Texas adds another solar farm as ERCOT grid demand soars(electrek.co)
11 pointsby Bender4 hours ago1 comment
  • quantified2 hours ago
    How's that work? This is Texas where fossil fuel is king, isn't it? How does that actually play with the politics?
    • snailmailmanan hour ago
      While fossil fuels are huge in Texas, solar and wind are too. Especially out in west Texas where there’s a lot of wide open space, wind turbines are surprisingly frequent. Texas produces the most wind power out of any state. And solar works just about anywhere in Texas. Lots of sun in the summers.
    • defrost2 hours ago
      Money talks and leads action in forward capital investment

        And despite political attacks on renewables, solar continues getting built in this red state because it’s one of the fastest and cheapest ways to add new electricity to the grid.
      So that happens while public facing politico's say whatever soothes the coal rollers that want to hear another Taylor Sheridanesque bleatage about wind power and no solar at night.
      • snailmailman38 minutes ago
        While Texas is quite red. Renewables are surprisingly popular. Why should a farmer in the middle of nowhere have to rely on Texas’ power grid, when they can install a few solar panels and a battery. Especially when storms can take out power lines, or take out the entire grid.

        I’m near a big city in Texas, and before any big storms here, generators frequently sell out at stores. Power outages are basically expected during any storms. Lots of people buying into solar (or backup generators/batteries) just for independence from the power grid. Especially after the huge winter storm a few years ago left people without power for days in the cold.