By Michael Beveridge '17
Texas, the nation’s largest crude oil producer in 2013, recently had one of its largest cities aim to increase its renewable energy portfolio, specifically with respect to solar, by 600 MW over the coming two to ten years. While Texas is already a leader in wind energy, its solar capacity has been largely absent. However, the city of Austin is seeking to make large strides to bring the power of solar energy to Texas.
Austin Energy, the municipally-owned utility in Texas’ capital, has made a goal to add 600 MW of solar to its energy portfolio by as soon as 2017. Under its request for proposal announced last week, the energy company said it would either buy the power from other firms, or own the production capacity outright.
The one contingency for this proposal is that Austin Energy may not fully complete its goal until 2025. If the solar capacity is not “available and affordable,” the company will acquire the power as it can while staying within certain regulations placed upon it. Austin has required that its customers’ bills do not increase by more than 2% a year or be higher than the median bill for the customers all across Texas.
Solar power is a rapidly growing industry across all of the United States. Last year, solar production accounted for 36% of all electricity produced in the country and a new installation was added approximately every three minutes. During 2015, it’s expected that the 1 millionth solar installation will be added, powering 3.5 million homes. The price of solar is declining rapidly, falling 11% last year alone.
Sources:
http://www.seia.org/research-resources/solar-industry-data
http://www.austintexas.gov/page/vice-president-energy-market-operations-resource-planning
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/gas-happy-texas-goes-solar/