The Texas Legislature doubled down on subsidizing fossil energy at the end of its regular session and raised costs on wind and solar energy, but rejected worse attacks on the state’s booming clean energy sector.

The Legislature approved SB 2627 and SJR 93 which provide $7.2 billion in low-interest loans for the development of up to 10,000 megawatts of new methane gas power plants. Members also passed HB 5, which makes gas power plants eligible for tax breaks while revoking eligibility for renewable energy projects and battery storage for similar tax breaks. 

The New York Times recently covered the big reliability and cost benefits solar power is bringing to Texas’ electricity grid, despite the socialist efforts of the state’s Republicans to prop up coal and natural gas. From the New York Times:

Strafed by powerful storms and superheated by a dome of hot air, Texas has been enduring a dangerous early heat wave this week that has broken temperature records and strained the state’s independent power grid.

But the lights and air conditioning have stayed on across the state, in large part because of an unlikely new reality in the nation’s premier oil and gas state: Texas is fast becoming a leader in solar power.

AUSTIN, TX — Addressing the life-threatening heat dome that has settled over Texas, Gov. Greg Abbott (R) announced Thursday that a backup prayer system had been added to the state electricity grid. “To prevent the deadly outages we’ve experienced over the last few years, these new reserves will kick in to supply affected residents with prayers to our Lord and Savior,” said Abbott, adding that as soon as the power grid failed, God would be called upon to provide electricity to the millions of homes that have lost power. “The dozens of regional prayer circles we have set up will kneel and immediately begin to mitigate the strain on our current inefficient electrical system. Residents can rest assured that as soon as a blackout occurs, our new system will ask our Heavenly Father to return power so that no one dies of heat stroke.” At press time, several Texans were shocked to discover that they had already been charged tens of thousands of dollars for backup prayer usage.

Heatmap correspondent Matthew Zeitlin checked in with Josh Rhodes at the University of Texas about the positive role wind and solar power are playing on the Texas grid in the latest heat wave after electricity prices recently spiked at over $4,400 per megawatt hour.

The past few days have shown that, at least so far, Texas’s deregulated, renewable-and-gas heavy electric grid can stand up to the extreme summer heat.

Late Thursday afternoon, wind and solar were providing 40 percent of the power on operator ERCOT’s grid — around 30,000 megawatts, about even with the amount of power coming from natural gas. At the same time, prices in Texas stayed relatively low. This impressive production from solar and wind comes amid a heat wave that, earlier this week, caused record-breaking demand on the Texas grid. While Texas has a unique combination of systemic electricity reliability issues and high renewables usage, the question of if and how renewables can shoulder the load of spiking electricity demand is one being asked across the country as the grid begins to decarbonize.

Despite its fossil-fuel-friendly reputation, Texas is one of the leading states for renewable energy. Last year, renewables accounted for about a quarter of Texas’ electricity, according to the Energy Information Administration. Around 15 percent of all the United States’ renewable generation comes from Texas.

Monopoly utilities have long taken advantage of their ratepayers, engaging in anti-free market tactics to protect their power, overcharging customers and limiting the growth of renewable energy along the way. The Washington Post recently covered a growing movement by state legislators to crack down on Big Utility corruption and increase transparency and protection for consumers by prohibiting utilities from charging ratepayers for political activities. Big Utilities are using money that they collect from customers’ monthly bills to fund political machines that push legislation, curry favor with regulators, and alter the outcomes of elections. Excerpts from The Washington Post:

Utilities across the country use money collected from customers’ monthly bills to fund their political activities, including lobbying, advertisements and trade association membership dues. That’s about to change in three states — Colorado, Connecticut and Maine — that recently passed laws to prohibit this practice.