The Valley landed the projects. Now it has to power them — and the others that are following.
From left, moderator Beverly Loftus, chief operating officer of the Harlingen Economic Development Corporation; Dale Fowler, senior manager of economic and business development for AEP Texas; Javier Martinez, electrical system planning manager for the Brownsville Public Utilities Board; Jerry Briones, executive vice president of the Greater Brownsville Incentives Corporation; and Albert Escobedo, government affairs director for RGV Desal’s South Texas operations, discuss the Rio Grande Valley’s infrastructure needs during a panel in Harlingen. Photo Credit | Naxiely Lopez-Puente

Editor’s note: This is the first of two stories from Thursday’s “Powering Texas and Regional Growth: Infrastructure + Workforce Exchange” in Harlingen. This story focuses on infrastructure. The second will examine the Rio Grande Valley’s workforce needs.


The Rio Grande Valley spent years trying to attract the kind of large-scale industrial investment now pouring into South Texas.

Now that some of those projects are here, their suppliers are beginning to follow and the infrastructure needed to support them is being tested in ways regional leaders say will require the Valley to plan — and build — differently.

In Brownsville, that challenge can already be measured in megawatts.

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