{"id":9441,"date":"2015-02-19T10:54:28","date_gmt":"2015-02-19T16:54:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/?p=9441"},"modified":"2015-02-19T11:37:37","modified_gmt":"2015-02-19T17:37:37","slug":"think-texas-energy-is-all-about-the-oil-think-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/energyexchange\/2015\/02\/19\/think-texas-energy-is-all-about-the-oil-think-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Think Texas Energy is all about the Oil? Think Again."},"content":{"rendered":"

\"texaswind_378x235\"<\/a>Technology is making clean energy competitive with coal for the first time in history, and that\u2019s a game changer.<\/p>\n

In 1999, we pushed to get the first renewable energy mandate passed in the country \u2013 in Texas of all places. There were all sorts of concerns at the time that wind could not be integrated into the system, or that it would be too expensive. Time has proven otherwise.<\/p>\n

Yes, Texas has plenty of oil and gas, but we also have a lot of sun and wind. Those early investments in renewables paid off and today the Lone Star State is the top wind energy-producing state in the nation.<\/p>\n

As such, I believe we’re helping to drive investments in wind across the United States.<\/p>\n

Texas is on the cutting edge of technology \u2013 and proud of it\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

I think most folks in government and most Texans are kind of proud of this fact. You can drive lots of places now and see giant wind farms that look a little bit futuristic.<\/p>\n

Since 1999, the politics here have gotten worse, but the technology and economics are better. Renewable energy is cheap; it\u2019s homegrown and not imported like most of our coal is. And for all its blustering, Texas likes to be on the\u00a0cutting edge of technology<\/a>.<\/p>\n

We drove down the price of wind, and manufacturers and inventors saw an assured market, so they innovated and made the technology better.<\/p>\n

If you look at the polling data, average Texans like clean energy, they like wind, and they like to protect our environment.<\/p>\n

\u2026even if our politicians don\u2019t get it<\/strong><\/p>\n

Unfortunately, we have here, like in much of the country, a political system where elected officials are too-often way behind the people on this issue. Adding to the problem, electric utilities in many places still have an economic incentive to sell power from centralized plants that can last for up to 60 years \u2013 far too long to stay competitive and efficient.<\/p>\n

[Tweet “Think Texas energy is all about oil? Think again. #TXenergy @JimMarston http:\/\/ow.ly\/JkPKG “]<\/p>\n

The good news is\u00a0consumer choice<\/a>\u00a0is helping to drive the clean energy revolution, and most utilities understand two things:<\/p>\n

1) They can\u2019t stop the new technology that\u2019s driving the revolution. (The history of the telecom sector tells us this.)<\/p>\n

2) They can either\u00a0get run over<\/a>\u00a0by new technology or embrace it, and by choosing to advance technologically they can prosper.<\/p>\n

So one of our big initiatives, and that of the leading regulatory bodies around the country, is to generate a new business model that incentivizes utilities to more fully participate in the clean energy revolution. Despite important gains elsewhere, we\u2019re going to be pushing a big rock up a steep hill until we solve that problem.<\/p>\n

And let\u2019s not forget that there are some really good people in the industry who understand climate change is real, and that they need to be part of the solution.<\/p>\n

What we\u2019re proving in Texas is that by having a relatively small mandate \u2013 about 2,000 new megawatts of renewable energy \u2013 the rule of economies of scale applies to our state too.<\/p>\n

When we overhaul obsolete regulations and give people more choice and control over energy costs, we can reduce pollution in a meaningful way while supporting a thriving clean energy economy.<\/p>\n

If it can work in Texas, it can work anywhere.<\/p>\n

Photo source: Flickr\/David Ingram<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

This post originally appeared on our EDF Voices blog<\/a>. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Technology is making clean energy competitive with coal for the first time in history, and that\u2019s a game changer. In 1999, we pushed to get the first renewable energy mandate passed in the country \u2013 in Texas of all places. There were all sorts of concerns at the time that wind could not be integrated …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":42,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[42996,177,181],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"class_list":["post-9441","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-smart-power","category-renewable-energy","category-texas"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThink Texas Energy is all about the Oil? 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