Jinjoo Lee of The Wall Street Journal writes about Texas’ potential grid market restructuring.
- In the wake of Winter Storm Uri in 2021, Berkshire Hathaway proposed a plan to build more natural gas generation stations to supply back up power to the grid. Now a plan similar to this one may become law through Senate Bill 6.
- If enacted, Senate Bill 6 will cost taxpayers billions of dollars, which will be paid through higher energy prices.
- Importantly, the construction of these plants will hurt Texas’ competitive electricity market structure and discourage investments in renewable energy sources.
- Lawmakers should consider more cost-efficient ways to improve grid reliability including investing in energy efficiency methods and retaining an “all of the above” energy strategy.
“The proposal isn’t cheap. Building out 10 gigawatts—the upper limit of what the bill envisions—would cost about $18 billion, according to a recent estimate from the Lower Colorado River Authority, a nonprofit public utility with headquarters in Austin, Texas. The Texas Competitive Power Advocates said in an emailed statement that the proposed insurance program is inefficient and expensive, akin to buying new cars to keep in the garage in case the main one breaks down.”
Read the full article here.
The views and opinions expressed are those of the author’s and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of C3.
