Anti-Renewable Bill Targets Energy Sources That Keep Saving the Texas Grid
Senate Bill 819 will be heard in a Texas Senate committee today
AUSTIN, Texas – A bill scheduled for its first hearing at the Texas Legislature today unfairly targets the energy sources that have kept the state electric grid afloat and energy prices from going higher, Public Citizen said ahead of the Senate Committee on Business & Commerce meeting.
Senate Bill 819 by State Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, is a reintroduction of similar unsuccessful legislation filed by the senator in the previous legislative session. If it becomes law, SB 819 threatens the state’s leadership on wind and solar by subjecting large-scale installations of the technologies – wind and solar farms – to regulations not required of polluting fossil fuel sources like coal and methane.
“Texans are fully aware of the Winter Storm Uri power outages and the multiple pleas for energy conservation during the state’s brutal Texas summers,” said Adrian Shelley, Texas director of Public Citizen. “They should also know that wind and solar performed above expectations during Uri, preventing a bigger disaster. In the years since Uri, 92% of the increase in the generating capacity on the ERCOT grid has been from wind and solar energy. That increase has kept the lights on and air conditioners running on the hot summer days when ERCOT has warned of potential supply shortages that could trigger blackouts.
“Renewable energy in Texas is winning. It provides critical, clean and cost-saving energy in a state that desperately needs it. It makes no sense that a legislature that advocates market competition would pick winners and losers by using Senate Bill 819 to tilt the playing field in favor of polluting fossil fuels. On the other hand, it is precisely those energy sources left out of the bill – coal and methane gas – that need regulation to protect communities from negative impacts. Setbacks, environmental impact statements, and public participation are good strategies for limiting the impact of polluting facilities. But applying them to clean energy sources while ignoring polluting fossil fuels is picking winners and losers. And the picks are wrong.”
SB 819 targets renewables by imposing onerous requirements that do not apply to fossil fuels, including requiring solar and energy installations to obtain a permit from the Public Utility Commission of Texas, installations to be built at a distance from a property line that is approximately five times the distance required for fossil fuel installations, and more.