• The Texas state government is pushing legislation to boost electricity supplies during peak demand summer periods, but which grid experts are warning would be counterproductive and trigger more unreliability.
• The state’s Senate passed a package of bills last month designed to address growing concerns that the state’s power sector doesn’t have an adequate amount of dispatchable fossil fuel energy generation that would provide electricity during emergency peak periods. GOP Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, who presides over the Senate, said the package “levels the playing field” between intermittent renewables and dispatchable generation.
• However, experts said one of the bills, SB 2012, includes so-called guardrails that could ultimately sink efforts to incentive energy companies to develop new dispatchable power facilities.

Tagged: Politics