Clean energy advocates are singing the praises of one of America’s most conservative states — to rebut President Donald Trump’s attacks on renewable power.
Texas is usually associated with oil, football and deep-red politics. But no state has installed more wind, solar and batteries over the last decade, and few have benefited more from the influx of green electrons.
A solar and storage boom in recent years has helped fortify the once-wobbly Texas power grid and satisfy a spike in electricity consumption. For renewable energy supporters, Texas is a useful counterpoint to Trump, who argues that wind and solar are expensive, unreliable and ugly fixations of the political left. That such a boom is happening in a conservative state that lacks the climate policies of liberal bastions like California or New York only makes Texas more compelling to wind and solar backers.
“We are carving the blueprint for other states to follow when it comes to how to run your grid on solar, wind and batteries,” said Matt Boms, who leads the Texas chapter of Advanced Energy United, a trade group. “None of that was driven by sustainability goals. This is all being driven by the free market. This is all being driven by what’s the cheapest electron available. And clearly the market has responded with, well, that would be solar and batteries.”
