Power Grid Reform Package Has Great Prospects

Austin, Texas – The electricity reform package announced on Thursday was promising; According to Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick, this will restore balance to the grid and fix it once and for all.

The plan is being promoted as an additional package of reforms to the revised electricity market proposal that the Public Utilities Commission has already submitted to lawmakers.

Senate leaders Patrick and Texas said their bill package would improve the grid by forcing investors to build new power plants. The emphasis for them is on electricity generated by natural gas, coal and nuclear energy, rather than renewable energy sources such as wind and solar. The group acknowledges that the law will not be a quick fix.

“It will take several years if you start this tomorrow to get steel on the ground and connect it. This will take 2 to 3 years. That’s why we must start now. We can’t wait for another session to do this. That’s two more years into the future. But we’re going to build these factories and we’ll have renewable energy to help keep our air clean and our prices low. That is why many companies move here. And we’ll have a dispatch capability that ensures that in the worst weather conditions, when you hit the switch, the lights will turn on,” Patrick said.

Wind and solar proponents point out that several natural gas-fired power plants were shut down after power lines froze during a severe winter storm in 2021. the main source of electricity in Texas, and this could also put the grid at risk of failure.

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King is pushing legislation that would end subsidies for those who build solar and wind projects.

“So they have a lot of incentives. It’s just a subsidy. If subsidies are ever good, they’re only good when you’re trying to help the start-up market for brand new technologies, which was wind and solar, of course. back in the early 2000s, and today it is simply no longer necessary. And again, even if Texas stops subsidizing renewable energy loans, they will still have a lot of federal subsidies,” King said.

One of the bills in the package is called the Texas Energy Insurance Program. The idea behind this, according to State Senator Charles Schwertner (R-Georgetown), is to get companies to build power plants that act as a home backup generator. This set of blocks will be designed to turn on quickly and provide a short window of time to give large facilities time to spin up or repair to restart.

Schwertner says the idea, like the whole package, is focused on natural gas, coal and nuclear power, though he acknowledged that new battery technologies could also fit the bill.

“We need to have generation that works when it’s most needed, and it’s controllable generation that can be counted on when the wind isn’t blowing and the sun isn’t shining. And when you have extreme, very cold or very hot weather,” he said.

The Senate package is a response to a proposal from the Public Utilities Commission to redesign the electricity market called PCM. Some lawmakers have criticized the plan, saying it does not guarantee new construction, but Patrick pointed out that the Senate package is not a rewrite.

“This is not a transition to a capacity market, but working with the PUC and their PCM plan to get the best out of that plan. Other ideas from Republicans and Democrats on this committee to focus on how we balance equity and fairness and competitiveness between renewable and thermal energy, which is an incentive for more thermal power to be built in this state as soon as we can. build,” said Patrick.

PUC Chairman Peter Lake issued a statement to FOX 7 Austin stating:

“We appreciate the leadership of Lieutenant Governor Patrick and Chairman Schwertner in addressing these important Texas issues. We are all working together towards the same goal: reliable, affordable energy for Texans. an important part of the solution to achieve this for the Texas power grid. We look forward to continuing this work with lawmakers to ensure that the Texas energy market is reliable, affordable, and accountable today and for generations of Texans to come.”