Eight state representatives are asking the Texas Public Utility Commission (PUC) to aggressively look at West Texas as a source for renewable, clean energy.
The legislators are specifically asking the PUC to push forward with an initiative of moving electricity from Competitive Renewable Energy Zones in West Texas to populated areas like Dallas, Austin, Houston and San Antonio. These lawmakers are looking at investing in additional power lines that would be capable of handling 24,859 megawatts of energy.
The policy makers cite an Electric Reliability Council of Texas study, which says $3 billion in savings will be realized if a yearly investment of $1 billion is made to create and move energy from West Texas. The lawmakers target West Texas as a source of clean wind and solar energy and say this important step is needed to lower electricity bills and aggressively prevent more air pollution.
In a news release about the letter, the lawmakers say “replacing heavy polluting coal and natural gas-fired plants with clean wind and solar generation could yield up to a 13 percent reduction in NOx emissions and a 16 percent reduction in carbon dioxide emissions around the state.”
