Feb. 4 — Nearly 60,000 oil exploration and production jobs in Texas were lost in 2020, a staggering figure that underscores the deep industry wounds caused by the global pandemic and oil crash.
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Houston Chronicle: NRG Energy CFO steps down for role at Evergy, interim replacement appointed
Feb. 4 — The interim CFO has been with NRG Energy Inc. (NYSE: NRG) since 2006.
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Corpus Christi Caller-Times: Wind power installation surged in 2020, especially in Texas
Feb 5 — Developers built nearly 17,000 megawatts of capacity in the last year — enough enough to power more than 5 million American homes. That’s according to a report released Thursday by the American Clean Power Association.
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Houston Chronicle: Total to develop 4 solar projects near Houston, expanding renewable footprint
Feb. 5 — The French oil major on Friday said it acquired the yet-to-be-completed solar projects from SunChase Power, an Austin-based renewable energy company and MAP RE/ES, a private energy investment firm. Terms of the deal were not immediately available, but Total said its payments to SunChase and MAP RE/ES will be staggered as the solar projects are completed.
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Midland Reporter-Telegram: Railroad commissioners will be watching new administration
Feb. 5 — A new administration is adding to the challenges Texas’ three elected Railroad Commissioners face this year. With a new administration in charge in Washington, D.C., Christi Craddick, commission chair, and her fellow commissioners will be watching closely proposed rules relating to everything from methane emissions to pipelines to waters of the US.
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Texas Tribune: Oil and gas cleanups are on Biden’s agenda. Will Texas embrace it?
Feb. 5 — Some areas of Texas could benefit from Biden’s federal directive to accelerate cleanups of legacy oil and gas, mining and hazardous waste contamination.
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Utility Dive: EIA projects swift electricity demand recovery after COVID-19, strong renewables growth
Feb. 4 — After the expected quick recovery from COVID-19, according to the EIA report, the U.S. stands to increase its electrical generating capacity by 52-84% by 2050. Renewable resources, especially solar, may account for as much as 60% of the nation’s new capacity, according to assistant EIA administrator Angelina LaRose.
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Houston Chronicle: Houston-based Rhythm enters crowded Texas retail energy market
Feb. 2 — Rhythm, which began selling power online Monday, enters not only a crowded field, but one that is dominated by two of the nation’s largest energy companies, Houston-based NRG and Irving-based Vistra. Both trace their roots to the turn of the last century.
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KVIA: El Paso Electric joins with faith groups to help those who have fallen behind on utility bills during pandemic
Feb. 1 — El Paso Electric, the El Paso Community Foundation and the faith community of El Paso are joining together to help people who have been hard hit by the pandemic and fallen behind on their electric bill.
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S&P Global: Almost 1.1 GW of renewable capacity nears commercial operation in ERCOT
Feb. 2 — Almost 1.1 GW of renewable generation capacity – mostly solar — neared commercial operation in January in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas footprint, a new report shows, which would tend to weaken wholesale power prices, barring reductions in other capacity types.
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Texas Standard: State Funding Cuts Put Rural Phone And Broadband Access At Risk
Feb. 2 — More than a million Texans living in rural areas face a potential threat to phone and internet access. Last month, the state drastically cut subsidies that help providers offer phone and internet services in sparsely populated regions of the state. Some of those providers have filed suit to reverse the cuts in funding. Gov. Greg Abbott has also signaled the importance of expanding rural access to communications, declaring broadband access in rural areas as an emergency item during his State of the State address on Monday.
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Everything Lubbock: Wind and renewable energy expected to grow, create jobs under Biden administration
Feb. 2 — As the Biden administration pushes to eliminate carbon emissions by 2050, a lot of growth is expected in the renewable energy industry in West Texas.
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San Antonio Express-News: Atmos Fiscal 1Q Earnings Snapshot
Feb. 2 — Atmos Energy Corp. (ATO) on Tuesday reported fiscal first-quarter net income of $217.7 million.
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E&E News: GOP moves to save Keystone XL, sink Democrats on energy
Feb. 3 — House and Senate Republicans readied legislation yesterday to resurrect the controversial Keystone XL pipeline from Canada into the United States by granting the needed approvals, which President Biden moved to scrap last month.
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TCAPTX: Geoffrey M. Gay, a TCAP Founder and Long-Time City Advocate, Retires
Jan. 28 — In addition to his integral founding role with TCAP, the Austin-based attorney served as a driving force behind several municipal energy-related organizations and, over the course of his long career, negotiated and litigated utility rate matters collectively valued at more than $1 billion on behalf of more than 300 cities.
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Benzinga: Elon Musk Wants To Drill For Texas Natural Gas To Power SpaceX Starship
Jan. 30 — Elon Musk is aiming to drill gas wells in South Texas to make its own fuel and electricity to power its Starship spacecraft.
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Everything Lubbock: Understand rooftop solar pricing before sealing the deal
Jan. 30 — Xcel Energy is reminding Texas customers to know and understand policies regarding rooftop solar installations before signing agreements with companies that sell solar panels to power homes and businesses.
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Bloomberg: Elon Musk Plans to Use Texas Natural Gas for His Starships
Jan. 30 — Elon Musk became the richest man in the world thanks to enthusiasm for Tesla Inc.’s sleek electric cars — and the company’s stratospheric stock price. But while Musk is perhaps the most well known clean energy CEO, SpaceX, his other company, is likely to rely on drilling for natural gas to power Starship, the new spacecraft and rocket designed to carry humans to the moon, Mars and beyond.
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Midland Reporter-Telegram (Commentary): If solving flaring were as easy as selling the gas, everyone would be doing it
Jan. 30 — Part of my job is staying informed on current events, industry and environmental news, technological innovation, and the new data and various studies released about the industry I regulate. For a policy issue as broad and far-reaching as energy there is a lot of information to evaluate daily.
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KHOU 11: GOP senators urge meeting with Biden over executive orders on energy
Jan. 29 — The 24 Republican senators expressed concern about jobs in their states after President Biden’s revocation of permits and halting of leases.
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Houston Chronicle (Commentary): Biden’s plans boost Texas energy jobs that will prevent climate disasters
Jan. 29 — In his first days in office, President Joe Biden took significant action to combat the climate crisis — from weaning the United States off fossil fuels to setting bold goals for clean energy. Unsurprisingly, the usual suspects — too many of them from Texas — responded with incoherent arguments against renewable energy and for the continued desecration of our public lands.
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S&P Global: States launch anti-ban blitz as electrification efforts grow
Jan. 29 — Both sides of the building gas ban debate have kicked off the new year with a flurry of grassroots and legislative activity. Heading into 2021, the movement to restrict gas use in new construction in Washington and Massachusetts towns and cities continued to evolve, while state lawmakers sought to prohibit local governments from pursuing the policy.
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Dallas Morning News: How did Texas wind up on its own electrical grid? Curious Texas investigates
Jan. 29 — The contiguous United States’ electrical power grid is separated into three parts: Two make up the Eastern Interconnection and the Western Interconnection, and their grids power both sides of the lower 48 states.
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Reuters: NRG Power plant linked to idled U.S. carbon capture project will shut indefinitely
Jan. 29 — NRG Energy Inc will shut down indefinitely the power source for what had been the only U.S. project capturing carbon from a coal-fired generator until it was idled last year, a spokesman said on Friday.