Last month, The Houston Chronicle published an important editorial on the need for energy companies to “coexist, adapt, and evolve” so as to lower bills, preserve the grid, and maintain Texas’ energy leadership. The full article is only available to subscribers (which is a good investment for those who care about Texas energy). Here’s an extract:
Both fossil fuel proponents and their supporters seem to agree that renewable energies are here to stay. The total electricity production from renewable sources increased four-fold in the last ten years, and its share of overall power production increased from 8% to 25%. Texas leads the nation in terms of clean energy capacity, and it isn’t even close. Texas has brought 7,352 Megawatts of wind, solar, and energy storage projects online this year. Another 20,000 Megawatts are in development. This is far more than California, which is the runner-up in both categories.
Even as we become more reliant on solar and wind power, our grid will need high-efficiency thermal energy that is dispatchable, primarily from natural gas, to fill in gaps in generation when the weather conditions are not favorable.
Three weeks into the Texas 2023 legislative session cle, energy is a target. This Chronicle column lists many threats that Texas clean energy industries face.
While leaders try to impose new, huge costs on Texans, money will go straight to the gas and coal generators.
It’s nuts. Texas is the leader in clean energy thanks to free-market forces, innovation, and entrepreneurship. On the horizon are breakthroughs in areas such as energy storage and geothermal power. There are many things that the legislature can do to strengthen and extend its leadership. The biggest thing is to get out of the way.
Last month, I discussed the need to bring consumers to the forefront of energy discussions in the state and to find solutions to increase reliability as well as lower costs. This should be the focus of this session. Not attacking Texas’ clean energy resources or artificially enriching thermal power generators.
Texas is a large state. The Chronicle points out that there is a place for all kinds of energy, both the ones that are already here and those on their way. The role of solar is growing, helping people to live more powerfully and free from high electricity bills and blackouts.
Adopting these roles will benefit Texas’ economy as well as its people. It will also help Texas maintain its leadership in energy into the 21st Century.