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Energy in Texas

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Oil fields and wind farms near Big Spring, Texas

Texas Net Electricity Generation by Source, November 2020[1]

  Petroleum - fired (0.01%)
  Natural gas - fired (44.8%)
  Coal - fired (19.0%)
  Nuclear (9.9%)
  Renewable - Hydroelectric (0.4%)
  Other renewable - solar, wind, etc. (25.9%)

Energy is a major component of the economy of Texas. The state is the nation's largest energy producer, producing twice as much energy as Florida, the state with the second-highest production. It is also the national leader in wind power generation, comprising about 28% of national wind powered electrical production in 2019. Wind power surpassed nuclear power production in the state in 2014.[1] Since 2003, Texas state officials have created various initiatives like the Texas Enterprise Fund and the Texas Emerging Technology Fund to develop the economy of Texas.

Electricity

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See also: List of power stations in Texas and Deregulation of the Texas electricity market
Texas electricity generation by type, 2001-2024

Since 2002, Texas has operated under a mostly deregulated electricity market (however, areas where electricity is provided by either a municipality or a utility cooperative are not always subject to deregulation). The Texas Interconnection is the statewide grid, managed by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).

Major transmission operators include Oncor Electric Delivery and CenterPoint Energy, with additional companies including Entergy Texas and AEP Texas.[2] Prices for transmission and distribution, as opposed to generation, have risen relatively.[3] In most areas of Texas, consumers can choose their generating provider, but as of 2017 there were areas with limited to no competition.[4]

Renewables

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Texas is a leader in alternative energy sources, producing the most wind power of any state, as well as small solar powered efforts and the experimental installation of wave powered generators.

Wind

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Main article: Wind power in Texas
Brazos Wind Farm, Fluvanna, 2004

Texas has over 150 wind farms, which together have a total nameplate capacity of over 30,000 MW (as of 2020).[5][6] If Texas were a country, it would rank fifth in the world:[5] The installed wind capacity in Texas exceeds installed wind capacity in all countries but China, the United States, Germany and India. Texas produces the most wind power of any U.S. state.[5][7] According to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), wind power accounted for at least 15.7% of the electricity generated in Texas during 2017.[8][9] ERCOT set a new wind output record of nearly 19.7 GW on January 21, 2019.[10]

Solar

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Main article: Solar power in Texas

The western portion of the state especially has abundant open land areas, with some of the greatest solar and wind potential in the country.[11][12] Development activities there are also encouraged by relatively simple permitting and significant available transmission capacity.[13][14]

Fossil fuel production

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Texas is the largest state producer of both crude oil and natural gas, producing 41% of national crude oil production and 25% of national natural gas in 2019. The thirty oil refineries operating in January 2019 comprised 31% of national refining capacity.[1]

Petroleum

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Oil field in McCamey, ca. 1930

The known petroleum deposits of Texas are about 8 billion barrels (1.3×109 m3), which makes up approximately one-third of the known U.S. supply. Texas has 4.6 billion barrels (730,000,000 m3) of proven crude oil reserves.[15] As wells are depleted in the eastern portions of the state, drilling in state has moved westward.[16]

Several of the major oil companies have headquarters in Texas, including BP (Houston), ConocoPhillips, Marathon Oil (Houston), Exxon-Mobil (Irving), Tesoro, and Valero (San Antonio).

Texas also is home to many of the world's largest oilfield services firms including Halliburton, Schlumberger and Dresser. The state has a number of pipeline operators, such as El Paso and Dynegy, along with diversified energy firms such as TXU and Reliant Energy.

History

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See also: History of Texas

On the morning of January 10, 1901, Anthony F. Lucas, an experienced mining engineer, drilled the first major oil well at Spindletop, a small hill south of Beaumont, Texas. The East Texas Oil Field, discovered on October 5, 1930, is located in east central part of the state, and is the largest and most prolific oil reservoir in the contiguous United States. Other oil fields were later discovered in West Texas and under the Gulf of Mexico. The resulting Texas Oil Boom permanently transformed the economy of Texas, and led to its most significant economic expansion after the American Civil War.

Following the December 1989 United States cold wave, which resulted in rolling blackouts and "near loss of the entire ERCOT electric grid", the Public Utility Commission of Texas recommended winterizing the state's energy infrastructure. However, this recommendation was not acted upon. Consequently, the 2011 Groundhog Day blizzard resulting in rolling blackouts and failing power plants throughout the state.[17]

The 2021 Texas power crisis involved mass power outages, water and food shortages, and dangerous weather conditions.[18] The crisis was the result of several severe winter storms sweeping across the United States on February 10–11[19] and 13–17.[20] More than 3.6 million Texans were without power,[21][22] some for several days. The cause of the power outages was initially blamed on frozen wind turbines by some government officials,[23] including Texas governor Greg Abbott,[24] but frozen natural gas lines were likely the main cause.[25][26]

References

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  1. ^ a b c "Texas - State Energy Profile Overview". U.S. Energy Information Administration. Retrieved 20 February 2021.
  2. ^ "ENERGY POLICY: Texas fight could ripple across U.S. grid". www.eenews.net. Retrieved 2020-04-11.
  3. ^ Sixel, L. M. (2019-09-03). "Electricity costs more in Houston as transmission, distribution charges rise". Houston Chronicle. Retrieved 2020-04-11.
  4. ^ "Entergy Texas Customers Forced to Pay Higher Rates". www.saveonenergy.com. Retrieved 2020-04-11.
  5. ^ a b c AWEA Texas Fact Sheet Archived 2021-01-25 at the Wayback Machine (Q3 2020)
  6. ^ "Utility wind rush set to strengthen as low prices allow resource to spread across nation". Utility Dive. Archived from the original on 2019-08-19. Retrieved 2019-10-19.
  7. ^ "AWEA Third Quarter 2012 Market Report" (PDF). awea.org. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  8. ^ "ERCOT Quick Facts for 2017 published July 2018" (PDF). ercot.com. 2018-07-01. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2018-09-10. Retrieved 2018-09-09.
  9. ^ "ERCOT Quick Facts for 2017 published February 2018" (PDF). dropbox.com. 2018-02-01. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2021-02-17. Retrieved 2018-02-08.
  10. ^ "ERCOT Sets Record Wind Output and Penetration Rate Over the Holiday Weekend". TREIA-Texas Renewable Energy Industries Alliance. Archived from the original on 2019-08-18. Retrieved 2019-08-18.
  11. ^ "A State-By-State View Of U.S. Renewable Energy In 2017". solarindustrymag.com. Archived from the original on 9 February 2019. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  12. ^ "Comparison of Solar Power Potential by State". neo.ne.gov. Archived from the original on 22 July 2021. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  13. ^ "Is a Solar Development Boom About to Begin in Texas?". greentechmedia.com. Retrieved 7 February 2019.
  14. ^ Accounts, Texas Comptroller of Public. "State Energy Conservation Office". www.seco.cpa.state.tx.us. Archived from the original on 1 July 2012. Retrieved 23 April 2018.
  15. ^ "Petroleum Profile: Texas". Archived from the original on September 18, 2002. Retrieved November 7, 2006.
  16. ^ "The Texas Economy". netstate.com. June 5, 2007. Retrieved April 29, 2008.
  17. ^ Dexheimer, Eric (11 April 2021). "February power blackouts across Texas echoed 1989 failures, state report shows". Austin American-Statesman. Retrieved 21 February 2021.
  18. ^ Travis Caldwell, Keith Allen and Eric Levenson. "The Texas power grid is improving. But days of outages have caused heat, water and food shortages". CNN. Retrieved 2021-02-18.
  19. ^ Rice, Doyle. "Winter storm will bring ice, snow to millions from Texas to New Jersey". USA Today. Retrieved 2021-02-18.
  20. ^ Irfan, Umair (2021-02-18). "Scientists are divided over whether climate change is fueling extreme cold events". Vox. Retrieved 2021-02-18.
  21. ^ Wright, Will; Robertson, Campbell (2021-02-17). "Burst Pipes and Power Outages in Battered Texas". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-02-18.
  22. ^ "How Many Millions Are Without Power in Texas?". Time. Retrieved 2021-02-18.
  23. ^ Aronoff, Kate; Pareene, Alex; Pareene, Alex; Eldridge, Taylor Elizabeth; Eldridge, Taylor Elizabeth; Shephard, Alex; Shephard, Alex; Shiner, Meredith; Shiner, Meredith (2021-02-16). "Conservatives Are Seriously Accusing Wind Turbines of Killing People in the Texas Blackouts". The New Republic. ISSN 0028-6583. Retrieved 2021-02-18.
  24. ^ Rouan, Rick. "Fact check: Frozen wind turbines don't deserve all the blame for Texas blackouts". USA Today. Retrieved 2021-02-18.
  25. ^ Penney, Veronica (February 19, 2021). "How Texas' Power Generation Failed During the Storm, in Charts". The New York Times. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
  26. ^ Searcey, Dionne (2021-02-17). "No, Wind Farms Aren't the Main Cause of the Texas Blackouts". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2021-02-18.
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