Last night at 11:58 pm (wink, wink), just as was suspected, the Texas Senate unanimously passed through a net metering bill, HB 1243, with solar SB 545 amended on as a bonus. This is great news for Texas consumers, the environment, and solar power.
Well, we did our homework, and here's what we've found.
HB 1243 will ensure that owners of solar installations, small wind turbines, or biogas generators get paid a fair price for the excess power they produce. SB 545 - which after the Voter ID slowdown, we thought was dead - increases incentives for distributed solar power generation by creating a pool of $500 million in solar rebates over the next 5 years. It also calls for a pilot program with a minimum funding of $4 million to put solar on schools (nudge: the State Energy Conservation Office could potentially spend considerably more of their pending stimulus funds to further these projects) and will create thousands of green, local jobs across the state of Texas.
Another amendment to the bill added on SB 2349. This provision would allow oil wells that create natural gas, but not enough to justify paying for collection, to build a generator to run the gas through, make electricity, and sell it back into the grid. The bill would limit production to 2 MW so that they can provide distributed generation. As of right now, they're just flaring that gas off, so this is definitely a good thing.
According to our friends at Environment Texas (via the Houston Chronicle's NewsWatch: Energy blog), the amended HB 1243 also:
• Requires home builders to offer solar as a standard option in developments with 50 homes or more.
• Prevents homeowners associations from blocking solar panel installations
• Allows up to 70% of incentive funds to be used for utility-scale solar projects
• Allows the Public Utility Commission to extend the program for an additional five years and another $500 million if it determined that a "substantial" amount of manufacturing of solar generation products located in Texas after the initial five-year program
• Requires electric co-ops to allow consumers to interconnect solar to the grid
• Clarifies that consumers will not have to register as a utility and that third party ownership of solar is allowed
• For the next two years, requires retail electric providers to pay at least five cents per kilowatt hour for surplus solar and four cents for other renewable technologies and directs the PUC to determine a fair market price that will become a new "floor" following the two years
• Creates a "Made in Texas" program to certify and encourage Texans to buy locally manufactured solar panels and other energy products. As a result, locally produced products qualify for a 20% larger rebate than imports.
Now that HB 1243 has successfully passed through both chambers of the legislature, we've just got to wait and see what comes out of conference committee, where bill authors from both sides will smooth out the differences between their bills. Many thanks to all of you that wrote e-mails and made phone calls in support of these bills. This is a tremendous victory for Texas solar. Keep your fingers crossed that we can send this bill to Governor Perry's desk!
Original post written by Citizen Sarah at Texas Vox
Even though the Texas Republican primary is still about a year away, the race for Governor is already well underway.
Last week former Vice Presidential candidate and current Governor of Alaska Sarah Palin endorsed Governor Rick Perry; this rings as strangely ironic since only a few months ago during the Presidential campaign Palin misquote former Secretary of State Madeleine Albright to suggest why women should support her candidacy for Vice President.
"There's a place in Hell reserved for women who don't support other women."
Whether or not Palin's endorsement of Governor Perry will help his campaign remains to be seen, although primary voters in Texas Republican primaries tend to be dominated by the conservative base of the Republican Party.
Hutchison's only chance to win the GOP Primary-typically dominated by Christian conservatives-is to attract new voters to the primary. That means she'll be doing her best to get Democrats, liberal Republicans who don't vote in the GOP Primary, and independents into the primary. For Democrats who may cross over, Palin is poison, and it will turn both Democrats and independents away from Perry. It will, however, probably a wash for liberal Republicans who aren't typical GOP Primary voters.
Governor Rick Perry gave the state of the state address tonight, and as the 81st Texas Legislature convenes to do the people's business Left of College Station will be watching. Over the course of the legislative session Left of College Station will be posting updates on bills as they move through the legislature, and review the impact that those bills will have statewide and locally in the Brazos Valley.
This afternoon Governor Rick Perry gave his state of the state address, and after thanking both the Lieutenant Governor and the new Speaker of the House, Governor Perry thanked former Speaker of the House (R) Tom Craddick for his "faithful service to the state." Afterwards Perry laid out what it is that he believes Texas has accomplished during his tenure, and also presented his legislative agenda for the next two years.
The Governor also used the opportunity to mention some of what he believes is Washington, D.C. failures (Perry mentioned the nation's capitol five times, included twice as failing and once as dragging its feet.); this could possibly be another snipe at Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison as the Republican primary seems as though it has already begun. Governor Perry went on to outline what he believes have been successes and would could be future successes.
How money and influence decided for Governor Perry that ethanol and renewable fuel standards are not in the best interest of Texas.
According to an article in the Houston Chronicle Governor Rick Perry is requesting a federal waiver from renewable fuel standards, because the Governor believes that ethanol production is driving up the price of feed corn. Lonnie "Bo" Pilgrim and other livestock lobbies are pushing Perry to seek the waiver, after donating $100,000 to the Republican Governors Association chaired by Perry. According to Texans for Public Justice, Pilgrim contributed $216,500 to Perry's campaign from 2004-07.
In the final weeks of campaigning, Governor Rick Perry has called for a rollback of the state's business tax rate. During the 3rd Called Special Session, Perry and the Texas Legislature passed a tax bill that restructured the tax system for Texas businesses. Before the ink's even dried on the bill, Governor Perry is ready to tear it apart in lieu of (possible) surplus funds. From the Dallas Morning News article titled, "Perry talks more tax cuts as surplus grows":
At least some of those funds, the governor insisted, should be used to provide additional property tax relief and trim the rate of the new state business tax that goes into effect in January 2008. The tax is now set at 1 percent of adjusted gross receipts for most businesses, and half a percent for wholesalers and retailers.
Though Perry and Speaker Craddick remain committed to fulfilling Grover Norquist's every dream, some in the Texas Senate remain skeptical of lowering the tax rate, including Senate Republican Florence Shapiro:
"I don't see how we can lower the business tax rate when we haven't even begun collecting it yet," said Senate Education Committee Chairwoman Florence Shapiro, R-Plano, noting that collection of the business tax won't start until 2008.
The Dallas Morning News also ran an editorial calling out Perry for his proposed lowering of a tax rate that has yet to bring in any money:
But it's the other half of that new Perry campaign speech that makes absolutely no sense. He says he'd like to roll back the rate on the new business tax. Yes, that would be the same tax just hammered out to help fund Texas schools. Simply unbelievable.
The ink's hardly dry on this tax, which was approved in May – after four excruciating sessions – as a way to shift about a third of the funds for schools from local property taxes to Texas businesses...
This particularly galls us because we recommended Gov. Perry for re-election partly as a result of his helping legislators – admittedly, in the final days – solve the school funding crisis. No, he's backing away from what was a step forward.
According to a report done by the Dallas Morning News, 85 individuals have given over $25,000 each to Rick Perry's re-election campaign since January of 2003. In total, these 85 individuals -- who are members of the "Century Council" -- have donated $10,000,000 to Perry's campaign, accounting for approximately 40% of his total contributions. From the article, "Perry's top donors get business, appointments":
Three Century Council members have lucrative contracts to help build Mr. Perry's multibillion-dollar toll-road initiative. The state has deposited millions in investment funds operated by three other top-tier givers. And 16 are Perry appointees to coveted boards, including the Parks and Wildlife Commission and state university regent boards.
This re-emphasizes why there must be limits on contributions to political campaigns. Chris Bell has advocated for exactly such contributions since the opening days of his campaign. From part of his ethics plan to end the culture of corruption:
Texas is currently one of only 13 states that allow unlimited contributions to candidates for legislative and executive office. Consequently, a small number of large donors contribute the vast majority of the money raised in Texas politics. For example, in the 2002 election cycle, 76 percent of all contributions came in checks of $5,000 or greater. The lack of reasonable contribution limits allows this small group of wealthy individuals to buy special influence and play on an uneven playing field.
During the 79th Regular Session, Rep. Craig Eiland (D-Galveston) authored House Bill 1348. HB 1348 had 94 sponsors -- almost two-thirds of the entire Texas House -- but never made it out of the House Elections Committee.
Perhaps with a new Governor and/or more Democrats in the Texas House, we can begin to see some real campaign laws passed in the Texas Legislature.
