Dive Brief:
- Texas lawmakers are considering a bill that would end the state's renewable energy credit program, which supports wind power producers by requiring utilities to support the state's green energy producers, the Dallas Morning News reports.
- Wind advocates say that would send the message Texas is no longer interested in supporting clean energy, while the bill's sponsor says the industry has exceeded all expectations and no longer require's the state's assistance.
- Last year wind generation provided almost 11% of the electricity used by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the grid operator for most of the state.
Dive Insight:
Texas is the undisputed champion of wind energy in the United States in terms of overall capacity. So does the state still need requirements supporting the industry?
The state's renewable power industry has exploded in recent years, and wind’s share of ERCOT electricity is expected to exceed 15% by 2017. Wind energy-generated electricity provided 10.6% of Texas power last year, the first time it has reached double digits in the state’s power mix. The state generated about 36.1 million MWh in 2014.
But The Dallas Morning News reports Sen. Troy Fraser (R) has crafted a bill that would end the state's renewable energy credit program, which requires utilities to by credits from green energy facilities.
“Mission accomplished. We set out to incentivize and get wind started in Texas, and we far surpassed that goal,” the newspaper quoted Fraser. “There’s no state that’s come close to what we’ve done.”
Renewable energy supporters are asking for the program to continue another decade, noting that the state's wind industry has helped create about 100,000 jobs.
