5 ms·

For those who do not know: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Interconnection https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Interconnection Texas is the only state tha

For those who do not know: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Interconnection https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texas_Interconnection Texas is the only state that has it's own power grid, owned by the state. The stuff they are working on right now, including massive distributed battery systems, solar, more wind, etc. will be the one of the most advanced renewable systems in the world given the amount of power and consumption. It's awesome to see how as 'relatively' small grid, operating on their own, can make progress without all the bullshit. (See Nevada...that solar situation is so fucked up.).

toomuchtodo 11y ago
I'm actually both shocked and surprised how quickly Texas is transitioning to renewables with their, ahem, political climate, but happy nonetheless! Warren Buffet should be ashamed of Berkshire Hathaway's role in strongarming the PUC in Nevada in NV Energy's favor.
- sremani 11y ago
  Except for some pockets around Austin, and some Retail Energy Providers and co-ops, Texas does not have net-metering for distributed solar.
- _delirium 11y ago
  It's true that oil & gas are powerful political interests, but there are others as well. In this case, I don't think it's so much out of a desire to be "green" as out of a desire to develop what's seen as a big potential energy resource. West Texas has a lot of pretty steady wind, so it's seen as a valuable economic resource to develop. Wind energy also has its own state-level political clout and lobbying, because large landowners in West Texas see it as a way of improving monetization of their large holdings of ranchland, and large West Texas landowners are a well-organized interest group. Heck, even small farmers have similar hopes of increasing their income by renting out turbine rights, which adds to the political pressure to enable wind development.
- GFK_of_xmaspast 11y ago
  Warren Buffet should be ashamed of Berkshire Hathaway's role in a lot of things.
- bane 11y ago
  Texas is a great example of what happens in an almost uncontrolled free market. With renewables becoming far cheaper, it makes sense that markets that work off basic free market economics will adopt them. Texas is pragmatic that way and often provides a very simple model for what it takes to get things adopted without strong regulations forcing the matter. It's a weird state only insomuch that it isn't like everywhere else and is still fairly successful as a territory.
  - _delirium 11y ago
    I'm not sure I'd describe it as an "almost uncontrolled free market", probably something closer to a "state-organized market". There are definitely market mechanisms at work in the Texas energy sector, but also quite a bit of central planning, especially on infrastructure, and especially with wind power. The state has been heavily involved in building out transmission lines to make wind turbine construction in remote areas more attractive, because building a wind turbine nowhere near major transmission lines is obviously not economical, and there are big coordination and right-of-way problems getting all the people who hold land and might want to build turbines to figure out, purely in the private sector, how to get together to finance and build transmission lines. The specific solution Texas has used is to create something called "Competitive Renewable Energy Zones" (CREZs), where the state identifies promising areas and invests heavily in infrastructure to try to jumpstart production, with a plan of recovering the infrastructure spending from tax on that production (once it materializes). About $7 billion in tax money has been spent on that project so far, so the central-planning part of the story isn't exactly small change. Not sure where to link for a good overview, but this article has some information: http://www.texastribune.org/2013/10/14/7-billion-crez-project-nears-finish-aiding-wind-po/ http://www.texastribune.org/2013/10/14/7-billion-crez-projec...
  - woah 11y ago
    Before we get too voluntary here, let's remember that wind power was developed through heavy subsidies from many governments over the years.
    - bane 11y ago
- barney54 11y ago
  Why should ratepayers subsidize people who put solar panels on their homes? What is wrong with paying people the wholesale rate for the electricity they generate?
just_anengineer 11y ago
This has nothing to do with Texas being forward thinking, but more with the huge subsidies dealing with wind power in the US. Private companies are building turbines and farms all over as Washington is fronting much of the bill for awhile. This is all about profit. It just so happens we get something good out of it, and yes ERCOT has some great engineers.
- sremani 11y ago
  Here is an interesting insight on this issue. http://apps.texastribune.org/perry-legacy/energy/ http://apps.texastribune.org/perry-legacy/energy/
- g8oz 11y ago
  It's not so much Washington fronting the bill as making an investment. And the cumulative effect of those investments globally is working. LCOE of wind is now $83/megawatt hour compared to $82 for natural gas(1). 1 - http://fortune.com/2015/10/06/wind-cheap-coal-gas/ http://fortune.com/2015/10/06/wind-cheap-coal-gas/
  - barney54 11y ago
    You have to be careful comparing the cost of wind to the cost of nat gas and other reliable sources of generation. You can't count on wind. That makes it much less valuable than natural gas. But don't take my word for it, here is the Energy Information Adminstration making that point. https://www.eia.gov/forecasts/aeo/electricity_generation.cfm https://www.eia.gov/forecasts/aeo/electricity_generation.cfm This wind build out really is driven by subsidies such as the wind production tax credit. The credit is large enough that wind producers can pay the electric grid to take their electricity and still make money.
    - toomuchtodo 11y ago
      Actually, you can count on wind. You can use weather prediction to know when it can and can't be there. I heard the following quote recently, "I know what the price of fuel for wind will be for the next 20 years. I know what the price of natural gas was yesterday." To us, it sounds like wind is intermittent. But that's fine; the wind is always blowing and the sun always shining somewhere (its transmission that needs to catch up). Non-renewable fuel coasts will always be unpredictable.

toomuchtodo 11y ago

I'm actually both shocked and surprised how quickly Texas is transitioning to renewables with their, ahem, political climate, but happy nonetheless! Warren Buffet should be ashamed of Berkshire Hathaway's role in strongarming the PUC in Nevada in NV Energy's favor.

sremani 11y ago
Except for some pockets around Austin, and some Retail Energy Providers and co-ops, Texas does not have net-metering for distributed solar.
_delirium 11y ago
It's true that oil & gas are powerful political interests, but there are others as well. In this case, I don't think it's so much out of a desire to be "green" as out of a desire to develop what's seen as a big potential energy resource. West Texas has a lot of pretty steady wind, so it's seen as a valuable economic resource to develop. Wind energy also has its own state-level political clout and lobbying, because large landowners in West Texas see it as a way of improving monetization of their large holdings of ranchland, and large West Texas landowners are a well-organized interest group. Heck, even small farmers have similar hopes of increasing their income by renting out turbine rights, which adds to the political pressure to enable wind development.
GFK_of_xmaspast 11y ago
Warren Buffet should be ashamed of Berkshire Hathaway's role in a lot of things.
bane 11y ago
Texas is a great example of what happens in an almost uncontrolled free market. With renewables becoming far cheaper, it makes sense that markets that work off basic free market economics will adopt them. Texas is pragmatic that way and often provides a very simple model for what it takes to get things adopted without strong regulations forcing the matter. It's a weird state only insomuch that it isn't like everywhere else and is still fairly successful as a territory.
- _delirium 11y ago
  I'm not sure I'd describe it as an "almost uncontrolled free market", probably something closer to a "state-organized market". There are definitely market mechanisms at work in the Texas energy sector, but also quite a bit of central planning, especially on infrastructure, and especially with wind power. The state has been heavily involved in building out transmission lines to make wind turbine construction in remote areas more attractive, because building a wind turbine nowhere near major transmission lines is obviously not economical, and there are big coordination and right-of-way problems getting all the people who hold land and might want to build turbines to figure out, purely in the private sector, how to get together to finance and build transmission lines. The specific solution Texas has used is to create something called "Competitive Renewable Energy Zones" (CREZs), where the state identifies promising areas and invests heavily in infrastructure to try to jumpstart production, with a plan of recovering the infrastructure spending from tax on that production (once it materializes). About $7 billion in tax money has been spent on that project so far, so the central-planning part of the story isn't exactly small change. Not sure where to link for a good overview, but this article has some information: http://www.texastribune.org/2013/10/14/7-billion-crez-project-nears-finish-aiding-wind-po/ http://www.texastribune.org/2013/10/14/7-billion-crez-projec...
- woah 11y ago
  Before we get too voluntary here, let's remember that wind power was developed through heavy subsidies from many governments over the years.
  - bane 11y ago
barney54 11y ago
Why should ratepayers subsidize people who put solar panels on their homes? What is wrong with paying people the wholesale rate for the electricity they generate?

just_anengineer 11y ago

This has nothing to do with Texas being forward thinking, but more with the huge subsidies dealing with wind power in the US. Private companies are building turbines and farms all over as Washington is fronting much of the bill for awhile. This is all about profit. It just so happens we get something good out of it, and yes ERCOT has some great engineers.

sremani 11y ago
Here is an interesting insight on this issue. http://apps.texastribune.org/perry-legacy/energy/ http://apps.texastribune.org/perry-legacy/energy/
g8oz 11y ago
It's not so much Washington fronting the bill as making an investment. And the cumulative effect of those investments globally is working. LCOE of wind is now $83/megawatt hour compared to $82 for natural gas(1). 1 - http://fortune.com/2015/10/06/wind-cheap-coal-gas/ http://fortune.com/2015/10/06/wind-cheap-coal-gas/
- barney54 11y ago
  You have to be careful comparing the cost of wind to the cost of nat gas and other reliable sources of generation. You can't count on wind. That makes it much less valuable than natural gas. But don't take my word for it, here is the Energy Information Adminstration making that point. https://www.eia.gov/forecasts/aeo/electricity_generation.cfm https://www.eia.gov/forecasts/aeo/electricity_generation.cfm This wind build out really is driven by subsidies such as the wind production tax credit. The credit is large enough that wind producers can pay the electric grid to take their electricity and still make money.
  - toomuchtodo 11y ago
    Actually, you can count on wind. You can use weather prediction to know when it can and can't be there. I heard the following quote recently, "I know what the price of fuel for wind will be for the next 20 years. I know what the price of natural gas was yesterday." To us, it sounds like wind is intermittent. But that's fine; the wind is always blowing and the sun always shining somewhere (its transmission that needs to catch up). Non-renewable fuel coasts will always be unpredictable.