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Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick, state senators share bills aimed at improving Texas’ power grid

Lt. Gov. Patrick and members of the State’s Senate Business and Commerce Committee, chaired by state Sen. Charles Schwertner, shared nine electricity-related bills.

AUSTIN, Texas — Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick and a bipartisan group of state senators unveiled a set of bills Thursday. They say the package of legislation will increase reliability of the state power grid and save Texans money.

Patrick was joined by State Sen. Charles Shwertner, who authored the bills. Both said that the bills would allow the State to hire companies to build emergency gas-fueled power plants, which would move Texas from wind and solar energies. 

The bills are meant to get companies to build more of what’s known as “dispatchable power,” which is power that can turn on or off at any time, similar to batteries. Creating dispatchable power typically means building gas-fueled power plants – something Patrick said he'd like to see. 

Patrick argued this to be the best move in terms of power because the reliability on sun for solar or wind for wind turbines to operate lessens.

“We have invested heavily in renewables, but now it’s time to focus on dispatchable," Patrick said.

Patrick spoke on the importance of keeping homes and businesses powered during severe weather events, referencing Winter Storm Uri in February 2021. During the storm, various power producers fell offline as the extreme cold caused equipment to freeze and fail.

Patrick and members of the State’s Senate Business and Commerce Committee, chaired by Schwertner, outlined nine electricity-related bills.

Senate Bill 6: This would direct the State to hire one or more companies to build up to 10,000 megawatts of new gas-fueled power generation that can be activated during emergencies. Schwertner described it as a “backup system" for power. Schwertner compared it to generators people buy for their homes. The bill would also create a State-backed, low-cost loan program to cover maintenance or modernization for current dispatchable power generators. The loan would come from a fund that Patrick said the State's surplus would invest in.

Senate Bill 7 would smooth out what Schwertner called “market distortions” caused by federal tax credits that wind and solar power generators receive. Generators that could provide at least four hours of power and turn on within two hours of being needed by grid operators could get paid through this tool.

Senate Bill 1287 would require the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) to set a cap for how much Texans would have to pay for power producers to connect to the State’s power grid. SB 1287 would also require the companies to pick up the rest of the cost.

Senate Bill 2012 would hone in on a proposal that the PUC introduced this year, which would incentivize companies to build more dispatchable power, or keep existing, dispatchable power online. The PUC proposal would require electricity providers to pay electricity generators a market-determined amount to be able to produce power in a crisis. The bill would also create a legislative oversight committee to oversee its implementation.

Other bills unveiled involve market protections, updating mitigation plan requirements to protect against market power abuse, and grid infrastructure protection.

Patrick listed SB 6 and SB 7 as a priority this legislative session.

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