Texas Bill Would Require Solar Farms To Have Fossil Fuel Backup
The legislation would require solar plants to use gas or coal to provide nighttime power.
by Lowell Cauffiel May 12, 2025, 4:57 AM
Texas solar panels blanketed in snow — a reminder of the 2021 power crisis fueling new legislation.
A bill working its way through the Texas legislature has caused some double-takes with language that requires solar plants to provide power in the dark. [emphasis, links added]
State bill S.B. 715 passed the Senate this week, and if adopted by the Texas House, it would require any renewable power providers to buy backup power, typically from coal or gas plants, the Hill reported.
Texas consultant and energy expert Doug Lewin wrote in his analysis of the legislation that the measure would require solar plants to buy backup power to “match their output at night — a time when no one expects them to produce energy and when demand is typically at its lowest anyway.”
Double takes aside, the legislation is part of three Republican bills advancing through the state legislature that could offset Texas’s green energy progress and give fossil fuels an advantage in the state’s energy market, Reason reported.
https://climatechangedispatch.com/texas-bill-would-require-solar-farms-to-have-fossil-fuel-backup/
