Philip Jankowski of The Dallas Morning News reports that Texas senators might reject the state’s proposed power grid redesign.
- Regulators in Texas have submitted a plan that would redesign the state’s electricity market to make it more favorable to oil and gas and less favorable to renewables and nuclear power.
- While these regulators claim that their plan would prevent blackouts in the event of a winter storm like Uri, it would actually stifle competition, increase costs for consumers, and do little to improve reliability.
- Importantly, ERCOT’s redesign does not include plans to winterize the state’s grid infrastructure.
- Texas lawmakers can improve grid reliability by investing in infrastructure upgrades and implementing technology-neutral energy policies that allow the market to pick winners and losers.
“Lawmakers’ dubious reaction to the proposed redesign appears to have morphed into a red light after senators heard testimony that the untested marketplace would make investors skittish to commit to building coveted natural gas plants in Texas.”
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.
