A bill working its way through the Texas legislature has caused some double takes with language that requires solar plants to provide power in the dark.
State bill S.B. 715 passed the Senate this week, and if adopted by the Texas house it would require any renewable power providers to buy backup power, typically from coal or gas plants, the Hill reported.
Texas consultant and energy expert Doug Lewin wrote in his analysis of the legislation that the measure would require solar plants 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.”
Double takes aside, the legislation is part of three Republican bills advancing through the state legislature that could offset Texas’ green energy progress and give fossil fuels an advantage in the state’s energy market, Reason reported. Texas generates the most renewable energy in the nation.
The bill is supported by a conservative think tank called the Texas Public Policy Foundation, which argues traditional power sources are still needed to make up for the unpredictability of wind and solar power. As Breitbart reported, Texas faced power shortages and rolling blackouts in 2021 as cold weather and ice froze the state’s wind turbines.
A state business lobby group disagrees, evoking the same fear of blackouts. The Texas Association of Business (TAB) predicted the measure would lead to unpredictable supply, costing the state $5.2 billion more per year and individual consumers on average $225 more per year in power costs. In addition to cost increases, the TAB analysis asserted, Texans would also face a higher risk of blackouts in the heat of summer or in future ice storms.
The Hill reported that power providers won’t be able to build conventional generators fast enough to keep up with demand:
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.
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S.B. 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.
Legislation also being considered restricts renewable projects from being placed near private property without waivers, as well as restricting landowners from leasing their property to wind and solar companies.
The fate of these energy bills now rests in the Texas House, where the 2024 primary elections substantially increased the number of lawmakers supporting traditional oil and coal rather than green energy ventures.
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