The state’s top two elected officials warned that the state’s peak power needs could reach 150,000 megawatts by 2030. By comparison, generators currently can handle less than 85,000 MW of peak demand today, they said.
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Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick joined with Gov. Abbott in calling for the program expansion.
Citing an expected explosion of new energy demand over the decade, Governor Greg Abbott and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick have called for the expansion of a multi-billion-dollar subsidy program for generation developers.
In a July 1 release, the state’s top two elected officials warned that the state’s peak power needs could reach 150,000 megawatts by 2030. By comparison, generators currently can handle less than 85,000 MW of peak demand today, they said.
As such, the elected leaders want to expand a recently approved $5 billion subsidy program to $10 billion.
“The average plant will take three to four years to complete, and new transmission lines will take three to six years to complete,” the two state leaders stated in their joint release. “Texas is currently the fastest state to approve and build new plants and transmission lines because of our low regulations and pro-business policies, but we must move quickly.”
Under the subsidy program — it’s called the “Texas Energy Fund” — generation developers can apply for 3 percent construction or grants for natural gas-fired plants that are not dependent on the weather, and that could power 20,000 homes or more. The fund also will pay bonuses to companies that connect new gas-fueled plants to the ERCOT grid by June 2029, and to offer grants for modernizing, weatherizing and managing vegetation growth around electricity infrastructure in Texas but outside the ERCOT service territory.
The loans and grants under the program will be backed by the state treasury. The Texas Legislature initially authorized the Texas Energy Fund in 2023 with the adoption of Senate Bill 2627 and voters gave their final approval by adopting a state Constitutional amendment in November. But the program now needs to be expanded, the state leaders insisted.
“Texas has already received notice of intent to apply for $39 billion in loans, making the program nearly eight times oversubscribed,” said Abbott and Patrick. “With the new projections for 2030, we will seek to expand the program to $10 billion to build more new plants as soon as possible.”
Despite the urgency expressed by Abbott and Patrick, any expansion of the program may have to wait until the Texas Legislature reconvenes in 2025, however.