering costs tied to inflation and customer growth (20%). It did not disclose what the remaining 10% of the rate case would cover.
In a press release, the utility broke out the $12 billion jump in five-year capex programs as follows:
- $4 billion for distribution upgrades and other capital needs
- Nearly $3 billion for Oncor's System Resiliency Plan approved by Texas utility regulators last year
- $2 billion for brownfield local common projects in the Permian Basin Reliability Plan
- $2 billion for interconnection of generation and large commercial and industrial (LC&I) customers with executed agreements, and
- $1 billion for transmission projects in the Delaware Basin Load Integration Plan and West Texas 345 kV Infrastructure Plan
Regarding growth, in a FAQ posted to its website about the rate case, Oncor said that Texas "continues to experience unprecedented population, economic and load growth across Texas." It added that it is going through "record construction and maintenance efforts, increased storm recovery efforts and a continued focus on safety and reliability."
In a press release issued February 25 to report its 2024 earnings, Oncor said it increased its customer "premise count" by a near-company record 77,000 in 2024, roughly 4,000 more than in 2023. As well, the utility placed over $2 billion of transmission projects in service in 2024, strengthening the scale of its infrastructure development efforts to meet growing demand.
The utility said growth across its service area resulted in the construction or upgrading of approximately 4,300 miles of transmission and distribution lines and included more than 75 substation projects and more than 45 switching station projects, all of which were placed into service in 2024. "The continued dynamic growth across Oncor's service territory provides additional opportunities to deploy capital to grow the Oncor system," it added, a signal that capital outlays could rise above $36.1 billion over the 2025-2029 period.
Electric load growth in Texas, driven by population growth and increased oil and gas operations, data centers, advanced manufacturing and artificial intelligence (AI), have alarmed Texas officials. Last year, the state's electric grid operator, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), said the state's peak electric demand could soar to about 152,000 megawatts (MW) by 2030, nearly double its then-current 85,508 MW of peak demand. For more on that, see April 25, 2024, article - Data Centers, Oil & Gas Industry to Drive Surge in Texas Electricity Demand.
"Oncor has been entrusted with the extraordinary responsibility of helping power the unprecedented growth across Texas," said Debbie Dennis, Oncor's senior vice president, chief customer officer and chief HR officer. She added that some of the spending would be spend seeking "to minimize the impacts of increased storms on our customers."
Oncor, together with its subsidiaries, operates the largest transmission and distribution system in Texas, delivering electricity to more than 4 million homes and businesses and operating more than 144,000 circuit miles of transmission and distribution lines in Texas. Oncor is owned by two investors: Sempra (San Diego, California) and Texas Transmission Investment LLC (Dallas).
Industrial Info Resources (IIR) is the leading provider of industrial market intelligence. Since 1983, IIR has provided comprehensive research, news and analysis on the industrial process, manufacturing and energy related industries. IIR's Global Market Intelligence (GMI) platform helps companies identify and pursue trends across multiple markets with access to real, qualified and validated plant and project opportunities. Across the world, IIR is tracking over 200,000 current and future projects worth $17.8 Trillion (USD).
