Utility Dive: These 7 efficiency policies could help Texas avoid $8B in new gas plants, ACEEE says
Oct. 14 — A set of seven residential energy efficiency and demand response programs deployed “aggressively” to Texas electric customers over five years could lower summer peaks by 7,650 MW and winter peaks by 11,400 MW, according to a new report from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE).
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NBC DFW: Power Plants Will Be Ready for Winter, Gas System May Not Be: Vistra CEO
Oct. 15 — The state’s largest power producer said Friday that it will spend more than $50 million to prepare its power plants for the upcoming winter, hoping to prevent a repeat of the widespread power outages that crippled Texas during a February winter storm.
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CBS DFW: Will The Texas Electric Grid Be Able To Handle State’s Bitcoin Mining Rush?
Oct. 11 — When in full operation, the Whinstone facility uses the same amount of electricity as 150,000 homes. The electricity it takes to produce a single Bitcoin is equivalent to amount used to power an average Texas home for 62 days.
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CBS DFW — North-Texas Based Company Investing Millions To Improve Weatherization At Texas Power Plants
Oct. 15 — During a tour Friday of the Midlothian Power Plant, operated by Luminant, a Vistra subsidiary, officials said they’re spending $50 million this year and another $30 million next year at their Texas facilities to better prepare for the weather.
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Dallas Morning News: The New Chairman is From Outside ERCOT and That’s a Good Thing
Oct. 15 — After the deadly February freeze that caused power outages across Texas, five members of the board of ERCOT, which operates the electrical grid, were pressured to resign because they lived out of state. It was a swift reaction to the anger of the many Texans who suffered.
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Utility Dive: A century later, utilities still face billions in potential liabilities from obsolete manufactured gas plants
Oct. 11 — Thousands of manufactured gas plants dotted the American landscape in the 19th and early 20th century. Today, PG&E, ConEd and other utilities are still dealing with the contamination they left behind.
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KXAN: Texans sue ERCOT over ‘negligent management’ of power grid during winter storm
Oct. 8 — More than 270 Texans from across the state are suing the Electric Reliability Council of Texas for “negligent management” of the power grid during the February winter storm.
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Austin American-Statesman (Commentary): Texas’ rare opportunity to fix the energy marketplace
Oct. 8 — Abundant natural resources, free markets, and a strong commitment to innovation have long positioned Texas as an energy leader. However, Texans’ faith in that leadership was tested this year during Winter Storm Uri, and our state is still looking for solutions to reliably keep the lights on. After the storm, the Texas legislature tasked state regulators with fixing the energy marketplace. This is an opportunity to better integrate advanced energy technologies, like wind, solar, battery storage and efficiency, into the electric grid.
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RealClear Energy: Texas LNG to Save the Day as Europe Struggles With Its Gas Supply
Oct. 6 — Natural gas has provided certainty and energy accessibility to European consumers for decades, and today it is paving the way for new low-carbon technologies. While natural gas represents 20 percent of the EU’s energy mix, 70 percent of it is imported. Gas is responsible for significant infrastructure and trade in Europe, including several LNG import terminals strategically located in multiple entry points, as well as the controversial Nord Stream pipeline shared with Russia.
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Texas Tribune: When Texas legislators admit they don’t know what they’re doing
Oct. 7 — A legislative committee ripped into the state’s Railroad Commission last week for doing what it was supposed to do under a law passed by the Legislature earlier this year in response to the freeze and power outages that killed as many as 700 Texans in February.
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Grist: Texas oil and gas regulators are awash in fossil fuel money, according to report
Oct. 6 — Conflicts of interest plague the Texas Railroad Commission, a powerful agency charged with environmental protection in Lone Star oilfields.
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KHOU 11: News4 San Antonio: Loophole would allow energy providers to opt out of weatherization for $150
Oct. 6: A loophole has now emerged that has stunned state lawmakers, prompting the question: do lawmakers understand their own law?
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TXK Today: Lawsuits against Netflix and Hulu dismissed by federal judges in Texarkana
Oct. 6 — U.S. District Judge Susan O. Hickey dismissed a suit Thursday filed on behalf of the City of Ashdown, Arkansas, in the Texarkana Division of the Western District of Arkansas and U.S. District Judge Robert Schroeder III dismissed a suit the same day filed on behalf of the City of New Boston, Texas, in the Texarkana Division of the Eastern District of Texas.