Tom Boggioni
April 15, 2023
Oil Wells (Shuttershock)
The editorial board of the Wall Street Journal pounded the Republican-controlled Texas Senate for a new proposal to avoid another disaster like the February 2021 freeze that left an estimated 10 million without power and officials scrambling as the death toll mounted.
Getting right to the point, the editorial board began their piece with "What a mess" before delving into the new proposal that will cost Texas taxpayers billions for subsidies with no guarantee the problems have been fixed.
According to the editors, "Renewable subsidies have distorted and destabilized the Texas electric grid, which resulted in a week-long power outage during the February 2021 freeze. To prevent more blackouts, Republicans in the Lone Star State now plan to subsidize gas power plants."
They then added, "The Texas Senate last week passed putative energy reforms to 'level the playing field,' as Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick put it. Texans will now spend tens of billions of dollars to bolster natural-gas plants that provide reliable power but can’t make money because of competition from subsidized renewable energy."
Explaining, "Baseload plants were developed on the financial assumption that they’d run 85% to 90% of the time, but many aren’t because they are being squeezed by renewables. Coal plants are closing, and gas generators are at risk. Too few new gas plants are being built to support a growing population and industry. As a result, power is becoming unreliable, especially during extreme weather."
Noting, "Another Senate bill would create financial incentives for “peaker” gas plants that could ramp up on demand. Yet building peaker gas plants that run only 10% of the time costs about three times more than a baseload gas plant that operates 85% to 90% of the time," the editors added, "To sum up: Texas Republicans are trying to fix the enormous inefficiencies caused by federal and state renewable subsidies with state subsidies that cause more inefficiencies."
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