Reprinted from the Far West Texas News A group of Bell County residents and landowners are organizing against any more tax abatements associated with proposed solar farms. “Land is getting eaten up by the thousands of acres per day with urbanization and now we’re getting eaten up with solar panels,” said Robert Fleming, founder of…
Category: Energy
The High Cost of Renewable Energy
Executive Summary Federal, state, and local subsidies for renewable energy are undermining the reliability of the Texas electricity market. And Texans are paying a high price for the privilege of a less reliable market. Since 2006, wind and solar generators in Texas have received about $19.4 billion from taxpayers and consumers. It is estimated they…
Putting an End to Texas’ $4.3 Billion Electricity Tax
This was originally published in the Dallas Morning News. With the arrival of July, Texans know to be ready for 100-plus degree weather for the next couple of months as widespread extreme heat is expected this summer. It might surprise them, though, to know that the prices they pay for electricity might rise even faster…
Spanish Renewable Giant Iberdrola Enters the Texas Market with a Thud
One of the telltale signs of how broken the Texas electricity market is the number of corporations with multi-billion dollar market caps coming here in pursuit of billions of dollars of renewable energy subsidies. Enter Iberdrola: July 08, 2020 – Iberdrola Texas today announced its entrance into the Texas marketplace, offering customers a more affordable,…
Get the Economics Right: An Interview with Bill Peacock
I was interviewed last year by the good folks at Lara-Murphy Reporting. We talked about economics, electricity, and public policy. I thought I’d republish it here: Lara-Murphy Report: How did you discover Austrian economics? Bill Peacock: Its funny that you ask because I don’t really remember the source. It was in 1989—before the Internet. We…
Wind Turbines: A View from Orbit
Renewable Energy Debate Comes to Bell County
This article was originally published in The Texan About 60 local residents “crowded” into a Bell County Commissioner’s Court public hearing last Monday in Belton to learn more about a proposed solar farm west of Troy, about 30 miles south of Waco. Social distancing protocols meant attendees were spread out in the courtroom, the hallway,…
Georgetown Revamps Homeowner Solar Electric Program
by GeorgetownWatchDog The City initiated a program in 2006 to allow residential customers with wind and solar electric generation capability to pay only for electricity used in excess of their own needs at the standard residential rate. If the residential customers generated more electricity than they consumed, they earned credit equal to the city’s avoided…