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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 were prioritized and subsidized. 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's estimated that Texas taxpayers and ratepayers will pay $36 billion by 2029 to subsidize the wind and solar energy. These subsidies have tripled (unreliable) 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. Before Winter Storm Uri, wind and solar together generated 27 percent of electricity in the ERCOT system while natural gas and coal together generated 60 percent. During the storm, wind and solar together generated just 10 percent (a nearly 63 percent decrease) of the electricity within ERCOT, while natural gas and coal together generated 81 percent (a 35 percent increase). Why have we paid so much for wind and solar energy when they can't perform when you need them most?

I strongly urge you to take bold action during the Legislative Session to stabilize our electric grid by prioritizing reliable sources of energy, such as natural gas, coal and nuclear. Right now the Texas plan is to 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.

Please change those plans! 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>

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