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Posted on 05/10/2025 1:56:55 PM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
The Texas Senate passed a bill Thursday that leading business interests fear would lead to an age of expensive power and rolling blackouts.
If passed by the House, state S.B. 715 would require all renewable projects — even existing ones — to buy backup power, largely from coal or gas plants.
This would require solar plants in particular 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,” consultant and energy expert Doug Lewin wrote in an April analysis.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation, a right-wing think tank that is one of the bill’s most prominent advocates, argues that it is necessary to make up for the “volatility” of wind and solar power.
The state business lobby disagrees. A study by the Texas Association of Business (TAB) found that the legislation would cost the state $5.2 billion more per year — and cost individual consumers $225 more.
In addition to more expensive power, the TAB study found, Texans would also get a higher risk of blackouts in the heat of summer or in future ice storms.
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.
The bill follows two prior bills passed by the Texas Senate that target the state’s nation-leading renewables industry:
The fate of all three now lies in the Texas House, where pro-renewable voices among the GOP were winnowed amid the Republican primary purges of 2024, when Gov. Greg Abbott (R) targeted rural opponents of school vouchers, and Attorney General Ken Paxton (R) targeted members who had voted to impeach him.
As a whole, the legislation cuts against rising support for renewables among Texas Republicans. Recent polling suggests that nearly 80 percent of Texas GOP voters believe that renewables make the Texas electric grid more stable.
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First, the headline is hilarious. Is the headline writer trying to be funny? Or is he a typical dimwitted liberal "writer" with zero technical understanding? Or is just a dolt?
Second, these three sensible bills are a strong push-back against renewable energy in Texas. The first of the three bills makes great sense -- you have to buy backup power equal to the output rating of your solar and wind plants.
Third, the writer believes Texans would face a higher risk of blackouts in the heat of summer or in future ice storms by requiring fossil plant backup to unreliable and intermittent renewable plants. Has he heard about what happened in Spain and Portugal a couple weeks ago?
Fourth, the "power of the police state" -- LOL, histrionics, much? Saul's panties must really be creeping up his butt crack.
It really boggles the mind at how Texas, of all places, got sucked into the renewable energy scam. They're literally sitting on underground oceans of both oil and natural gas.
Night vision panels-there’s your answer.
That or a Tampon.
That last sentence is a blatant lie or there are a LOT of stupid people in Texas.
I’m going with the blatant lie option.
Texans let things happen.
It will be blue in Texas before long
“new gas turbines are in short supply”
I’m sure GE or Solar or RR or Siemens or Mitsubishi will whip you up a bunch of ‘em right away!
Whatta ridiculous article
Also ...when a mosque is permitted....a church has to be built on the same property with parking and road access....security provided by local Texan militia.
I wear my sun glasses at night.
They can pick up infra red light from...from...some star thingy.
It all comes down to having enough RELIABLE power sources & renewable(solar & wind) just isn’t it.
“It really boggles the mind at how Texas, of all places, got sucked into the renewable energy scam.”
The constant 25mph wind, 300+ days of sunshine and marginal land for farming and ranching in West Texas may have had something to do with it. Leasing land to a power company for windmills might make the landowners steady money as passive income
If passed by the House, state S.B. 715 would require all renewable projects — even existing ones — to buy backup power, largely from coal or gas plants.
Texas is California in 1990. We are still business friendly but the government is massive and corrupt.
They ended up freezing early in Biden’s term. All the solar power failed, and it was cold for a prolonged period.
I live in Houston, went through that.
Tesla batteries to the rescue…
My sympathies. In Israel, we heat hot water with solar, but that’s it. The skies can be cloudy here, too.
At night is when we need the power to provide light and electricity. The far - left dumbasses must have not thought about that.
-PJ
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