Wind Beats Nuclear Power for Electricity in Texas

A report by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas shows wind energy surpassed nuclear power in 2015 to become the third biggest source of electricity in the Council’s region. It says wind power provided 11.7 percent or about 40.8 million mwh of the grid operator’s electricity during the year. That’s an increase from the 10.6 percent provided in 2014 when wind was the fourth largest electricity source.

Natural gas is still the dominant fuel, providing 48.3 percent of the electricity generated in the ERCOT region. Coal is still second at 28.1 percent. While wind beat out nuclear power, nuclear-generated electricity still increased slightly from 2014 and provided 11.3 percent of the total energy used.

Wind power in Texas now totals 13,883 MW as of Dec. 20, 2015.