“Our affection for Texas runs deep, but so does our concern over its grid. It’s time for a candid conversation about the state’s energy policies—one that acknowledges the true costs and challenges of a blindly pro-renewables approach and seeks solutions that ensure the resilience of the grid and the well-being of Texans.” (Doug Sheridan, below)
Texas is turning to government-aided natural gas to fix its broken political grid. Yes, wind and solar did that in one of the natural gas meccas of the world.
Doug Sheridan, a reliable voice on social media, posted this at LinkedIn:
It was big news last week that the Texas PUC received 125 applications for 56 GW of new gas-fired generation. The legislation behind the initiative—which appropriates $5B in state grants and loan guarantees to the plants—was intended to spur 10 GW of new gas-fired capacity on ERCOT.
We’ve seen commentary about what the supposedly massive “oversubscription” means, with plenty of energy industry insiders hailing it as a rebuttal to the massive buildup of renewables on the state’s increasingly shaky grid. We’re not so sure.
The subsidized fund for gas-fired generation is far from a solution to the grid’s large and growing problems. More likely it’s a political fig-leaf to cover up poor grid management by state leaders—that is, a way to say, “Don’t blame us, we tried to fix it” should the system suffer catastrophic failure due to the non-performance of renewables.
The truth is many of the same state politicians who championed this particular law have actually enabled the very situation on the grid they now supposedly decry. We say supposedly because, to be clear, there’s absolutely no *mea culpa* here—from anyone. We don’t get those anymore.
We suspect analysis of political contributions from renewable energy interests to Texas politicians would show there’s too much in the way of donations flowing to the political class to expect they’d ever disallow more damaging renewables on the system. Again, we may be wrong on this point, but we doubt it. In time, we hope to do that analysis.
Leaders in Austin seem determined to tempt fate in other ways as well. As reported by David Blackmon, Lt. Gov Dan Patrick is now referring to a “Texas Miracle”… presumably of economic growth and prosperity. Careful Sir, there are too many problems lurking on the Texas grid to be claiming miracles at this point.
When it comes to the 125 applications for new gas-fired capacity, many questions remain. Certainly more honest and complete math needs to be done. Our sense is that honest analysis would show that Texas rate- and tax-payers are now effectively financing the kind of inefficient duplicate backup generation capacity critics of renewables have been warning about for years.
The lack of public understanding of what’s going on as it relates to the Texas grid is also a concern. That’s because it limits the public’s ability to act as a governor in real time to politicians… and their policy makers and moneyed interests. Unable to punish politicians at the polls in advance of breaking our grid, it leaves only the regrettable option of punishing them after the fact.
Our affection for Texas runs deep, but so does our concern over its grid. It’s time for a candid conversation about the state’s energy policies—one that acknowledges the true costs and challenges of a blindly pro-renewables approach and seeks solutions that ensure the resilience of the grid and the well-being of Texans.
Final Comment
Hear, hear. The wind/solar/battery experiment in Texas has wounded a once reliable grid by replacing consumer-driven, taxpayer-neutral, economic, reliable energies with inferiors. And where has anyone calculated what the benefits are in terms of avoided “climate change”? Instead, the wilds of Texas are being industrialized, a not-so-green outcome that Big Green does not want to contemplate. Kudos to the Doug Sheridans for speaking truth to political power to such wind/solar/battery apologists such as Doug Lewin on the Texas electricity ‘market’.