Texas Tribune: As world leaders seek to rein in methane, Texas’ oil and gas industry pressured to cut emissions
Nov. 2 — A proposed Environmental Protection Agency rule could require oil and gas producers to monitor and reduce emissions of methane in the field.
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Governing Magazine: Can Texas’ Power Grid Withstand Cryptocurrency Mining?
Nov. 2 — The state’s low-cost energy is a great draw for those looking to expand the cryptocurrency industry. But mining the digital currencies consumes a lot of power and some experts aren’t certain that the state’s power grid can withstand the stress
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Texas Monthly: The Failure of the Texas Grid Inspired Two Climate Activists to Go on a Hunger Strike in D.C.
Nov. 2 — North Texans Kidus Girma and Julia Paramo haven’t eaten since October 19, as they try to pressure Joe Biden to pass a reconciliation bill with large green proposals.
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S&P Global: ERCOT OKs 2.6 GW of gas, storage, renewables capacity for commercial operation
Nov. 2 — The development of dispatchable capacity – 510 MW of gas-fired generation and more than 354 MW of battery storage – would tend to address the Public Utility Commission of Texas’ repeated concern that ERCOT needs more dispatchable generation to be able to back up all of the renewable power being added to the state’s fleet.
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Everything Lubbock: Xcel Energy says it readies systems for cold weather ahead
Nov. 2 — By all accounts, the impact was worse in ERCOT than in SPP. Texas passed reforms of ERCOT in June including a requirement for electricity providers on ERCOT to weatherize their equipment and improve communication during outages with an alert system.
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El Paso Times: Texas Gas Service to charge El Paso customers less for February freeze under settlement
Nov. 3 — El Paso natural gas consumers will help Texas Gas Service pay for some of its extraordinary costs tied to last February’s big freeze, but much less than the company originally sought.
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CBS Austin: Colder temperatures bring on questions about weatherization, power for the winter
Nov. 3 — The coldest temperatures since the winter storm didn’t stop Austin FC fans from coming out to the last home game of the season.
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Solar Power World: Months after Texas grid blackouts, renewables await PUC electric market deliberations
July 3 — The Texas electric marketplace could experience some shifts in the coming months. The state Senate passed two bills in May that are supposed to spur winter weatherization for existing fossil fuel infrastructure. But industry members are waiting to see how the new legislation will affect the renewable energy market.
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Texas Standard: Why Texas is uniquely positioned to start collecting wind energy in the Gulf
Nov. 3 — When it comes to wind in the Gulf of Mexico, it blows strongest around South Texas. That’s part of the reason the Texas portion of the Gulf Coast could be most attractive to companies interested in soon-to-come offshore leases for wind energy projects. The Biden administration announced plans in October to open such leases in the Gulf.
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KVUE: Committee selects next group of ERCOT board members, names vice chair
Nov. 1 — On Monday, the Public Utility Commission of Texas announced the selection of Bill Flores, Elaine Mendoza and Zin Smati as directors of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) board. Flores was also named vice chair.
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KUT: Texas power plants need to ‘winterize.’ But what does that mean?
Nov. 1 — Winter is coming and power plants across Texas are in a rush to “winterize.” That’s a word you’ve probably heard a lot since February’s big blackout; winterizing natural gas power plants to withstand the cold is crucial to guarding against future grid failures.
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KCBD: Lubbock Power & Light further weatherizes infrastructure as Public Utility Commission adopts mandate
Nov. 1 — Electric utilities in Texas are facing a December 1 deadline to comply with “winter weather readiness recommendations” after the Public Utility Commission adopted new rules in October to require weatherizing of power infrastructure.
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EnergyWire: What a $2B Texas project says about U.S. quest for CO2-free grid
Oct. 28 — After a dozen years, multiple energy crises, regulatory delays and political turnover, construction of a novel 400-mile power line connecting Texas to the Southeast is finally within sight. The progress is welcome news for clean energy advocates who believe Southern Cross Transmission and similar long-haul projects are critical to a future in which Texas and the U.S. grid move immense amounts of wind and solar energy to decarbonize the nation’s electric infrastructure.
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Bloomberg: Texas Isn’t Ready for Another Deep Freeze
Oct. 30 — It’s been more than eight months since a glacial chill—the magnitude of which nobody quite anticipated—crept across Texas, forcing power plants offline, freezing natural gas wells and wreaking havoc on every part of the state’s energy system. Millions were plunged into darkness for days. Hundreds of people died. Damages topped $20 billion. And Texas’s leaders vowed to do everything within their power to prevent such a crisis from happening again.
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KPRC TV: Nearly 130,000 CenterPoint Energy customers without power across Houston area due to high winds
Oct. 28 — CenterPoint is reporting a total of 129,818 are without power Thursday due to high winds across the Houston area.