The Texas Template For Wind

The Mystery of Wind Energy in Texas

Kyle Downey, April 10, 2016 (Law Street)

“…[Texas] has a longstanding reputation for supporting the interests of the fossil fuel industry…and politicians there fiercely deny the scientific validity of climate change…In 2001, Texas received only 1 percent of its energy from wind. Only 15 years later, wind provides almost 10 percent of the state’s energy…[and its 17,713 MW of installed wind capacity is almost three times the 6,212 MW] of the second place state, Idaho…[After the 1999 Renewable Electricity Standard (RES) revealed wind] to be a reliable and affordable source of electricity…[T]he legislature updated it in 2005…[and the Public Utility Commission created Competition Renewable Energy Zones (CREZ) and fund to build gigantic transmission lines connecting the windy zones] to the highly populated urban areas…[I]mplementing renewable energy is rarely as easy as being a pro-clean energy state…[but on] December 20, 2015, wind turbines generated a record high of 40 percent of Texas’s energy for 17 hours of the day…[showing] the extreme potential of wind within the region..[and proving] the newly built transmission lines are capable of handling almost an entire day’s worth of wind energy without malfunction, contrary to the arguments of many fossil fuel advocates…” click here for more

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