Subsidies to Nowhere

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 gas. The lack of diversity that has resulted from this over-reliance on renewables has come at a great cost to Texans.

As far back as 1999, the Texas Legislature has provided subsidies, tax abatements, and benefits to renewable energy companies. Add in the cost of federal subsidies and tax credits, and from 2006 through the end of 2021 renewable energy generators in Texas will have benefitted to the tune of $24.2 billion.

This explains why almost 80% of all new generation over the last three years has come from renewables.

The Energy Alliance has previously published summaries of our estimates of the costs of renewable energy. This is the first time, however, we have published year by year estimates. These numbers will allow interested parties to have a full understanding of the costs of renewable energy subsidies, tax credits/abatements, and benefits being paid for by taxpayers and consumers. Most of our numbers focus on Texas, but we also provide an estimate of federal—but not state and local—costs for the entire United States.

Key Points

• It is a common belief that federal tax credits for renewable energy are primarily responsible for the rapid deterioration of the reliability of the Texas grid.
• The total amount of state and local subsidies through 2021—$11.9 billion— almost equals the amount of federal subsidies that flowed into Texas during that same period.
• From 2006-2021 taxpayer subsidies flowing to renewable energy developers totaled $24,178,154,696.00
• Local subsidies: $1,571,321,249.00
• State subsidies: $10,319,180,506.00
• Federal subsidies: $12,287,652,941.00

Read the full report here.