Texas utility officials have given preliminary approval to building billions of dollars worth of transmission lines to bring wind energy from gusty West Texas to urban areas.

Texas is already the national leader in wind power, and supporters say the latest move will bring more wind energy projects, create jobs, reduce energy costs and reduce pollution.

The Public Utility Commission, however, didn’t commit to as big of a project as some environmental and consumer groups had wanted. The chosen plan would transmit a little more than half the energy those groups wanted.

Environmental groups estimate Texas electric customers will see a bump of about $4 on their monthly bills to pay for construction over the next six or seven years.Texas already accounts for almost a third of the country’s wind power but a new transmission system under consideration could quadruple wind power development and make the state an even better model for development elsewhere in the country.

Critical regulatory approval has been approved for billions of dollars in new transmission lines will effectively green-light tens of billions more in wind development investment, perhaps as much as an additional 24,000 megawatts.

Texas’s basic challenge – bringing power from where the wind blows hardest to where it is needed most - is the same faced by the rest of the country, making the Lone Star State something of a test case model.