Houston Chronicle by Chris Tomlinson 2/26/2021
Tomlinson: Wind and solar energy can cause problems for Texas, but not what most people think
Wind and solar energy are far from perfect and present challenges for the Texas electricity grid, but intermittency and unpredictability are not the real issues. It’s the corporate contracts behind the projects.
Almost every day, an American company promises to buy electricity only from zero-emission sources. They want to claim credit for fighting climate change in their marketing materials, so they sign power purchase agreements which they quietly hope will also generate profits.
But a company in Michigan, for example, has a tough time accessing clean energy. Permitting rules and expenses make wind and solar projects too difficult or costly to build there. Instead, they decide to offset the power they get from coal and natural gas plants by buying and selling electricity halfway across the country, most likely in Texas.
Out-of-state companies sign power purchase agreements for enough wind or solar power to offset their carbon footprint back home. They can then claim they are powered by green energy. But since the Electric Reliability Council of Texas grid does not allow exports to other states, the company must sell the clean energy to the wholesale market and use dirty energy from their local grid.
This arrangement creates an opportunity to make big profits when wholesale prices spike in Texas, like during the freeze. Too many of these deals benefit the company’s bottom line at the expense of consumer reliability.
More:
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/columnists/tomlinson/article/Wind-and-solar-energy-can-cause-problems-for-15981706.php
