posted on Friday, April 06, 2007 3:44 PM
by
Gunnar Birgisson
Texas Bill Would Help Non-Wind Renewables
The Texas legislature is considering a bill that would carve out a greater role for renewable energy other than wind energy under the state's renewable portfolio standard. The RPS currently requires that the cumulative installed capacity of renewable energy reach 5,880 MW by 2015. There is currently no requirement that a given amount of capacity be of any particular type of renewable energy generation. As a result, wind energy, with its relatively low costs, has an advantage over other sources such as solar power and geothermal power. The bill would remedy this and encourage growth of these other types of renewable generation by carving out 500 MW for non-wind renewable energy technologies.
Other states, such as Nevada and Arizona, previously have addressed this issue by creating set-asides within their RPS rules for technologies such as solar power.