Apr 20, 2024 | Txses Impact, Chair's Corner
by Patrice ‘Pete’ Parsons, TXSES Executive Director
You’ve probably seen the headlines this past week from ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas), including:
It all comes down to a very simply concept — Supply and Demand.
When considering the problems ERCOT is having in trying to meet the growing demand for energy, it is time they took into consideration all possibilities. This includes not only demand, but all the options for supply.
Investors are developing solar power and storage at an unprecedented rate and the costs have dropped to the point that the technology is cheaper than coal as well as natural gas (see “Texas solar surpasses coal production for first time”). But intense demand could overwhelm all that new supply, and then some.
Demand hit 85 gigawatts last summer and ERCOT recently estimated that Texans would need 92 gigawatts of electricity to weather another Winter Storm Uri.
With an expected flood of demand from large loads, including data centers, electric vehicle fleets and much, much more coming online in Texas, demand will rise even higher and faster.
Without higher demand flexibility, the grid simply will not be able to keep up and Texans will face higher electricity bills and more blackouts.
If investor-owned utilities would take advantage of all the options available, including energy efficiency, demand response and incentivizing rooftop solar it would cost much less than new power plants needed to meet the demand that we will be facing. It would make the grid stronger and save Texans money.
Last year the legislature required the Public Utility Commission of Texas to pass a rule to reduce average residential load, but so far the PUC has ignored this legislative requirement, although they did recently hire a new director of energy efficiency. So, there is hope.
If we try to keep up by just building enough infrastructure, and dispatchable generation from gas plants to simultaneously cover peak electricity needs without considering the exploding demand, the grid will be one of the most expensive and least reliable in the world.
The good news could come from distributed solar power. Distributed solar’s ability to increase customer resiliency and predictability against the expected rise in the cost of electricity, will be vital as the state moves forward. And if storage is added, that reliability will increase several fold.
Feb 17, 2024 | News, Txses Impact, Chair's Corner
By Patrice ‘Pete’ Parsons
Executive Director, TXSES
Last weekend, I had the privilege of sharing our work at the annual/monthly meeting of the North Texas Renewable Energy Group (NTREG), one of our sister state chapters. As I began to put a presentation together to share what we’re doing, I quickly realized just how busy we are. And it’s only February! Good thing the weather has been so spectacular. Perhaps I shouldn’t say that…
To give you an idea of what’s keeping us busy, take a peek:
- The promotion of Infinite Power: Take Your Share of the Texas Sun, our statewide educational campaign to raise awareness and double the amount of distributed solar in Texas by 2030 via media, social media, events, and unrelenting advocacy for distributed solar by one-on-one engagements with decision-makers.
- We’re spreading the word to municipalities’ permitting departments about Solar APP+ (Solar Automated Permit Processing), a free, innovative software that speeds up compliance checks and building permit approvals for eligible solar rooftop systems.
- Working with the Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs (TDHCA) last year, TXSES along with TEPRI and Frontier Energy, we were successful in adding distributed solar as a fundable energy benefit to the statewide plan for income-qualified homeowners and renters using WAP or LIHEAP funds. This year, we’ll be working with Austin Energy, the municipal utility, to prove the energy savings on 10 homes so we can take the program statewide.
- We’re reaching out to developers across the State to promote to implement net zero subdivisions.
- With a grant from the State Energy Conservation Office (SECO), we’re partnering with Green Careers Texas on solar training and education of low-income Dallas, Austin and Houston individuals and high school students in rooftop and ground mount solar PV installations.
- To address unethical and discriminatory business practices from solar sales and solar installation companies, we’re working with different partners to develop possible legislative language to begin to educate decision-makers at the state and local levels prior to the 2025 legislative session.
- Tracking regulatory bodies like the PUC to provide relevant comments on targeted dockets.
It’s an ambitious list, but we love what we do. If any of these issues are of interest to you and you want to know more or get involved, there’s plenty of room for you! Reach out to me at pparsons@txses.org. Thanks, as always, for your support.
P.S. February 22 is Introduce a Girl to Engineering Day! We’ll all be better off…
Mar 15, 2022 | Txses Impact, Chair's Corner
By Howard ‘Scot’ Arey
Chair, TXSES Board of Directors
As I write this column, President Biden announced that the U.S. will cease to import Russian oil. Simultaneously, Ukraine is set to join the European energy system in a further step to lessen its dependence on Russian oil and gas. The Nord Stream 2 Baltic Sea gas pipeline, designed to double the flow of Russian gas direct to Germany, has been canceled. This conflict is causing consequential global energy turmoil. How do the U.S. and Texas look beyond the political paradigms of yesterday to keep the lights on, cars and trucks running, and energy plants producing ample energy for our communities?
At our recent strategic planning meeting, the TXSES board discussed how behind-your-meter distributed solar is under attack. We know it’s not enough to fight the policy roadblocks put in place by rural electric cooperatives looking to protect their historical business models. Instead, we need to show how solar complements Texas’ entire energy portfolio making it more available and less expensive for everybody. Texas solar needs to shift from an “us-them” to an “all-of-Texas” approach.
“All of Texas” acknowledges that our state has four natural resources: oil, natural gas, wind and solar. No other state touches the resource availability we have. Most other nations envy what we have. This is not the first time I’ve written this but until the Texas Legislature imposes severance taxes on a gust of wind or a photon of sunshine, it might not care as much about wind and solar until they deliver dollars into the state coffers. While I’m not suggesting that Texas tax wind and sunshine, I do wonder what it would take to export our abundant renewable energy resources. The answer might be opening ERCOT (Electric Reliability Council of Texas) to the other national grids so we can export our excess wind and solar production. Want to see an economic boom? Monetizing exportable Texas renewable resources will help Texas and the nation writ large.
Texas is home to some of the nation’s leading top research universities. Not only must we turn wind and solar into exportable resources, but we must also innovate concepts and models for distributed rooftop solar to contribute to the resiliency of the Texas grid. A look at ancillary services is just the tip of where solar and storage can contribute to grid stability. Expanding the art of the possible, imagine how virtual net-metering and blockchain technology might enable you and me to contribute excess kilowatt-hours directly to a non-profit to help them accomplish their mission. We have the researchers, innovators, and entrepreneurs to make this happen.
It takes bold legislators to make this happen, as policy is too often driven by silo-like trade associations that push one-dimensional models. These models might have worked yesterday. But today is a different world.
It’s going to take an embrace of everything Texas has to offer to keep our homes, cars and industries in Texas and the nation running. It will take All of Texas.
Solar is ready to work – with all. For all.
Dec 13, 2021 | Txses Impact, Chair's Corner
Another year draws to a close, and even in these trying times of inflation and supply chain concerns, we have much to be thankful for. With energy inflation a substantive part of our household expenses, Texans are adapting and installing solar at a pace like never before.
Solar continues to be installed at record levels but even more noteworthy is that energy storage is a part of nearly every solar system today. Whether a customer wants a home energy storage system during the initial installation or as “battery backup ready,” every installer I’ve met recently says they’ve been asked about energy storage when meeting with potential customers.
That’s good for everyone because a distributed network of energy resilient homes and businesses is a practical, smart hedge against what might happen this winter. Is ERCOT ready? Leaders say that Texas is ready. We can hope for good weather and adequate preparation but for many families, the suffering from last year was too much to simply rely on “hope” for others’ preparation and assurances.
Energy storage is the technological response to Texas retail electric providers, electric cooperatives, and municipalities that are changing the rules for your solar investment. The policy struggle with Pedernales Electric Cooperative is the most egregious example of reducing the “buy-back” credit for your solar generation. Fortunately, energy storage will empower Texas solar customers to store their solar for nighttime use and for grid emergencies. The year is coming when energy storage is just as normal a part of a new home as a refrigerator and oven.
Let me close by giving heartfelt thanks to departing board members David Brearley, Amy Olsen, Josh Rhodes and Ron Zagarri. Each shared their clean energy expertise and ideas and helped this board be better and more informed. We were very fortunate to have them. As we welcome 2022, we look forward to our new board members to help us create solutions that reduce energy costs for owners while making our grid more resilient than ever. If you’re a TXSES member and haven’t yet voted for the 2022 board candidates, there’s still time! Deadline to vote is January 5, 2022.
Looking ahead to 2022, our agenda is ambitious: expanding community solar, building a quality workforce, educating consumers about the benefits of solar energy and raising awareness of sound, smart solar policies. In the end, we come together because we believe similar things. What we do, and more importantly, why we do what we do, are inextricably linked. Our passion inspires others to join us in the pursuit for something important for Texas.
Happiest of holidays to you and yours. All the best,
Scot
