Clean Energy Boom Powering Texas

Clean Energy Boom Powering Texas



October 2007

 Texans like to say that everything 
is bigger in Texas, and when it comes to wind power, they're right. Texas 
boasts the world’s largest wind farm - FPL Energy’s 735 megawatt, MW, 
Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center - and also the world's second largest wind 
farm - the 505 MW Sweetwater project owned by Babcock & Brown & Catamount 
Energy, both located near Abilene. 
These giant wind power facilities are part of a renewable energy boom in 
Texas that is handing big checks to rural landowners. Texas landowners now 
receive an estimated total of $9.5 million in annual royalty payments from 
wind farm operators. 
A new report released by the nonprofit group Environment Texas shows that 
the Texas’ renewable electricity standard is cutting pollution, saving 
money, creating jobs, and fueling a clean energy boom in Texas, as in the 
other 24 U.S. states that have passed similar policies. 
The Texas standard was adopted by the state legislature in 1999, and 
required 2,880 MW of renewable electricity generating capacity - 2,000 MW 
from new resources - to be installed by 2009. It was signed into law by 
then Governor George W. Bush. 
For the past two years, Texas has led the nation in wind energy with more 
than 3000 megawatts installed, the bulk of which has come since the 
passage of the RES in 1999. 
Currently, more than 3,000 MW of renewable energy have been installed in 
Texas, putting the state well above its original 2009 requirement years 
ahead of schedule. As a result of this early success, in August 2005, the 
legislature increased the new capacity requirement to 5,000 MW by 2015. 
According to the Public Utility Commission of Texas, there are 
"expressions of interest in constructing 24,511 MW" of wind generation in 
the coming years. 
Renewable energy is also saving consumers money. According to the Wind 
Coalition, by displacing use of high cost natural gas, wind power saved 
$476 million in wholesale power costs in Texas last year. 
"Texans are already reaping the rewards for Texas’ leadership on clean 
energy," said Luke Metzger, director of Environment Texas. "Thanks to the 
renewable electricity standard, clean energy is booming in Texas." 
The new report, "Reaping the Rewards," documents the benefits that have 
already been achieved by states that have adopted renewable electricity 
standards and calls on Congress to establish a national renewable 
electricity standard as part of the energy bill now in negotiation in 
Congress. 
America now generates twice as much electricity from the wind and the sun 
as it did just four years ago, the report shows, and Environment Texas 
says RES policies have been among the most important factors in 
encouraging the development of renewable energy. 
The report found that RES states are leading the way in renewable energy 
development. In 2006, more than two-thirds of all new renewable electric 
generating capacity in the United States was built in RES states. 
In 2007, renewables account for about 38 percent of planned capacity 
additions in RES states, compared to just 12 percent in non-RES states. 
The environmental community has called for four priorities on a national 
energy bill - a strong renewable electricity standard; strong fuel economy 
standards; no incentives or mandates for liquid coal; and improvements to 
the biofuels sections of the bill. 
"Without an RES, one of our top priorities is missing from the Senate 
energy bill, and we will be hard pressed to support a bill without this 
key policy," said U.S. PIRG Washington DC office director Anna Aurilio. 
In order to expand the benefits of renewable energy development, the 
report concludes that the United States should adopt a renewable 
electricity standard requiring at least 25 percent of America’s 
electricity to come from new renewable sources by 2025. 
This summer, the House passed a national RES that would establish a 15 
percent requirement. The Senate also passed energy legislation this 
summer, but did not include an RES. The Senate can accept the House RES 
when the two bills are negotiated in conference this fall. 
On Capitol Hill, Democratic and Republican energy committee staffs are 
conducting a bipartisan and bicameral exploration of the House (H.R.3221) 
and Senate (H.R.6) energy bills. The meetings are alternating between 
House and Senate. 
Senate Energy Committee Chairman Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico believes that 
these bipartisan meetings are a necessary first step in producing a final 
comprehensive energy bill. 
"After a decade of leadership in the states, it is time for Congress to 
follow," said Metzger in Texas. "The House has taken an important step in 
the right direction by passing the RES, and the Senate should join them. 
In addition to strong fuel economy improvements and energy efficiency 
provisions, no energy bill will be complete without a national renewable 
electricity standard." 

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