Sen. Troy Fraser (R-Horseshoe Bay) has filed a bill that
would eliminate Texas’ Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) – a policy that has
catapulted Texas to world leadership in wind energy and strengthened Texas’
energy diversity. In addition to terminating the RPS at the end of the year, SB
931would make it more difficult to build renewable energy infrastructure. The
argument behind the bill is that because Texas has achieved its RPS goals it’s
time to move on. Sounds reasonable, right? Well…
No one disputes that Texas has achieved its goal to develop
5,880 MW of renewable energy – and even surpassed its non-binding 2025 target
of 10,000 MW. Today, Texas has more than 13,000 MW of renewables online and
thousands more in development. I’m sure Fraser will publicly laud the policy.
He even deserves to take a big chunk of the credit because of legislation he
carried in 2005 (SB 20) that increased the RPS goals.
But this is the wrong time to terminate the RPS, and it’s
the wrong time to end CREZ.
