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Comment by htrp

7 hours ago

Texas has its own grid so that is not subject to federal regulation. blame ercot

Texas also produces the 2nd most renewable energy in the country (wind by far + solar) behind California. That achievement was coordinated by ERCOT.

Texas's renewable energy buildout was entirely due to state-level policy and economics, not federal mandates, which have sorely lagged in other states.

  • Weren’t there Federal subsidies for wind? There certainly were/are philanthropic support (customers paying extra for “wind energy”). Unclear what role ERCOT played in these two factors. (Though in the current climate they might have tried to block them.)

    • One of Rick Perry’s signature accomplishments as governor of Texas was that he implemented a few policies mandating the expansion of renewable energy, and also a massive initiative called the Competitive Renewable Energy Zone that funded building high voltage transmission lines that connected population centers in North and Central Texas to the open land in West Texas, which is what enabled massive boosts in wind farms being built in west Texas.

    • Utility-scale wind and solar farmers in Texas receive the same federal tax credits for renewable energy production as everyone else in the country does.