The Texas Senate has passed a bill that is similar to one in Oklahoma’s legislature but would also penalize renewable energy sources in the state.
SB 388 would set a target for 50% of new power plant capacity to be “sourced from dispatchable generation other than battery energy storage.” An earlier version of the bill mandated that these plants “use natural gas.” It closely resembles Oklahoma Rep. Trey Caldwell’s HB2747 which would favor generation facilities that use natural gas as the primary fuel source. It’s the same bill that opponents call a Right of First Refusal bill, a claim denied by Rep. Caldwell.
As Canary Media reported, the Texas measure looks “a lot like the government picking winners and losers.”
Texas legislators have a new plan for their state’s famously competitive energy market, and it looks a lot like the government picking winners and losers. If approved in the Texas House and signed by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, it would penalize renewables and reward sources favored by politicians in Austin.
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