Tag Archives: renewable energy

Endorsement watch: Martinez in I, and wait, what?

The Chron made a perfectly fine endorsement. It’s not easy to follow in the footsteps of outgoing Councilmember Robert Gallegos. As the lone Hispanic around the horseshoe, he has robustly represented his hometown and the most Hispanic district in Houston for nearly a … Continue reading

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The IAH renewable project

I like this. Fresh off inking a new lease with the developers of a planned solar farm in Sunnyside, Houston officials hope to produce clean, reliable power on the grounds of the George Bush Intercontinental Airport. Airport officials are asking … Continue reading

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Texas will get a lot from the Inflation Reduction Act

Thanks, Biden! Texas’s clean energy sector is expected to be one of the largest beneficiaries of the climate and health care legislation President Joe Biden has signed into law, according to estimates released by the White House Wednesday. Over the next … Continue reading

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Sure hope our grid can handle a bunch of crypto

I have three things to say about this. With interest surging in digital currencies and the blockchain technology behind them, more and more investors and operators are turning to Texas, lured by its cheap energy and hands-off regulatory approach. The … Continue reading

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Abbott tells the PUC to, like, “do something” about electricity and stuff

He’s a Very Serious man making Very Serious proposals. Gov. Greg Abbott on Tuesday gave state electricity regulators marching orders to “improve electric reliability.” In a letter to the Public Utility Commission, Abbott directed the three-person board of directors, who … Continue reading

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There’s still a lot of investment in renewables in Texas

Good to know. Four months after the failure of the Texas electric grid sparked a backlash against clean power, investors and developers have decided just what the state needs: more renewable energy. Much more. Texas is on pace to have … Continue reading

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All juiced up with no place to go

Seems like there should be a better solution for this. In 2005, the Texas Legislature approved the development of a network of electric transmission lines to send wind and solar power from West Texas to population centers in other parts … Continue reading

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More business pushback on more anti-LGBTQ+ bills

It’s like deja vu all over again. Texas business leaders Monday condemned a slate of anti-LGBTQ bills winding through the Texas Legislature as harmful to Texans and as a threat to the state’s economy, which is still reeling from the … Continue reading

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ERCOT roundup

Just a few stories of interest that I didn’t feel like putting in their own posts… ERCOT will argue it is immune from lawsuits. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas will argue that it has governmental immunity that protects it … Continue reading

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Republicans are determined to learn the wrong lessons from the blackouts

It’s kind of amazing, and yet completely on brand. With millions of Texans having lost power during the winter storms, key players in the Legislature say one of the most immediate reforms they will push for is recalibrating the state’s … Continue reading

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It could have been worse

Hard to imagine, but this would qualify. Texas’ power grid was “seconds and minutes” away from a catastrophic failure that could have left Texans in the dark for months, officials with the entity that operates the grid said Thursday. As … Continue reading

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 7 Comments

Beware the renewable energy disinformation

It’s out there, in more ways than one. David Dunagan doesn’t want a 760-acre solar power plant to be built across his fenceline. The Old Jackson Power Plant will replace farmland in Van Zandt County with gleaming, metal panels. Though … Continue reading

Posted in The great state of Texas | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 27 Comments

Some good local environmental news

Good news for Houston, in particular Sunnyside. The old landfill in Sunnyside sat closed for 50 years, an enduring reminder of the city’s choice to dump and burn its trash in the historically Black community. On Wednesday, Houston City Council members took … Continue reading

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We can make the end of coal in Texas happen

It’s already happening. It just needs a bit of a boost. Texas might have the perfect environment to quit coal for good. Texas is one of the only places—potentially in the world—where the natural patterns of wind and sun could … Continue reading

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The war on coal is over in Texas

Coal lost, and good riddance. Wind power capacity edged out coal for the first time in the Texas history last week after a new 155-megawatt wind farm in Scurry County came online. The farm in question is the Fluvanna Wind … Continue reading

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Getting the (wind and solar) power to the people

It’s all about the transmission lines. The Lone Star state is by far the largest state for wind power, with nearly 18,000 megawatts of wind generation capacity already built and another 5,500 megawatts—nearly equal to California’s total installed capacity—planned. The … Continue reading

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Pity the poor utilities

Sorry, but low electricity prices, especially when they are aided by record amounts of wind power generation, are good news. Texas’ national lead in cheap wind power, combined with near historically low natural gas prices, mild weather, an abundant power … Continue reading

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No idling

From the inbox, from last week: Mayor Annise Parker and Houston City Council today approved two significant ordinances that will improve Houston’s quality of life and protect public health: an anti-idling ordinance for motor vehicles with a gross vehicle weight … Continue reading

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Not everyone wants Texas to sue the EPA again

It won’t mean anything to those that are hell-bent on suing, but it is worth keeping in mind. President Obama is set to unveil the nitty-gritty of his sweeping, state-by-state plan to fight climate change this week — his most … Continue reading

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Texas sues the EPA again (and again, and again, and…)

Stop me if you’ve heard this one before. Attorney General Ken Paxton on Wednesday filed a lawsuit over the agency’s rejection of parts of a Texas clean air program, launching the state’s second battle against EPA regulations in less than … Continue reading

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ERCOT acknowledges that meeting EPA clean air requirements won’t be that big a deal

From Texas Clean Air Matters: Well, it didn’t take long before the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) released, at the request of Texas’ very political Public Utilities Commission, another report about the impacts of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA’s) … Continue reading

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EPA climate change plan would save water

Well, what do you know? As state regulators fret about how President Obama’s effort to combat climate change would affect the Texas power grid, a new study says the rules would be simpler to adopt than those regulators suggest – … Continue reading

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It’s OK if energy costs go up for now

That’s my reaction to this. As Texas regulators weigh a response to President Obama’s proposal to combat climate change, the operator of the state’s main electric grid says the plan would raise energy costs and threaten reliability – particularly in the … Continue reading

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Google energy

Fascinating. Google may not seem like an energy company, but it sure is acting like one. Through more than $1 billion in investments and through large contracts for renewable power, Google has become the most significant player in the energy … Continue reading

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West Texas wind

The wind energy business in Texas is going strong. BP and other energy companies are funneling millions of dollars into building and operating wind farms in West Texas, helping to transform the oil country into one of the nation’s leading … Continue reading

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“How to Choose a Texas Electric Provider the Wrong Way”

Recently, my friend Dan Wallach wrote a guest post here about how to find the best deal on electricity in Texas. Robert Nagle, another friend of mine, took issue with some of the things Dan wrote and penned a response … Continue reading

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On getting the best deal with variable electric rates

Note: The following was written by my friend Dan Wallach, who thought I might be interested in sharing it here. He was right. My thanks to Dan for putting this together. Everybody in Houston has the ability to select any … Continue reading

Posted in Technology, science, and math | Tagged , , , , , , , | 8 Comments

Trash into treasure

Waste Management Inc. is looking at ways to turn trash into energy, which is the next best thing to actual treasure. “In my mind, it’s pretty simple why we’re doing it: If we don’t figure it out, somebody is, and … Continue reading

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There’s more than one way to do it

Really interesting story about the different approaches being taken by Austin and San Antonio to draw clean energy jobs to their towns. While Austin has taken the traditional route of offering various types of incentives to help create a market … Continue reading

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Now that’s what I call people power

What a neat idea. When University of North Texas students work out at Pohl Recreational Center, they will be saving the environment as well as working off those extra end-of-semester calories. UNT has installed the ReRev renewable energy system on … Continue reading

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Baby, you can charge my car

Plug it in, plug it in. The city of Houston will make it easier for locals to buy and own electric cars, including speeding up permitting of home charging stations and opening up HOV lanes to the vehicles. Mayor Annise … Continue reading

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Brown’s energy plan

Completing our trifecta of Mayoral policy examinations, we come now to Peter Brown’s energy plan. As with other policy matters, Brown goes into more detail than the others – David Ortez recently wrote that Brown is “winning the policy campaign”, … Continue reading

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Monday Lege roundup

Lots of legislative action today beyond the voter ID vaudeville act. Here’s a quick roundup of some other bills of interest. – HB1736, also known as the Tim Cole Act for the man who was posthumously exonerated this February, has … Continue reading

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