/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/dmn/LWUT6WFG7FG3VDEQJKVV674QVI.jpg?ssl=1 "Plan to link Texas ERCOT electric grid to southeastern U.S. states is in the works")
Since forever, Texans have proudly proclaimed that our state electricity grid run by ERCOT did not need or want to connect to the national grids. We don’t want no stinkin’ federal regulators putting their noses into our business.
Quietly, though, behind the scenes, state regulators have worked for more than a decade with Pattern Energy, a private company, to create the “Southern Spirit Transmission.”
The goal is a 400-mile transmission line from the Texas/Louisiana border, through Louisiana and into Mississippi to connect with grids in the southeastern United States.
Power could flow into or out of Texas, depending on the need.
Federal regulators would have no jurisdiction over the project because of the way it’s set up. Also, the electricity flow would be direct current, not the usual alternating current.
In a local angle, Garland Power & Light is part of the plan because the lines would connect to Texas in a partnership with Garland. Garland announced its participation back in 2011. The utility would operate a substation on the Texas border and 30 miles of transmission lines leading to it.
Your cost? Consumers would not – repeat, not – pay for this $2.6 billion project.
A projected schedule shows construction could start in 2026 and end by 2029. Right-of-way work is being done now.
This project, a groundbreaking one if pieces fall into place, has received little public attention. The Watchdog learned about it after Watchdog Nation member Bill Loftin of Plano noticed its mention in a Louisiana parish newsletter he subscribes to.
According to the latest issue of the Red River Parish Journal, leaders in the northwest Louisiana community heard from a representative of Pattern asking for public support of 21 miles of transmission lines across the parish.
Residents asked about environmental impact and the effect on farmers, wildlife and others. At one point, the Pattern official threatened the use of eminent domain to seize needed land.
Residents also criticized the project for its lack of local benefits. No power would be used in Louisiana.
“There is no person in Louisiana to call if someone has a problem,” someone said. “There is no entity in Louisiana that has jurisdiction over this company.”
Others complained about the huge transmission towers, which plans show could go as high as 450 feet.
The parish postponed a decision.
Participating communities will benefit from creation of 3,000 construction jobs and millions of dollars in local impact, including property tax revenue, according to the company.
Pattern says its goal is to increase the diversity of its power sources “to help drive down rates for electricity customers, especially in times of high energy demand.”
Direct current, as opposed to alternating current, is more efficient, leaves a smaller footprint and involves fewer wires to transmit the same amount of power, the company states on its website.
In the meantime, Pattern is trying to build goodwill in pass-through communities. Headlines on its website announce “Southern Spirit is Supporting Local Food Bank” and “Giving Back is a Year-Long Commitment.”
Applications have been submitted to Louisiana and Mississippi regulators. The Texas Public Utility Commission has ordered ERCOT to present updates every six months.
Texas already has several small direct current connections with Mexico and the western and eastern U.S. grids, but nothing like this planned project.
The ERCOT grid is called an “electrical island” because of its independence from other grids. Since we don’t cross state lines, Texas utilities aren’t forced to deal with the feds.
In this case, federal involvement is limited because the company was able to “thread the needle of the federal requirements,” Pattern lobbyist Michael Jewell told Houston TV station KHOU in 2021.
Even with the Southern Spirit in operation, it would not have provided enough power to prevent blackouts during the 2021 ice storm catastrophe. But it would have provided power for a few hundred thousand homes.
In a November filing before the PUC, Pattern states that once the project comes online, total import capacity “would still be less than 4% of ERCOT’s current peak resource needs.”
ERCOT and the PUC have details to iron out. Approval is needed in Louisiana and Mississippi.
And then there are those communities that must be swayed. They don’t want no stinkin’ out-of-towners putting ugly towers across their land.
Who can blame them?
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* Helping a waitress who was harmed by an unscrupulous used car dealer
Published On 8 Jul 2026
The family of a man killed by an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent in Texas has called for an investigation into the incident.
The appeal on Wednesday came a day after the ICE agent fatally shot Lorenzo Salgado Araujo in Houston during a traffic stop, the most recent high-profile killing by immigration enforcement agents amid the administration of US President Donald Trump’s mass deportation drive.
list of 3 itemsend of listRecommended Stories
Salgado Araujo’s family said he was working at the time he was killed, driving a crew to a home build in the area. They said he may have been scared that the individuals in the unmarked vehicles that stopped him were trying to steal his tools.
They further said the Mexican national had lived in the US for 35 years and was working towards getting legal status. He had no criminal record and worked tirelessly to support his three US sons, all US citizens.
“He did not deserve to die. He did not deserve to be reduced to a headline of ‘Mexican man shot and killed by ICE’,” son Ronaldo Salgado said during a news conference.
“He deserved to live a quiet life as Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, a husband, a father and a job creator for dozens of men who also wanted the American dream,” he said.
The US Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has said Salgado Araujo attempted to ram an ICE agent, who opened fire in response. Prior to that, they said Salgado Araujo’s car had struck an ICE vehicle.
No video or images of the incident have been released, although a bystander recorded its aftermath.
DHS said Salgado Araujo had been targeted by the agents because he was living in the US without documentation.
While the Trump administration had initially said it would only target criminals in its mass deportation push, it quickly said that it considered anyone in the US without documentation a criminal. Irregularly entering the US is a civil, not a criminal, violation.
Rights groups have accused immigration agents of using “dragnet” techniques under pressure to meet detainment quotas. The Trump administration has denied such quotas exist.
Speaking at the news conference on Wednesday, League of United Latin American Citizens President Roman Palomares said the immigration crackdown has created a country where it is “open season on Latinos” by officers who think they can “shoot and explain later”.
The initial details of the Texas killing resemble the killing of Renee Nicole Good in Minneapolis, Minnesota in January. DHS officials initially said that Good, a US citizen, was attempting to ram an ICE agent when she was fatally shot, although video appeared to show her steering around the agent, who opened fire after stepping to the side of her vehicle.
Just days later, 37-year-old Alex Pretti was fatally shot by a Border Patrol agent and a Customs and Border Protection officer as he sought to document immigration enforcement actions in Minneapolis.
Little has emerged from federal probes into the killings, which came amid an enforcement surge in the city. In a rare move, the Department of Justice declined a separate civil-rights probe into Nicole Good’s killing.
Speaking at the news conference on Wednesday, Ronaldo Salgado recounted frantically looking for his father at his job site after his mother had been told something bad had happened.
At some point during the search, he was shown the video of his fatally wounded father.
“I recognised him, not from his appearance but from his voice crying for help as he lay on the street,” Salgado said.
“After nearly 35 years of working to give us the American dream, he made the choice to begin the process of obtaining his American dream through a work permit,” Salgado said.
“We dotted every I, crossed every T, filled every document, and attended every appointment. He was close to obtaining his legal status.”
Mexico’s President Claudia Sheinbaum also condemned the killing, saying she was considering legal measures or an appeal to the United Nations.
“There has been another tragic death of one of our compatriots in the United States due to detention issues, even though their only ‘offence’ is not yet having proper documentation,” Sheinbaum said.
The shooting was at least the eighth known death during an encounter with federal immigration officers since the start of the Trump administration’s immigration crackdown.
High pressure starts to build back into North Texas, which lowers our rain chances and brings triple digit temperatures to parts of the region. Expect partly to mostly sunny skies today, with highs near 100.
DALLAS – A building system of high pressure is bringing triple-digit temperatures back to North Texas, though the intense heat will be short-lived before a weekend weather shift brings relief and renewed chances of rain.
We expect partly to mostly sunny skies Wednesday, with high temperatures reaching near 100 degrees across much of the region. While hot and dry conditions will dominate, a low chance of scattered rain showers remains possible, primarily in areas east of the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex.
The heat is expected to solidify Thursday as the upper-level ridge settles firmly over the area. We have removed all chances of precipitation from Thursday’s forecast, locking in dry conditions and an afternoon high temperature of 100 degrees.
However, relief is on the horizon for the upcoming weekend. The high-pressure ridge will lose its grip on North Texas as it begins to shift westward toward the desert southwest.
By late Saturday and continuing into Sunday, the atmospheric shift will establish a northerly flow aloft. This pattern change is expected to funnel a series of weather disturbances into the region, triggering a return of widespread rain and thunderstorm opportunities.
The unsettled weather pattern is forecast to linger well into next week. The persistent cloud cover and moisture associated with the continuing rain chances will successfully suppress the heat, keeping afternoon highs closer to historical norms for this time of year.
The Source: Information in this article is from the FOX 4 weather team.
Man, identified as Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, is latest to be killed by ICE officers since President Trump took power.
Published On 8 Jul 2026
A United States immigration agent fatally shot a man in Houston, Texas, while officers were attempting to stop his vehicle, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) said.
The man killed on Tuesday was identified as Lorenzo Salgado Araujo, described by ICE as a Mexican national and “illegal alien” who attempted to evade arrest during a “targeted enforcement operation” by federal immigration officers.
list of 3 itemsend of list
Ronaldo Salgado, who identified himself as Salgado Araujo’s son, told the Spanish-language television station Telemundo Houston that his father was shot while he was looking for workers to hire in the area.
The Department of Homeland Security (DHS), which oversees ICE, said Salgado Araujo ignored commands to stop his vehicle, saying he “rammed an ICE law enforcement vehicle, refused to follow multiple verbal commands, and weaponized his vehicle in an attempt to run over an ICE law enforcement officer”.
In past shooting incidents, including the January killings of Renee Good and Alex Pretti, immigration officials had said that their officers were being attacked when the two were shot, claims vigorously disputed in both incidents.
Video footage captured on Tuesday by a surveillance camera from a nearby business and reviewed by the Reuters news agency showed a person lying on the ground beside a white van and surrounded by officers, in what appeared to be the aftermath of the shooting.
Salgado Araujo was targeted in an operation because he was living in the country without legal permission, according to DHS.
Democratic US Representative Sylvia Garcia called for an independent and thorough investigation of ICE’s claims about the fatal shooting.
“All available footage, communications, and other evidence should be preserved and reviewed as part of a full and impartial investigation,” Garcia posted on social media.
Juan Proano, CEO of the League of United Latin American Citizens, echoed Garcia’s calls for a transparent investigation into ICE’s actions.
“We don’t take DHS at their word at all,” Proano told The Associated Press news agency. “There should be an independent investigation, and they should release all the videos.”
There have been at least six fatal shootings by federal immigration officers since the start of President Donald Trump’s intensified immigration enforcement crackdown.
Good, a 37-year-old US citizen, was shot in the head by a federal immigration agent during a crackdown in Minneapolis. DHS also said Good was trying to hit the agent with her vehicle, which local officials and witnesses disputed, saying she was only trying to drive away.
The backlash from Good’s killing and other similar incidents led ICE to step back from some of its more controversial operations.
However, Tuesday’s deadly confrontation in Houston came amid a recent increase in the number of ICE arrests nationwide, with immigration officers picking up about 2,000 migrants a day last week, Reuters reported.
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