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Texas Gov. Greg Abbott directed the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) to take several actions that are intended to strengthen the reliability of the Texas energy grid, especially those dealing with the unreliable nature of intermittent generators like solar and wind power.
Abbott's order directs the PUC to streamline incentives within the ERCOT to support the development and maintenance of proven sources of power including natural gas, coal and nuclear power. It also has directives to allocate reliability costs to energy producers that cannot guarantee availability, such as wind or solar power.
"Today I'm directing the @PUCTX to take immediate action to improve electric reliability across the state," Abbott said in a July 6 Twitter post. "These directives build upon the reforms passed this session to increase power generation capacity and ensure the reliability of the Texas power grid."
Abbott and the Texas grid have been under intense scrutiny this year following devastating blackouts during a severe winter storm in February, Austin News reported. Abbott ensured Texans that actions taken by the 87th Texas Legislature were to fix the issues in the grid, but recent conservation warnings from the grid operator, ERCOT, stirred up more criticism and posed questions about whether the issues of reliability had actually been solved.
The reliability of wind and solar is not a new question in Texas. Following the winter storm in February, Texas Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian warned against being impressed by the state's capacity for renewables and recounted how renewable generation dropped dramatically even before Winter Storm Uri hit Texas, Austin News reported.
“While many celebrate the seemingly impressive 30 gigawatts 'capacity' of Texas’ wind turbines and solar panels, that capacity has always been an illusion,” Christian told Austin News. “In the lead-up to the storm, before any wind turbines froze, solar and wind generation fell from meeting over 50% to under 5% of demand — solely due to their inherent unreliability.”
Christian went on to add that the issue wasn't the existence of renewable energy, but that it has displaced reliable generation because renewables have been prioritized and subsidized by Texas tax dollars.
“At the federal level, we have spent billions through the production tax credit, and at the state level we have spent billions building out the transmission lines and providing 313 tax incentives,” Christian wrote in an op-ed. “According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Texas’ planned additions as of December 2020 include 11.6 gigawatts of solar, 8.4 of wind, 5 of gas and no new nuclear or coal. These plans should change to prioritize reliability.”
Earlier this year, a national wind power developer gave Abbott an award for his apparent "commitment to wind development and to the people who rely on wind projects to support their families and communities," North American Windpower reported.
His words from the July 6 directive seem to go against the earning of this award, as he now criticizes wind and solar as unable to "guarantee their own availability."