Texas legislature apparently has a suicide pact with the Gas Industry.
Related post here has more background.
The Texas Senate on Thursday passed a bill that leading business interests fear would lead to an age of expensive power and rolling blackouts.
If passed by the House, S.B. 715 would require all renewable projects — even existing ones — to buy backup power, largely from coal or gas plants.
This would require solar plants in particular to buy backup power to “match their output at night — a time when no one expects them to produce energy and when demand is typically at its lowest anyway,” consultant and energy expert Doug Lewin wrote in an April analysis.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation, a right-wing think tank that is one of the bill’s most prominent advocates, argues that it is necessary to make up for the “volatility” of wind and solar power.
The state business lobby disagrees. A study by the Texas Association of Business (TAB) found that the legislation would cost the state $5.2 billion more per year — and individual consumers $225 more.
In addition to more expensive power, the TAB study found, Texans would also get a higher risk of blackouts in the heat of summer, or in future ice storms.
In a state where electric demand is growing rapidly — Texas electric load is projected to nearly double by decade’s end — virtually all new power of the last five years has come from renewables, which take about half the time of gas plants to be added to the grid.
The bill follows two prior bills passed by the Texas Senate that target the state’s nation-leading renewables industry. SB 388 requires every new megawatt of renewables to be matched by a megawatt of new gas power — effectively throttling the growth of the state electric production in an environment where new gas turbines are in short supply.
And SB 819, championed by suburban Republican Sen. Lois Kolkhorst (R) would use “the police power of the state” to restrict landowners from leasing their property to wind and solar companies.
The fate of all three now lies in the Texas House, where pro-renewable voices among the GOP were winnowed amid the Republican primary purges of 2024, when Gov. Greg Abbott (R) targeted rural opponents of school vouchers, and Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) targeted members who had voted to impeach him.
As a whole, the legislation cuts against rising support for renewables among Texas Republicans. Recent polling suggests that nearly 80 percent of Texas GOP voters believe that renewables make the Texas electric grid more stable.
Aurora Energy Research, a leading global energy market analytics provider, released a new report, commissioned by the Texas Association of Business, finding that restricting renewable energy expansion in Texas could increase electricity costs for consumers and businesses, while jeopardizing grid reliability. As demand surges, the findings underscore the essential role of renewables and flexible technologies in meeting ERCOT’s accelerating electricity needs, Aurora assesses.
The report finds that restricting renewable energy expansion would drive a 14% increase in power prices by 2035, translating to a 10% increase in power bills, and could leave up to 620,000 homes without electricity during extreme weather events.
To maintain grid stability amid growing demand, ERCOT has relied on a mix of renewables and flexible technologies like battery storage. However, with population growth, industrial expansion, and surging energy needs from data centers and bitcoin mining, restrictions on renewable energy additions could hinder its ability to keep pace.
Under a fully restricted renewable development scenario, the report estimates that power bills would rise by approximately 10%, adding $225 each year for the average Texas household and $6.3 million annually for a 100MW industrial consumer. Total system costs would climb by $5.2 billion.
Aurora’s modelling found that limiting renewables would increase the risk of capacity shortfalls and load shedding of 1.8GW to 3.1GW – enough to leave 360,000 to 620,000 homes without power during a hot summer weather event. Ongoing supply chain delays further threaten the timely addition of new capacity, including approved thermal projects.
“SB 819, championed by suburban Republican Sen. Lois Kolkhorst (R) would use “the police power of the state” to restrict landowners from leasing their property to wind and solar companies.” You gotta love that ‘small government’ Republicanism. Imagine landowners doing what they want with their land!