CHANGES IN TEXAS’ ANCILLARY SERVICES MARKET WILL HAVE SERIOUS DETRIMENTAL IMPACTS ON RENEWABLE ENERGY PROJECTS, PROJECT OWNERS, ELECTRIC CONSUMERS, AND THE TEXAS COMMUNITIES AND SCHOOLS THAT RELY ON THEM FOR TAX REVENUE. TAKE ACTION NOW TO DEFEND CLEAN POWER.
We’re in a fight for the future of clean energy in Texas.
Texas lawmakers are poised to enact sweeping and harmful changes to the state’s utility laws that will hurt existing renewable energy investments in the state. They want to change the law on $60 billion of clean power investments already made.
We have $60 billion in clean power investments on the ground, and I am expecting a major hydrogen investment to be announced any day now. As a state that is still partially dependent on our oil and gas economy, renewable energy has become key to reducing costs in that sector, and – more importantly – decarbonizing production and export. We see value in all of our energy resources working together, leveraging the strengths of each to bring consumers the energy products they want.
The bills proposed (House Bill 4466, Senate Bill 1278, and Provisions in Senate Bill 3) crush investments that have been a resounding success and impose hundreds of millions of dollars in new costs on renewable energy each year. Because the power from these projects has been sold on long-term contracts, there is little recourse for investors. Some projects will shut down, others will be sold, others will struggle to operate and to seek ways to survive. Consumers will be hit, especially the corporate consumers who are often partners in these projects. Remember that most renewable energy projects in Texas are financed using power purchase agreements (PPAs) and other arrangements with offtakers. These offtakers include some of the state’s biggest business names including tech companies like Facebook, Google, Apple and Microsoft; and manufacturers like GM (using 100% renewables at their truck plant in Arlington, Texas), BASF, Mars Global, and many more.
And, the real losers will be the communities who will lose tax revenue as these projects are devalued. That will hit schools across rural Texas.
I’d welcome the opportunity to discuss this with you. In my 9 years at the helm, this is the most serious attack on renewable energy, and it’s being driven by the false narrative pushed after the storms here. These changes do nothing to enhance reliability, and they do nothing to address the root causes of our blackouts.
What are ancillary services?
Why does it matter?
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