Category: Energy

A Year-by-Year Estimate of Renewable Energy Subsidy Costs for Texas and for the U.S. The Texas electricity market is being overrun by renewable energy generation. Since 2018, 79.3% of all new generation has been intermittent renewable energy. Only 19.1% has come from generation that can be dispatched, and all of that comes from one source—natural…

Residents in two Texas counties may soon face new renewable energy farms if local officials don’t change their tune. Monday night (June 21 @ 6 p.m.) the trustees on the board of Troy I.S.D. can approve a tax abatement for Big Elm Solar. The solar farm will cover about 3,000 acres in Bell County, and…

Despite years of increasing reliance on intermittent generation sources like wind and solar, Texas policymakers seem to have been caught by surprise by the blackouts experienced by millions of Texans this winter.  They should not have been. While temperatures dropped into the single digits for extended periods over much of Texas, solar and wind generators…

The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the entity that operates the Texas electric grid, last week projected record-high demand this summer because of hot, dry weather and Texas’ continued economic growth. ERCOT projects that demand could reach as high as 77,144 megawatts (MW) this summer. But says with a projected 86,862 MW of generation…

By Gerson Freitas Jr (Bloomberg) Energy Transfer LP, the pipeline giant controlled by billionaire Kelcy Warren, has emerged as the biggest winner so far from the deadly winter storm that paralyzed Texas in February. The company saw a positive earnings impact from the extreme weather of about $2.4 billion, it said Thursday in its first-quarter…

See a printable version of the report at the Texas Energy Alliance Introduction In 1999, a bipartisan coalition of Texas legislators bucked the interests of Texas public utilities to introduce what became the world’s most competitive electricity market. Though not without its flaws, the legislation passed that session set the stage for an unprecedented experiment…

By Juliette Fairley. Houston Republic Taxpayer subsidies paid to wind and solar developers contributed to the grid nearing emergency conditions this week, according to an oil and gas expert. “That’s part of it,” Robert Bradley, CEO and founder of the Institute for Energy Research, said. “We get a lot of generation we don’t need just because…

Karla Florez – Austin News Earlier this week, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which operates the state’s power grid, came close to declaring “emergency conditions” after approximately 25% of its capacity was shut off to undergo maintenance. “Alert: Due to a combination of high-gen outages typical in April & higher-than-forecasted demand caused by a…

By Andy Nghiem Representatives from Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Energy are currently proposing to build 10 new natural gas power plants in Texas at a cost of $8 billion. The Texas Tribune reported that lawmakers would provide Berkshire a return on its investment by creating an additional charge on Texans’ power bills. Critics, however, question whether this deal…

By Bree Gonzales (this article was originally published in the Lone Star Standard) State Sen. Kelly Hancock (R-North Richland Hills) has offered an amendment to Senate Bill 3, which provides that renewable energy sources must fund reliable ancillary services in the event that they are unable to meet demand. Hancock, who also filed SB 1278, which…