Climate, Energy, And Essential Infrastructure In Texas

Climate, Energy, And Essential Infrastructure In Texas

The easy way: a worker directs a sideboom operator to lay a new 42-inch piece of pipe into a trench ... [+] with an existing 26-inch white pipe to carry natural gas. (Photo by Robert Nickelsberg/Liaison)



Getty Images

Essential infrastructure spending and regulation is on the agenda of the upcoming biennial session of the Texas legislature. Some believe that there are competing interests are at play—wind and solar energy versus oil and gas producers. Both are competing for infrastructure spending and favorable regulations. It's a big state. Here's how both can win.

Texas is the nation's largest producer of electricity from wind power—more than 27 gigawatts of installed capacity—and solar is growing. Years ago, the Texas legislature enabled the growth of the industry by facilitating the construction of long-distance transmission lines from wind farms in West Texas to consuming regions of the state. Consumers, also known as voters, have paid for these transmission assets in their monthly electricity bills. A recent poll by University of Houston researchers shows that Texans, along with voters across the nation, strongly favor increasing supplies of renewable energy. No one is naïve. It will require concerted effort and investments by the state and industry to bring the new