TXSES 2026 Priorities: Advocacy, Education, and Impact
by Patrice “Pete” Parsons, TXSES Executive Director Every morning, the solution rises over Texas. Yet too many Texans, especially low- and moderate-income (LMI) families, cannot access the cost savings, resilience, and economic opportunity that solar energy provides. At the same time, communities across our state are facing increasing grid instability, severe weather disruptions, and rising […]
The End of the Residential Solar Tax Credit—and the Path Forward
By Patrice “Pete” Parsons, TXSES Executive Director When Congress and the president cut the 30% residential solar tax credit last July—ending it ten years ahead of schedule—it sent shockwaves through the solar industry. Homeowners and installers alike have been racing to get systems energized before December 31st, knowing it’s their last chance to claim the […]
TXSES on Turning 50: Recent Wins & Moving Forward
By Patrice “Pete” Parsons, TXSES Executive Director I hope you all have had a great summer. Although this summer has not been quite as hot as the last few, it’s still plenty darn hot and we have still been seeing a sharp pull on the Texas grid because of it. Despite the power drain caused […]
Sine Die Approaches: A Mixed Bag for Solar
By Pete Parsons, TXSES Executive Director. Sine die is fast approaching, marking the close of the 89th Texas Legislative Session on June 2nd, and as far as I am concerned, it can’t come soon enough. I recently heard a statistic that I found gob smacking: Texas’s predicted peak power demand of nearly 218 gigawatts by […]
Solar Industry Unites to Boost Consumer Protection in Texas
By Patrice “Pete” Parsons, TXSES Executive Director We have had articles on this topic in the past, but with all the recent press, I feel compelled to address the issue of consumer protection again. Solar in Texas has seen explosive growth in the last few years, and Texas Solar Energy Society recognizes that while there […]
2025: What Can We Expect in the 89th Texas Legislature? (Updated)
By Patrice “Pete” Parsons, TXSES Executive Director We are saying goodbye to a very busy, yet successful 2024, and are just as energized by the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead in 2025. There is plenty to tackle. Although in many ways, last year marked some significant milestones for solar energy in Texas, with record-setting […]
Solar: Keeping the Power On. What’s Next?
By Patrice “Pete” Parsons, TXSES Executive Director As we near the end of the hottest October in Texas’s recorded history (since the 1890s), with new daily highs set across the state, and at least for us in Austin, the latest calendar date to ever hit 100 degrees—44 days later than the average date of Aug. […]
Solar in the Aftermath of Hurricane Beryl
by Patrice “Pete” Parsons, TXSES Executive Director The devastation caused by Hurricane Beryl this summer left millions of Texans reeling, including nearly 3 million in the Houston area who were without power in 100+ degree temperatures, with many still out weeks afterwards. Throughout the outage, one thing became crystal clear: localized distributed energy resources (DER), […]
Report Commissioned by TXSES on the Value of Solar in Texas Released
By Patrice ‘Pete’ Parsons, TXSES Executive Director Until Hurricane Beryl, the biggest news in Texas energy this summer had stemmed from ERCOT Chief Executive Officer Pablo Vegas’s mid-June announcement to state legislators that demand for power in the ERCOT regions of Texas could nearly double by 2030—a number much higher than previously estimated. The news […]
New Value of Solar Study: Rooftop Solar Cuts Costs for the Texas Grid
TXSES commissioned a new study quantifying grid-stabilizing value and cost savings of rooftop solar For Immediate Release: July 16, 2024Contact: José Medina, jmedina@citizen.org AUSTIN, Texas—Energy supplied by rooftop solar is much more valuable than the average kilowatt-hour sent to the ERCOT grid by other means, finds a new study commissioned by the Texas Solar Energy […]