[ad_1]
This month Texas hit a new milestone: national leader in solar farms. We had already long been well ahead of every other state in wind power, but we recently passed California to have the most utility-scale solar energy in the entire nation — 16.8 gigawatts, enough to power 1.9 million Texas homes.
Dallas County is doing its part to support this growth. Last fall, we signed a three-year agreement to power all of our 55 buildings with 100% renewable energy.
Renewable energy just makes sense. It’s helped Texas save billions of gallons of water, avoid deadly air pollution, prevent planet warming pollution and save consumers billions on electric bills.
Given all these benefits, you’d think our state leaders would be celebrating this achievement. Instead, we’re seeing perhaps the biggest attacks on renewable energy in state legislative history.
The cost of wind, solar and batteries has plummeted over the last decade, leading these clean energy resources to be among the cheapest sources of energy out there, even cheaper than many new gas power plants. The combination of low-cost technology, Texas’ abundant sun and wind and a fair regulatory environment led Texas’ electric market to be very attractive to energy developers.
In just the last three years, Texas has added enough solar energy to equal the power generated by 12 nuclear plants. We’ve added loads of new wind turbines and batteries to boot.
And we’ve all benefited from our state’s leadership in clean energy. Cleaner air, less water used to cool fossil fuel power plants, and huge savings for consumers. According to research by University of Texas researcher Joshua Rhodes, renewable energy saved Texas ratepayers $27.8 billion between 2010 and 2022. Renewables have also played a critical role in keeping the lights on.
But as clean energy is succeeding, some in the Legislature are fighting back.
Long gone are the days when legislators would proudly declare they wouldn’t pick winners and losers and would just let markets decide. Now some lawmakers are trying to create massive new fees and obstacles which could grind renewable energy development in Texas to a halt.
Bills moving quickly through the Legislature would establish onerous new permitting requirements, kick renewable energy out of the state’s economic development program, require wind and solar farms to pay new transmission and “ancillary services” fees, and even make renewable energy subsidize the development of new fossil fuel plants.
The result would be a hostile business environment for clean energy, leading companies to take their investments elsewhere. It’ll also make Texans pay higher electric bills and breathe dirtier air.
And it’s not what Texans want. A recent University of Houston poll found that 64% of Texans favor expanding solar energy and 57% want more wind energy.
Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick says these bills are to “fix the Texas power grid once and for all.” It’s true our grid needs more help. While progress has been made shoring up the grid since the deadly and disastrous Texas freeze of 2021, we’ve had some close calls where grid operators have issued conservation calls to ward off blackouts.
But punishing renewable energy is not going to make our grid more reliable. Wind, solar and battery developers are planning to build tens of thousands of additional megawatts of supply to our grid in the coming years — we’re seriously going to prevent that?
There are better ways to strengthen our grid. Weatherizing power plants and fuel supplies, upgrading transmission, and reducing demand for energy through energy efficiency investments would make our grid more resilient, save consumers money and help protect our environment and public health.
Now’s the time to do it. New federal incentives provide up to $3,200 annually to lower the cost of energy efficient home upgrades by up to 30 percent. Home improvements such as insulation, efficient doors and windows and heat pumps can help Texans save money on their electric bills and reduce strain on the electric grid. Additional tax credits to install rooftop solar provide even more opportunities for energy savings.
Texas has immense clean energy resources. Let’s take full advantage of them and ensure a greener, healthier, more affordable future for all Texans.
Clay Lewis Jenkins is the Dallas County Judge. He wrote this column for The Dallas Morning News.
[ad_2]
Source link