In a letter to Texas state leaders, the Advanced Power Alliance (APA) and the Renewable Energy Buyers Alliance (REBA) have urged them to reject discriminatory changes to the state’s electricity markets.
Changes proposed within Senate Bill 3 will alter the market structure for ancillary services within the Electric Reliability Council Texas, the state’s power grid operator. And they will place new “replacement power” requirements solely on renewable power generators, adding new costs and bankrupting many investments.
These plainly discriminatory changes serve no reliability purpose and run afoul of longstanding state laws prohibiting discrimination, as well as federal statutes on the same subject. They will impact more than $60 billion of energy projects built in more than 100 counties across the state, they will harm investors who have relied on a stable and a predictable market for decades, the will hurt the state’s business reputation, they will harm power customers whose interstate contracts for power (often in the form of power purchase agreements) will be irreparably harmed, and they will harm rural communities and schools that are relying on these capital-intensive projects for tax revenue. Many have bonded against future anticipated revenues based on Texas’ longstanding market rules and historically stable structure.
The letter from APA and REBA accompanies a similar letter from the Partnership for Renewable Energy Finance (PREF) whose members include many of the world’s largest energy investors. They are also joined by a letter from the nation’s largest electric utilities. Each of the groups is united in their opposition to the costly, retroactive, and unneeded language currently contained in Texas Senate Bill 3, and they urge the removal of Section 13.
Read the APA/REBA letter here: APA and REBA Call on Texas Lawmakers to Reject Section 13 of Senate Bill 3
Read the letter from ACORE’s Partnership for Renewable Energy Finance here: PREF Calls on Texas Lawmakers to Reject Section 13 of Senate Bill 3
Read the letter from Southern Power, Duke Energy, and NextEra Energy Resources here: Southern Power, Duke Energy, and NextEra Energy Resources Call on Texas Lawmakers to Reject Section 13 of Senate Bill 3
