We need a reliable grid.

In February 2021, blackouts left millions of people without power and heat for nearly four days during the coldest winter storm in modern state history. It is critical that we ensure this never happens again.

A single night of bad decisions by ERCOT would not, by itself, have caused such devastating consequences but for decades of poor public policy decisions that prioritized and subsidized unreliable sources of energy (wind and solar) at the expense of reliable sources (natural gas, nuclear, and coal).

When we needed electricity the most, our unreliable electricity sources provided almost nothing, and our underfunded reliable electricity sources were overstrained. The solution is to end all preferences for unreliable electricity and to invest in reliable, resilient electricity instead.

Click here to learn more and encourage your lawmakers to take action by filling out the form below!

Thank you,

Wayne Christian
Texas Railroad Commissioner

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View text of letters here: Congress | State Legislature

Email Subject: Prioritize Reliable Energy

Rep. / Sen. _______,

I write to you today because I am gravely concerned about the future stability of our electric grid. Winter Storm Uri exposed a critical flaw in the ERCOT system: a high reliance on unreliable sources of energy. The result was statewide blackouts that left millions of people without power and heat for nearly four days during the coldest winter storm in modern Texas history. 

In the past, unreliable sources of energy like wind and solar have been prioritized and subsidized. According to the Texas Public Policy Foundation, for every 39 cents the oil and gas industry received in taxpayer subsidies from 2010 to 2019, the wind industry received $18.86 and the solar industry received an almost unbelievable $82.46. That means, over the last decade, unreliable energy sources (i.e., wind and solar) received between 48 times and 211 times more subsidies than the reliable ones (i.e., coal and natural gas).

On top of that, the wind and solar industry has received $2.5 billion in Chapter 313 local property tax abatements and the State of Texas will have spent over $14 billion building the Competitive Renewable Energy Zone electricity transmission lines by the end of the decade. While most business owners must pay to bring their product to market, the wind and solar energy get a free ride thanks to Texas taxpayers. 

If you add it all up, it is estimated that taxpayers and ratepayers will pay $36 billion by 2029 to subsidize wind and solar energy. These subsidies have tripled wind and solar capacity in Texas in the last 10 years. As we learned, capacity does not equate to electric generation.

Unfortunately, we have not gotten our money's worth. While many celebrate the seemingly impressive 30 gigawatt “capacity” of Texas’ wind turbines and solar panels, that capacity has always been an illusion. In the lead-up to the storm, before any wind turbines froze, solar and wind generation fell from meeting over 50% to under 5% of demand—solely due to their inherent unreliability.

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, Texas’ plans (as of December 2020) add zero nuclear power, zero coal power, and only five gigawatts of natural gas power. Solar and wind, however, are expected to add another 11.9 and 9.5 gigawatts, respectively, despite being HIGHLY unreliable and the WORST performing energy sources during Winter Storm Uri. This must not stand. 

Texas cannot afford to come within minutes of total electric grid system failure ever again, and the only way to ensure we never come that close again is to reverse public policy choices that have prioritized and subsidized inefficient and unreliable sources of energy, like wind and solar, and instead focus on cheap, plentiful, and reliable sources of energy, such as natural gas, coal, and nuclear. 

Make Texas energy reliable again!

Sincerely,

<Your Name>
<Your Address & City>

(This version will go to your state representative and senator in Austin. Click here to see the version that will go to your Congressman and U.S. Senator in Washington D.C.)