The Texas Senate passed a bill Thursday that leading business interests fear would lead to an age of expensive power and rolling blackouts.
If passed by the House, state S.B. 715 would require all renewable projects — even existing ones — to buy backup power, largely from coal or gas plants.
This would require solar plants in particular to buy backup power to “match their output at night — a time when no one expects them to produce energy and when demand is typically at its lowest anyway,” consultant and energy expert Doug Lewin wrote in an April analysis.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation, a right-wing think tank that is one of the bill’s most prominent advocates, argues that it is necessary to make up for the “volatility” of wind and solar power.
The state business lobby disagrees. A study by the Texas Association of Business (TAB) found that the legislation would cost the state $5.2 billion more per year — and cost individual consumers $225 more.
