Alejandro de la Garza of Time reports on Texas’ grid overhaul.
- Texas’ Performance Credit Mechanism (PCM), which was approved by the state’s grid regulators, would pay power producers to generate additional power during times of high demand.
- The plan would shift the market to discourage renewable energy projects which have been an economic boon for rural communities in Texas.
- Importantly, the PCM would be costly to taxpayers while doing little to improve grid reliability.
- By investing in infrastructure and allowing the market to pick energy winners and losers, Texas can improve reliability and deliver affordable energy to consumers.
“Wind energy was running low during the severe Winter Storm Uri, but as it turned out, it wasn’t renewables, but fossil fuels—particularly poorly winterized natural gas systems—that were primarily to blame for the cascading grid collapse that left 10 million people without power and 246 people dead.”
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.
