Electric transmission lines must connect wind farms to the places where the electricity is used. People fought over whether wind farm owners or electricity users should pay to build these lines. On July 17, 2008, the Texas Public Utilities Commission ruled that ratepayers should pay $4.93 billion to build the lines to connect wind farms in the Texas Panhandle to the Texas electric grid. This implements a 2005 Texas law designed to promote new wind energy projects.