Texas is likely to pass California in total renewable energy resources soon, which kind of annoys me. I would like California to step up its construction game, and not just rest on our head start.
Texas has an illiteracy problem too, with fiction and faith in a cesspool swirl. I had a 3 day visit this year and the meth problem outside of their large cities was noticeable too. The wind turbine arrangements have always impressed me though, driving through the state.
The methane leaks from oil/gas prospecting in both of those states also doesn't bode well for environmental stewardship. They still have to cap their greenhouse gas leaks to be 21st century compliant.
The commisions have already been paid and the services rendered. The cleanup for the 20th century is someone elses problem :p
Morbidly obese losing 5 lbs is not news.
My impression is the main hurdle for us is CEQA, which gives every homeowner, misguided Sierra Club member, and union goon a way to stop or delay the projects.
The ability to push any substantial power back into the grid always comes with that.
Consider Hawaii's solar options: https://www.hawaiianelectric.com/products-and-services/custo...
> Customer Grid-Supply Plus (CGS Plus) systems must include grid support technology to manage grid reliability and allow the utility to remotely monitor system performance, technical compliance and, if necessary, control for grid stability.
> Smart Export customers with a renewable system and battery energy storage system have the option to export energy to the grid from 4 p.m. – 9 a.m. Systems must include grid support technology to manage grid reliability and system performance.
> Customer Self-Supply (CSS) is intended only for private rooftop solar installations that are designed to not export any electricity to the grid. Customers are not compensated for any export of energy.
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Having too much power on the grid can be as damaging as not enough. There are systems that take longer to power up and down and corresponding issues with environmental regulations.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonbruner/2011/10/20/the-high-s...
> But as large as the dams are, their margins are minuscule and operating them takes unerring foresight and subtle management: let too much water fill reservoirs and a rainstorm might flood Portland; keep the reservoirs too empty and you’ll parch farmers. Send too much water over a dam’s spillway and you’ll suffocate fish with dissolved gases; send too much through its turbines and you’ll overload the electrical grid.
> ...
> It’s also brought about tension when the BPA hasn’t been able to change its output. Both wind and hydro generation are subject to nature at the extremes. In May 2011, with near-record snowmelt swelling the Columbia River and spillways at their limits under environmental regulations, the BPA had to keep the Columbia’s hydro turbines spinning. It told regional wind power producers to curtail their output by 6%. The producers howled, and in June the BPA ended up the subject of a complaint before the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. At issue is what happens when too much electricity is on offer. The enormous supply of hydroelectricity during spring runoff can push electricity prices to zero—the BPA gives away electricity to local utilities for free when it’s forced to produce more than it wants to. Since wind producers enjoy production subsidies, they can push rates below zero, effectively paying other utilities to switch off their generators. Last winter, the BPA told wind producers under its balancing authority that it wouldn’t pay negative rates to them during high-water events.
Making sure that the water doesn't go over the spillways in a hydro plant during a spring peak to avoid killing fish means turning off power from other sources. In that example, it was primarily wind
That's not unreasonable. They might shut off your PV panels as a safety measure to prevent backfeeding into the local lines when utility crews are working nearby. Or when there is a supply glut - it's faster/cheaper/causes less wear to turn off several thousand[0] residential PV panels than to shut down a major generating plant for a few hours.
[0] Or maybe only a few hundred if that's all that is needed to balance the system.
I don't want them cutting off my solar panels from being able to feed my house or my batteries, unless all my batteries are all full and there's no power draw from my house.
If they don't want my solar power, then it's fine for them to refuse to accept it, but the decision of what to do with that remaining power should be left entirely on my end.
If you have specific examples of places where corruption, unenforced regulations and disrespect for property rights allowed a wind or solar farm to get built, especially in a way that shows more corruption than other locales, speak up with a source, otherwise you're just bullshitting.
It's not that hard to see why Texas is a leader in solar and wind:
1. There is a lot of land in Texas, and there are tons of "in the middle of nowhere" places where wind or solar farms aren't subject to NIMBYism.
2. Texas actually has extreme respect for property rights (many might argue too much). In contrast to many Western states, there is comparatively little federally owned land - most of it is privately owned ranch land.
3. Texas already has lower regulations and business taxes than many other states - Texas doesn't need corruption to get around stringent regulations.
Texas simply makes it easier to put up a wind or solar farm on any of the huge swaths of privately-owned "emptiness" that cover most of our state.
https://www.houstonchronicle.com/business/columnists/tomlins...
What does this have to do with wind or solar?
The difference is this: installing in California requires reams of permits. Installing in Texas rarely does.
It's weird, yes. But that's the way things are done in Texas.
Another great resource to explore is Robert Caro’s series of biography about Lyndon Johnson, which extends into the unique role Texas’s entry into the union (as a nominally independent state) drove some of the decisions about military base placement, etc. Also the growth of the oil infrastructure companies like Halliburton into major defense contractors.
T. Boone Pickens is also the leading guy in Texas who is deploying wind farms, and is using the same tactics.
It may be a useful exercise to follow the money and the specific individuals who are known to be involved.