The latest Texas Public Utility Commission news from The Texas Tribune.
The cost of building several thousand miles of transmission lines to carry wind power across Texas is now estimated at $6.79 billion, a 38 percent increase from the initial projection three years ago. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/20100915-DSC_4186.jpg)
The Legislature passed a handful of energy-saving measures this session, ranging from allowing churches access to an energy-efficiency loan program to recalibrating a statewide efficiency program. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/SolarPanels_0000_Layer_2.jpg)
On Friday morning, a small group of Texans, including the chairman of the Public Utility Commission, will brief White House representatives on the smart-meter rollout and related issues in the state. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/OncorKW.png)
A new report released by the Public Utility Commission has found no evidence of market manipulation during the Texas blackouts in February, though it does suggest some improvements for electric-grid operations. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/ERCOT_Blackouts.jpg)
State Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, is concerned about budget cuts to a program that discounts utility bills for the elderly and those with low incomes. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/videos/committee.jpg)
The power failures earlier this month have called into question one of Texas' most basic tenets: that we do everything, including deregulation, better than anyone else. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/f4dc9cd4e2ff0dd709bae366e7611714/BD%20INC%20Power%20170%202011)
At a state Senate hearing this morning on Texas's rolling blackouts earlier this month, ERCOT released the first list — albeit a very partial one — of power plants that failed during the Feb. 2 crisis. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/files/dd2c67489f7bbf610ad24056c8cd9f7d/BD%20INC%20Power%20150%202011)
When Texans turn on lights or plug in iPads, they are getting an increasing amount of power from the wind — and from coal plants. Last year, nearly 8 percent of the power on the state's electric grid was generated by wind, far above the national average. And coal plants produced more power than any other electricity source. The big loser was natural gas. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Ercot_Electricity_Chart.010.png)
During a meeting today of the Public Utility Commission, chairman Barry Smitherman said that the Environmental Protection Agency was attempting to "disarm the U.S. economy," with a raft of rules covering everything from fly-ash waste from coal plants to new rules on greenhouse gases. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/barry-smitherman.jpg)
The Public Utility Commission will cancel plans to build one controversial wind-power transmission line, as well as a segment of a second — to Hill Country landowners' undoubted relief. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/20100915-DSC_4194.jpg)
The impoverished border town of Presidio is home to the largest battery system in the country: a $25 million contraption that's the size of a big house. That's not as weird as it seems. Partly because of an affinity for wind energy, the state has a number of experiments going in "energy storage" — often referred to as the "holy grail" of energy technology, because it can modernize the grid by more efficiently matching people's demand for power with the generation of electricity. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/BatteryPresidio002.jpg)
Operators of the state’s electric grid are about to flip the switch on what could be the most significant change to the Texas energy market in a decade. The change to what’s called a “nodal” grid system happens on Dec. 1, but as Matt Largey of KUT News reports, it’s not clear what happens after that. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TxTrib-ElecticSub-CR32.jpg)
Galbraith's three-parter on the battle over wind power transmission lines, Grissom on a convicted killer who got probation, Aguilar on how the U.S. census counts inmates in the Texas prison system, Stiles launches a new interactive tool tracking the candidates for governor, Hamilton on the Texas A&M University System's latest accountability measure for faculty, Hu's interview with Democratic megadonor Steve "Back to Basics" Mostyn, Philpott on how the Texas economy compares to that of other states and Ramsey on the start of the 2010 election sprint: The best of our best from Sept. 6 to 10, 2010. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TT-TribWeek_9-6-10.jpg)
Texas already harvests more wind power than any state in the nation, bringing the promise of clean energy to millions of homes and businesses. Trouble is, getting that power from remote, windy West Texas to the big cities requires a massive, $5 billion network of transmission lines — which property owners in the Hill County and elsewhere don't want in their back yards. As construction gets under way on the new lines, an army of lawyers and angry landowners is working to stymie the state's renewable energy plans. Part one of a three-part series. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TransmissionLine.jpg)
The Public Utility Commission is poised to pass new rules that could prohibit some Texans from switching from one electric company to another. But as Mose Buchele of KUT News reports, advocates for the elderly and infirm are concerned about the impact of the proposal on some of the state's most vulnerable ratepayers. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TT-Audio.png)
Hu compares and contrasts the official schedules of four big-state governors (including Rick Perry) and picks the 21 Texas House races to watch, Ramshaw on a 19-year-old with an IQ of 47 sentenced to 100 years in prison, Stiles on Perry's regent-donors, Galbraith on a plan to curb the independence of the state's electricity grid, Thevenot on the turf war over mental health, Grissom on whether the Texas Youth Commission should be abolished, Aguilar on a crucial immigration-related case pending before the U.S. Supreme Court, Ramsey's interview with GOP provocateur Debra Medina and M. Smith on how changes to campaign finance law will affect judicial elections in Texas: The best of our best from August 23 to 27, 2010. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TT-tribweek_8-23to27-10.png)
Texas has always operated its own electricity grid, separate from the two other grids that span the rest of the nation. But a project quietly emerging in eastern New Mexico could curb that independence — and affect energy prices here in ways that remain much in dispute. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/TresAmigos.jpg)
Stiles on Bill White's donor-appointees, M. Smith on a form of meritless lawsuit that's still legal in Texas, Ramshaw on what federal health care reform means for the future of physician-owned specialty hospitals, Galbraith's interview with the chairman of the Public Utility Commission, Philpott on the latest flap over federal education funding, Grissom on the finally-in-compliance Dallas County Jail, Titus on the oiled pelicans of the BP spill, Hamilton's interview with the new chancellor of the Texas State University System, Ramsey on the political and legal definitions of residency, Hu on Barack Obama's visit to Austin and Aguilar on what the U.S. could be doing to aid Mexico: The best of our best from August 9 to 13, 2010. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/Tribweek_08_13_2010_b_v2.jpg)
The chairman of the Public Utility Commission talked to the Tribune this week about his controversial application for the top job at the state grid operator, as well as his views on energy efficiency and smart meters. Full Story
/https://static.texastribune.org/media/images/barrysmitherman.jpg)
An interview with the PUC chairman. Full Story