Julian Spector of Canary Media reports that solar generated more electricity than coal in Texas last month.
- 10 years ago coal generated 36% of Texas’ electricity, a number that has plummeted to below 10% today.
- Texas’ competitive energy markets have allowed the state rapidly increase its share of renewables and displace coal-fired generation.
- Texas’ lawmakers should continue to embrace its competitive market to deliver affordable, clean power to consumers.
- At the same time policymakers at the federal and state levels should phase subsidies for mature energy technologies.
“Wind and solar don’t need to pay for fuel, so they can deliver low-cost power to ERCOT whenever the weather is favorable. That pushes down the prices that coal owners can earn during those high-renewables hours, reducing the amount of time when it makes economic sense to run their plants. Solar can only operate in the sunlight, yet it still managed to produce more megawatt-hours in March than Texas coal plants, which technically could run at any time of day.”
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.
