Texas Power Challenge: Getting the most from Texas energy dollars

The utilities, transmission companies and power generators that serve electricity to every part of Texas are facing many challenges to remain affordable, competitive and reliable.

But these challenges must be met to sustain the manufacturing and industrial industries that form the backbone of our economy, as well as to meet our peak summer air conditioning needs. Strong population and economic growth have caused electricity consumption in Texas to increase by 128 Million megawatt-hours since 1990, more than one-eighth of the entire U.S. Electricity sales growth.

The look of the electricity sector has changed: renewable and natural gas resources have been added to meet environmental standards and generation policies. And utilities offering energy efficiency programs, as well as policies that urge energy-saving behavior, have tempered the growth in electricity consumption even as the Texas population increases.

Below is an excerpt of the report.

FINAL OBSERVATIONS: 

It is time for the wind energy industry to stand on its own feet.

Texas has spent billions of dollars building CREZ lines to transport wind energy from where it is generated to where it is needed. Every Texas consumer is paying for this infrastructure.

It is time for wind power generators to use this system to make money if they can, and end the tax credits and property tax limitations on new generation that helped grow the industry, but today give an unfair market advantage over more reliable power sources.

Renewable generators have been given a major helping hand to develop their industry. Developing technology to store renewable energy, so that it can provide reserve capacity available to the grid during peak demand, should be part of the renewable industry’s responsibility before it adds generation that would further displace traditional power sources.