Texas Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and Sen. Charles Schwertner (R-Georgetown) are calling for new legislation to ensure a more reliable energy grid across Texas and attract new sources of reliable thermal electricity generation in the state.
Patrick and Schwertner released a joint statement on March 9 announcing their support for Senate Bills 6 and 7. Patrick named both bills to his top 10 list of priority legislation this session.
“Today, the Texas Senate announced a bold agenda to fix the Texas power grid once and for all,” Patrick wrote in his statement. “Since Winter Storm Uri, I have been abundantly clear that we need to bring new dispatchable (primarily new natural gas plants) generation online as soon as possible to make sure that Texans have reliable power under any circumstance. That is why I named Senate Bills 6 and 7, by Sen. Charles Schwertner, as two of my top 10 priorities this session.”
Schwertner emphasized the importance of reliable energy.
“These legislative proposals set forward the framework that ensures Texans have the reliability, transparency and security on our power grid that they deserve,” Schwertner said in a statement. “Texans must be assured that we have adequate electricity to power their homes and businesses under any condition and these bills, once signed into law, will do that.”
Recently published research by the Energy Alliance reported that since 2007, wind and solar generators in Texas collected $66 billion in investments. Additionally, generators were on the receiving end of over $21 billion in local, state and federal subsidies. In that same timeframe, renewables grew their share of the Texas energy market from 3% to 31%. The research project found that the figure is likely to grow to 37% by the end of 2023.
The Energy Alliance's research concluded by listing a number of recommendations to improve the reliability and price of electricity in Texas, one of which was to combat renewable energy subsidies head on to fix "price distortions" caused by those tax incentives.
During testimony before the Texas Senate Business and Commerce committee, Brent Bennett, policy director of the Texas Public Policy Foundation's Life Powered project, discussed what he sees as a need for Texas to bring a balance to its energy market due to "over-investment" in renewable sources of generation. Bennett advocated for an alteration to the Public Utility Commission's plan by changing where the money comes from in order to pay for the cost of improved reliability. He suggested that the costs be allocated to electricity generators on a "cost causation basis," meaning generators whose unreliable nature results in volatile electricity prices would be responsible for the cost they impose on the market.
Austin Journal reached out to Texas Sen. Donna Campbell for comment, but received no response.