Inside Clean Energy: Texas Is the Country’s Clean Energy Leader, Almost in Spite of Itself

Within the race to construct renewable power tasks in 2021, Texas lapped the competitors.

The state had 7,352 megawatts of recent wind, photo voltaic and power storage tasks come on-line throughout the 12 months, in keeping with a report issued this week by the American Clear Energy Affiliation, a commerce group.

The runner-up, California, introduced 2,697 megawatts on-line.

However what obtained my consideration wasn’t Texas’ dominance in 2021. It was that Texas is also the chief when rating the states on how a lot wind, photo voltaic and storage they’ve underneath building or in superior growth; Texas has 19,918 megawatts, adopted within the distance by California, with 13,663 megawatts.

Texas can declare, with ample proof, to be the renewable power capital of america. That is regardless of additionally being the fossil gasoline capital of america, and having political leaders who exit of their option to defer to grease and fuel.

Joshua Rhodes of the College of Texas at Austin instructed me that the state’s rise as a renewable power chief is notable as a result of it occurred nearly fully due to the low prices of renewable power, not due to issues about local weather change.

“We’re doing this as a result of it makes monetary sense,” he mentioned. “So long as it continues to make monetary sense, we’ll do it.”

However there may be some altruism. Lots of the power consumers contributing to the increase in wind and photo voltaic growth in Texas are giant companies which can be attempting to fulfill their very own objectives for counting on clear power and decreasing emissions.

Texas helped to set the stage for the present increase with laws within the Nineteen Nineties that deregulated the electrical energy market in many of the state, forcing house owners of energy vegetation to compete primarily based on who might provide the bottom costs. As the prices of wind and solar energy have plummeted, these sources gained an edge available in the market over older fossil gasoline energy vegetation.

In distinction, most different states have absolutely regulated electrical energy techniques by which utilities have monopolies and assured income, and energy vegetation can proceed to function so long as regulators permit them to. 

However Texas’ success in creating wind and solar energy is not only concerning the construction of the market. A very powerful components could also be that the state has a number of the strongest winds and brightest solar within the nation—assets that many different states want that they had in such abundance.

“There’s some dumb luck there,” Rhodes mentioned. “I received’t say there’s not. However I do suppose the market construction does assist.”

Whereas clear power industries are rising in Texas, they don’t have the entrenched political affect of the oil and fuel trade. A 12 months in the past, when a winter storm led to energy outages for hundreds of thousands of Texans, political leaders positioned a lot of the blame on wind power and did little to acknowledge that a lot of the issue was because of failures within the pure fuel trade.

Texas leaders’ response to the 2021 energy disaster confirmed that the state might not notice what it has within the wind and photo voltaic industries. By merely staying out of its personal method, Texas might solidify its standing because the chief of the U.S. clear power economic system.

The American Clear Energy Affiliation report exhibits that america put in 27,773 megawatts of wind, photo voltaic and power storage in 2021, which was down 3 % from 2020.

Photo voltaic was up 19 % and power storage was up 196 %, whereas wind was down 25 % in comparison with the prior 12 months. The affiliation mentioned growth of all assets was constrained due to challenges with getting elements from the worldwide provide chain and uncertainty about whether or not Congress will cross the clear power provisions of the Construct Again Higher proposal.

The affiliation famous that cumulative wind, photo voltaic and power storage capability reached 200,000 megawatts, or 200 gigawatts, in 2021.

“Surpassing over 200 gigawatts of fresh power is a major milestone for america and exhibits that we will obtain much more with sturdy public coverage help for the trade,” mentioned Heather Zichal, American Clear Energy’s CEO, in a press release. “Though the U.S. has reached this unimaginable achievement, extra must be carried out, at a quicker tempo, to achieve the local weather objectives and targets our nation wants to attain.”

Federal coverage help for wind and photo voltaic have led to super financial advantages for Texas, a state that doesn’t have any substantial clear power necessities.

One query going ahead is how a lot Texas’ electrical energy market will be capable to decarbonize with out some prodding from the state—a state whose present leaders are unlikely to do any prodding.

“Is Texas going to get to zero-carbon electrical energy by itself? In all probability not,” Rhodes mentioned. “That may in all probability take federal coverage.”

However he thinks the state can proceed to make substantial progress.

“Let’s not let the right be the enemy of the nice right here,” he mentioned. “We’re deploying loads of clear power sources.”

Different tales concerning the power transition to be aware of this week:

Biden Administration Guarantees to Purchase ‘Clear’ Industrial Supplies: White Home officers have introduced a brand new Purchase Clear Job Pressure to assist firms purchase lower-emissions metal, cement, aluminum and different industrial supplies for federal businesses. The economic sector is answerable for about one-third of greenhouse fuel emissions in america, as Lisa Friedman stories for The New York Instances. “Specializing in trade is a extremely massive deal,” mentioned David M. Hart, a public coverage professor at George Mason College. He mentioned the federal authorities for years had “uncared for” to deal with local weather air pollution from the economic sector.

Tremendous Bowl Advertisements Present Automakers Are Severe About Promoting EVs: Not less than 4 automakers used the excessive visibility of the Tremendous Bowl to promote electrical autos, which is far more than ever earlier than. This included a BMW advert starring Arnold Schwarzenegger as a past-his-prime Zeus, and Salma Hayek as Hera, and a Common Motors advert with Mike Myers reprising his position as Dr. Evil from the Austin Powers motion pictures. The prominence of EVs in Tremendous Bowl adverts exhibits that producers try to construct client curiosity to match the sizable investments the businesses are making to develop dozens of recent electrical fashions, as Rebecca Leber stories for Vox. “We’re within the early levels of the largest transition within the auto trade for the reason that automotive was first invented,” mentioned Nick Nigro, head of Atlas Public Coverage, a analysis agency.

New Faces at FERC May Assist Velocity a Clear Power Transition: President Joe Biden’s appointees to the Federal Power Regulatory Fee have helped to tip the panel’s stability in favor of encouraging the transition to scrub power. The fee has probably far-reaching powers to assist deal with local weather change, as James Bruggers stories for ICN. One of many massive challenges earlier than FERC is how you can unclog a course of by which grid operators have constructed up years-long backlogs in processing purposes by renewable power tasks to connect with the grid.

Division of Power to Provide $2.8 Billion to Increase Battery Manufacturing and Recycling: The 2021 federal infrastructure legislation included greater than $7 billion to assist construct a home provide chain for batteries. The Division of Power has introduced plans to spend $2.8 billion of that cash to help battery manufacturing and materials processing vegetation in america, together with tasks associated to recycling or reusing batteries, as Jason Plautz stories for Utility Dive.

Inside Clear Power is ICN’s weekly bulletin of stories and evaluation concerning the power transition. Ship information ideas and inquiries to dan.gearino@insideclimatenews.org.