Solar and wind energy are keeping Texans cool this summer
Even as the relentless sun parches plants and turns sidewalks into griddles, solar power has been helping Texans stay cool this summer.
Data from ERCOT, the independent agency that manages the electrical grid for most of Texas, show just how critical solar and wind have become for coping with high demand. On Sunday and Monday around noon, for example, more than half of the electricity flowing across the grid came from solar and wind. Natural gas supplied less than one-third. Solar energy is likely to provide more electricity to Texans this year than coal, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Political leaders in Austin should celebrate this accomplishment. That diversity of energy sources improves overall grid resilience and reliability and allows power production to keep pace with population and industrial growth. Republican lawmakers ought to embrace and encourage renewables as part of the state’s overall energy success story.
They didn’t do that in last year’s regular legislative session. One state senator introduced a bill that would have added layers of permits and environmental regulations to the siting of solar and wind farms. The proposed regulations were more burdensome than those the state applies to oil and gas production.
Another bill would have required half of all new electricity flowing through the grid to come from “dispatchable” sources, such as coal or natural gas plants or batteries, which can be turned on or off as demand requires. Neither bill became law.
It’s easy to understand why many of the state’s most prominent GOP politicians dislike renewable energy. Some work in the oil and gas industry. Some of their biggest donors own oil and gas production or related service companies. The state makes a lot of money, directly and indirectly, from fossil fuels.
And it’s true: Wind and solar are not “dispatchable” energy. You can’t force the sun to shine at night or the wind to blow on a calm day, but you can predict those natural phenomena and adjust to their fluctuations. Battery arrays help, too.
And yes, as the renewable energy industry matures, its leaders must reckon with its waste products: scrapped solar panels and decommissioned turbine blades. That problem seems less worrisome than the rising costs of plugging and remediating Texas’ abundance of orphan oil and gas wells.
The growth of wind and solar power is part of the reason Texans haven’t had to worry about the possibility of rolling blackouts during our streaks of 100-degree days. According to a Reuters news story, ERCOT predicted only a 0.3% chance of rolling blackouts in August 2025, down from 12% in 2024. That fact alone should make Texans grateful. No air conditioning in August isn’t just uncomfortable, it’s dangerous.
Federal energy policy may no longer encourage renewable energy production, but it’s in Texans’ best interest to allow the industry to flourish here.
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