Houston Chronicle by L.M. Sixel May 3, 2019
Fossil fuel electricity generators in Texas didn’t get their way earlier this year when they asked regulators to change how Texas charges electricity producers for the electrons lost as power moves across transmission wires. Texas has a unique way of allocating those line losses by sharing costs equally, a method that has encouraged the development of wind energy because producers don’t have to pay more to move electricity from remote West Texas to the big population centers hundreds of miles away in Houston and Dallas.
But now, after getting rejected by regulators, traditional power companies are turning to lawmakers. Working through the trade group Texas Competitive Power Advocates, the power companies are asking the Texas Legislature to require the Public Utility Commission and the state’s grid manager, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, to find another way to eliminate what fossil-fuel generators believe are unfair financial advantages enjoyed by renewable energy producers.
The trade group is asking the Legislature to determine how Texas could offset the windfall created by federal subsidies for renewable energy by reviving the issue of how transmission costs are apportioned. Other possibilities include imposing fees on renewable generators and paying higher rates to fossil-fuel generators. So far, the measure has sailed through the Texas Senate and is expected to be considered by the Texas House.
More:
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/energy/article/Power-generators-try-for-another-bite-at-the-apple-13814564.php
