About 15% Of Texas Energy Is Now Supplied By Wind

(This chart shows the 2016 energy sources in Texas.)

Although coal and natural gas still provide most of the electricity for homes and businesses in Texas, wind energy is growing fast. In 2016, it has provided nearly 15% of all energy. The following article is by Katherine Tweed at Green Tech Media.

First, some definitions:

Megawatt -- unit of power equal to 1 million watts.

Gigawatt -- init of power equal to 1 billion watts.

1 Megawatt will provide enough energy to supply the needs of 400 to 900 homes (depending on the time of year and location of those homes).

Tweed writes:

Texas grid operator ERCOT announced a new record for wind on Monday. For the first time, wind provided more than 15,000 megawatts of electricity to the state on a single day. 

The record wind on Sunday supplied an average of 41 percent of electricity throughout the day. But it was not an all-time record for wind in Texas. On one day in March, wind supplied more than 48 percent of load during one hour.

It is not the hour-by-hour records that are impressive, however.

Texas is already the clear leader in wind power in the U.S., and that lead is widening. Texas has more than 18,000 megawatts installed and another 5,000 megawatts under construction, according to the American Wind Energy Association.

Wind power made up an average of 11.7 percent of electricity in 2015 in Texas, a figure that will be at least 14.7 in 2016, according to ERCOT.

The final tally of wind power’s contribution to the Texas electric grid will likely be slightly higher, as the wind blows harder in winter and therefore wind power contributions to the power mix usually go up.

Of course, the growing share of wind is still half the amount of coal in Texas and about one-third of natural gas generation.

Coal and natural gas may dominate in Texas, but the investment the state has made in transmission and improving renewable energy forecasts could allow for even more wind and solar in the future.

The wind power in Texas is coming from across the state, including the Texas Panhandle, the west and the south. Texas’ success with wind power is largely due to its Competitive Renewable Energy Zones, which were identified mostly in West Texas and the state's Panhandle region. A key to the project was about $7 billion in transmission lines to carry the wind power where it is needed.

With wind power flowing across the state, solar power is now starting to catch on to take advantage of the transmission lines. In 2015, ERCOT did not even list solar as a fuel source on its annual demand and energy report.

In 2016, the figures are still very small -- but they're growing. ERCOT reports about 685 megawatts of solar will be on-line in Texas in 2016, up from less than 300 in 2015. For the first time, solar energy received its own designation as a fuel type in ERCOT’s annual demand and energy report.

Large-scale solar could grow quickly in Texas, but will not even come close to wind. By 2020, ERCOT expects 2.5 gigawatts of solar on its system, compared to more than 28 gigawatts of wind.

Time To Eliminate Gas Production Tax Cut

Back in 1989 the Texas budget was in good shape, so the legislature acted to help the gas industry. In an effort to spur more gas drilling, they gave the gas industry huge tax cuts to develop the technology to drill for natural gas in places where it was much more difficult to get. And it worked. The technology was developed and there has been a huge increase in drilling in those areas (most notably the Barnett Shale).

Things are different now. Due to Republican mismanagement the state is mired in recession and faces a budget shortfall for the next biennium of about $27 billion. And there are some who think it's time for the tax cuts for the gas companies to end. The technology has been developed and is being used every day. Now that tax cut just goes to fattening the bank accounts of the giant gas producers.

State Rep. Lon Burnam (D-Fort Worth) has introduced a bill to repeal these tax cuts. Burnam (pictured) says they are no longer needed and repealing them will put about $2.3 billion over the next biennium. That wouldn't fix the budget shortfall, but it would certainly be a good start. And amazingly, it looks like at least some Republicans are willing to at least consider the idea.

State Senator Steve Ogden (R-Bryan), chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, is saying that "everything" is on the table. He's considering appointing a sub-committee to examine removing the unneeded tax cut.

I suspect the move to consider the tax removal is little more than a publicity gimmick by the Republicans. When their draconian budget cuts result in the lay-off of 100,000 teachers and tanks the Texas economy, they want to be able to say they considered all ideas and were "forced" to make the cuts. It's not true (much could be done to avert or minimize those budget cuts), but that is the story they'll be trying to sell to the citizens.

The tax should be repealed. It has served its purpose and is no longer needed. And Texas needs those companies to pay their share of taxes to help pull the state out of the mess the Republicans have put it in. But what should happen and what will happen are two different things.

Texas Republican leadership in Austin sold out to the corporate interests long ago, and their actions regularly favor corporations over citizens. It is very unlikely that this sensible bill will ever make it out of the legislature, and if by some miracle it did, Texas' corporate-owned governor would probably veto it.

This is a good bill and it would help the citizens of Texas. That's why the Republicans will kill it.

Cause Of Gas Explosion Still Unknown

About a month and a half ago, a natural gas pipeline fractured near the rural town of Bushland in the Texas Panhandle. There was an explosion that sent flames over 700 feet into the air, and a nearby home was burned to the ground. The explosion rattled windows in Amarillo several miles away, and it took two hours to get the pipeline shut down and the fire under control.

It is still unclear just what caused the pipeline to fracture and explode. El Paso Natural Gas, who owns the pipeline, said there was no corrosion involved, no leaks and no defects in a weld connecting the pipes at the junction. In other words, they just don't know how or why the pipeline exploded.

They are moving the pipeline a little farther from the town though. After they have updated the pipeline, it will not be closer than 400-600 feet from any residence in Bushland (population 1500).

Are you listening Fort Worth? Do you think this can't happen to you. Driven by greed, the Fort Worth City Council has approved the drilling for natural gas in its newly renovated downtown area. Making matters even worse, many property owners inside the city and its suburbs have also signed leases to allow the gas companies to drill.

These politicians and citizens have virtually set off a ticking time bomb inside their own city. I'm sure they all believe nothing can happen. After all, the gas companies have assured them they will be safe and all precautions will be taken. But don't you think the people of Bushland were told the same thing?

Not only will there be gas drilling in the city limits, but to transport that gas there will be miles of pipelines criss-crossing the city. It's not a matter of if, but when an explosion similar to the one in Bushland happens in Fort Worth. And that explosion will be a lot worse and cause a lot more damage in an urban or suburban area.

Wake up Fort Worth! The few dollars you are putting into your pockets now are small payment for what the future destruction will be. It's time to throw the gas companies out and outlaw drilling within the city limits.

Gas Explosion In Potter County

Things got a little dicey here in Potter County early Thursday morning. A gas pipeline ruptured at a pumping station near the rural community of Bushland (about 14 miles east of Amarillo), resulting in a huge explosion and a 700 foot high fireball.

The explosion was heard and rattled windows in Amarillo. At least three people were injured and one house was completely destroyed. It took nearly two hours to get the main gas pipeline shut down and control the fire.

The lucky thing was the explosion happened in a rural area, and injuries and property damage were kept to a minimum. What if this had happened in the middle of a highly populated urban area?

The people of Fort Worth should consider this as a warning for what could happen to their city in the future. I have posted before about how the citizens of that city are signing leases that will let the gas companies drill within the city limits of the urban area. Even if the drilling goes without a calamity happening, it will leave miles of pipelines and pumping stations within the city.

If (or when) this happens in Fort Worth, there will be a lot more than one house burned down or three people injured.

Gas Drilling In Fort Worth

It was bad enough that the city of Fort Worth decided to let energy companies drill for natural gas within their city limits -- even in the downtown area. But now the gas companies want to drill even closer to homes, apartments and parks.

The city has an ordinance that says drilling cannot take place within 600 feet (200 yards) of houses, parks, schools, churches or hospitals (somehow apartments didn't make it into the ordinance). But there is a way around the ordinance. The gas companies can apply for a "high-impact" permit that would lower the distance to 200 feet.

The city council must approve the "high-impact" permit, but so far they have never turned one down. To date, 120 of the permits have been requested. Just in the last year, 62 permits were requested (Chesapeake-44, XTO-13, Devon-5).

In some neighborhoods, the residents are even signing off on the "high-impact" permits. I can only think they're letting their greed get the better of their common sense (they are paid royalties on the gas produced).

It's hard to believe the good people of Fort Worth are allowing this to happen. At the same time that they are spending millions to improve their city (Trinity River Project, downtown renovation, 7th street renovation, etc.), they are selling out to the ugliness and poison of gas drilling.

Even if you ignore the ugliness of the drilling, the destruction of the environment, the toxic water and sludge pits, and the poisoning of the soil and ground water, there is another consideration the city seems to be overlooking. What's going to happen when they experience a gas explosion (only 200 feet or less from a neighborhood)? And there will be one or more -- it's just a question of when.

I shudder to think what the leaders of the city and the gas companies are doing to the wonderful city of Fort Worth.