Replacing Austin's coal plant means installing everything from solar panels to caulk seal. Local jobs will need to be filled, from teenagers to engineers. Millions of dollars will stream into Austin instead of its clunker coal plant -- rated #7th worst polluter in the state by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.
Senator Hutchison (who you might have heard is running for governor), published an op-ed last week in a couple of Texas papers about how the ACES Bill would cripple Texas. We've pushed back, and actually got something printed in one of those old-timey-newspaper thingies in one of the papers that ran her op-ed, the Round Rock Leader. (I know, quaint-- right? newspapers? Who reads those anymore? < end sarcasm>)
Have a read here for the whole thing, or if you're in North Austin or WillCo, go pick up a Round Rock Leader. I've posted an except below:
United States Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison takes a head-in-the-hot-sand approach to climate change that will get Texas burned and drive tens of thousands of new jobs elsewhere ("Cap and Trade is No Good For Texas," Aug. 27 Leader). She misses the mark on energy policy, using discredited industry statistics to drum up fear about a Cap and Trade policy that represents just a small portion of the initiatives proposed in the energy bill that passed the House of Representatives in July.
She fails to acknowledge that the bill includes provisions for renewable energy and energy efficiency - the real solutions to climate change. Hutchison's solution is no solution at all: more oil, more coal and more nuclear, with absolutely no coherent policy on how to lower energy costs and find alternatives to dwindling resources.
America is faced with the worst economic crisis in generations, Sen. Hutchison is turning away opportunities to create new jobs while slavishly clinging to the talking points of the oil industry.
The US House of Representatives passed HR 2454, the American Clean Energy and Security Act, sometimes referred to as the Waxman-Markey Bill, or ACES, by a vote of 219-212. A majority in the House of Representatives in 218 votes.
While I wish I could say this vote went along party lines, it did not. 8 Republicans (none from Texas) voted for the bill, while an amazing 44 Democrats voted against President Obama, the environment, and green jobs (including three from Texas).
These Dems should be whipped and whipped hard. The consensus in the enviro community was that this bill was watered down and wouldn't meet the promise of a truly great energy and climate bill. But it would be the best we could get. The closeness of the vote shows that every compromise literally had to be made to get any climate bill passed.
As for our Texas delegation, we have good news and bad news. (more after bump)
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
Join Public Citizen and other Alliance for a Clean Texas member organizations in promoting a create a clean energy economy in Texas! We will lobby the Legislature to promote energy efficiency and renewables and implement a moratorium on coal. By working together, we can keep Texas clean, reduce risks to human health, and create sustainable jobs.
WHEN: Tuesday, February 17, 5-9 PM
WHERE: University Presbyterian Church, 2203 San Antonio St, Austin, TX 78705
Parking available in University Co-op Garage across the street.
Your favorite lobbyists will provide information, training, and a box dinner.
Lobby Day
WHEN: Wednesday, February 18, 8 AM-Noon
WHERE: Legislative Conference Center, Texas State Capitol, E2.002
Parking available in Capitol Visitors parking garage at 1201 San Jacinto located between Trinity and San Jacinto Streets at 12th and 13th Streets.
Following check-in, Lobby Day participants will visit their Texas State Representative and Senator and ask them to support clean energy legislation. They will also invite them to the Texas Energy Future conference later that morning in the Legislative Auditorium.
After lobbying, participants can attend the Texas Energy Future: Clean Power, Green Jobs conference with keynote speaker Van Jones and business leaders in the fields of energy efficiency and renewables. See the conference website for more information and to register today.
Following the conference, Public Citizen will host a mixer outside our office on 1303 San Antonio St. We hope to see you there!
Sarah McDonald is Public Citizen's Media Coordinator and blog lady. But that doesn't mean she's not her own person!
