Texas

  • Intersect Power Selects Signal Energy and Nextracker for Two Utility-Scale Solar Projects in Texas and California

    FREMONT, CALIF – July 20, 2021 –  Intersect Power, one of North America’s largest developers of utility-scale renewable energy, today announced Signal Energy as the engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) firm and supply of the NX Horizon smart solar trackers and TrueCapture yield optimization software from Nextracker for two utility-scale solar projects totaling 728 MW […]

  • ERCOT, Caught in Political Crossfire, Releases Reliability ‘Roadmap’

    The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) has unveiled a roadmap outlining crucial improvements designed to enhance grid reliability, taking into account recent legislation, regulatory mandates, and a recent push by the state’s governor for market incentives that will help the grid bulk up on “adequate and reliable” resources, like natural gas, coal, and nuclear […]

  • Parker Delivers GT Inlet Filter Houses to Golden Pass

    Kansas, USA, July 12, 2021— As the USA continues the switch from net importer to net exporter of natural gas, it needs to significantly expand its LNG (liquefied natural gas) export capabilities and infrastructure. As part of this ongoing growth, Parker has recently supplied a total of six gas turbine (GT) filter houses to support […]

  • Start with Reliability to Crack the Cost-Emissions-Resilience Puzzle in Electric Power

    The way we generate and distribute electricity has become a Rubik’s cube for power companies, regulators, and consumers. The need to reduce carbon emissions linked to climate change by investing in renewables is acknowledged by most experts. At the same time, recent unusual weather events have demonstrated that there is also an urgent need to […]

  • Exec Calls for Action on New Texas Gas-Fired Plants

    The chief executive of a Connecticut-based energy investment firm has called for action on his group’s proposal to build as many as 11 new natural gas-fired power plants in Texas. Himanshu Saxena, CEO of Starwood Energy Group, in a June 14 interview said, “We would like to see significant steps in countering, negotiating and material […]

  • Texas Governor Enacts Grid Reliability Measures, Including Power Plant Weatherization, ERCOT Reforms

    Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has signed into law sweeping bills approved by Texas legislators that will require power generators in the state to weatherize against extreme events and revamp organizational oversight of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). Hours before the state’s regular 140-day legislative session dwindled to its end on May 30—and amid […]

  • Competition, Not Outdated Monopoly Models, Key to Meeting Tomorrow’s Challenges

    The past year and a half has been, to put it mildly, a weird time. Americans have grappled with the COVID-19 crisis, as well as with the associated economic fallout that revealed cracks in a number of our nation’s workforce and social systems. But recent years have also exposed the significant flaws in parts of […]

  • Burns & McDonnell Awarded Engineer-Procure-Construct Contract for West Texas Storage Projects

    KANSAS CITY, Missouri — Burns & McDonnell was selected by LG Energy Solution and Sustainable Environmental Renewable (SER) Capital Partners to provide engineer-procure-construct (EPC) services for three 10-megawatt/20 megawatt-hour lithium-ion, stand-alone battery energy storage systems. The three facilities are located in the West Texas region. The project consists of owner-provided LG Chem battery racks populated […]

  • $8 Billion Proposals Could Bring New Gas-Fired Plants to Texas

    An energy investment group told Texas regulators the company has a plan to help solve some of that state’s electricity reliability issues, proposing a plan similar to one put forth by billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Energy in March. Starwood Energy Group on April 23 sent the state’s Public Utility Commission a proposal to build […]

  • Sweet Deal—Hershey, Others Have Solar Pacts

    A well-known chocolate maker has announced two new clean energy partnerships as the company continues to increase its sustainability efforts. The Hershey Co. on April 20 said it has power purchase agreements (PPAs) to take electricity from two solar projects, one in North Carolina and another in Texas. Hershey, like many corporate power customers, has […]

  • ERCOT Conditions Tighten Again as Outages Mount to 32 GW

    The Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) on April 13 urged Texans to conserve power as grid conditions tightened owing to a “a combination of high generation outages typical in April and higher-than-forecasted demand from a stalled cold front over Texas.” The Texas grid operator, which in February narrowly avoided system collapse as Winter Storm […]

  • Massive Solar Farm Will Serve Texas Grid

    A California company has teamed with the U.S. subsidiary of Japan’s largest gas utility to build a major solar power project just outside Houston, Texas. Rosendin, an electrical contractor with its corporate headquarters in San Jose, and Tokyo Gas America are developing the Aktina Renewable Power Project, a 500-MWac/631-MWdc solar farm spanning 4,000 acres in […]

  • Yes, Texas’ Deregulated Electricity Market Has Problems, but It Can (and Should) Be Fixed

    The severe winter storm that knocked out Texas’ electricity grid in February, plunging millions of people into a cold, dark ordeal, has led to a number of takes about what went wrong. The state’s deregulated energy market has been frequently singled out as the root cause. But, while a contributing factor, it wasn’t the only […]

  • The Natural Gas Flame Continues to Burn Bright

    The natural gas sector is well aware of the challenges facing the fossil fuel industry, but analysts say gas has attributes that will keep it a big part of the U.S. and global energy mix. Natural gas has moved

  • More Blackout Fallout: New Texas PUC Chair Resigns

    Arthur D’Andrea, the chair of the Texas Public Utility Commission (PUC), who took the post just two weeks ago, has resigned. D’Andrea was the only remaining PUC commissioner and is the latest state official to decamp their position in the wake of a deadly winter storm in February that overwhelmed Texas’ energy infrastructure. Texas Gov. […]

  • Texas PUC Outlines Review of Response to Power Disaster

    The regulatory group that oversees Texas’ deregulated power market has identified eight areas the agency will focus on as it continues to study the state’s response to a mid-February storm that left millions of electricity customers without power for several days. Texas power customers, along with electricity generators and retail power providers, continue to grapple […]

  • Board Votes to Fire ERCOT CEO

    Board members of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the entity that operates and manages the electricity grid that covers much of Texas, voted late on March 3 to fire ERCOT CEO Bill Magness. The move comes as state and federal officials continue to investigate the actions of the grid operator that led to […]

  • Texas PUC Chair Resigns as Outage Probe Continues

    The chairwoman of the Public Utility Commission (PUC) of Texas has resigned, stepping down after the state’s lieutenant governor earlier on March 1 called for her resignation, along with that of the CEO of the state’s power grid operator. DeAnn Walker, the PUC chair, in her resignation letter Monday to Gov. Greg Abbott, defended her […]

  • Power Co-op Files Bankruptcy After $2.1 Billion ERCOT Bill

    The group considered Texas’ oldest and largest electricity cooperative has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, saying it can’t pay money wanted by the state’s grid operator in connection with power outages during a major winter storm that hit in February. Brazos Electric Power Cooperative filed its bankruptcy petition March 1 in the U.S. Bankruptcy […]

  • Texas Launches Probe of Power Companies After Blackouts

    The fallout from the severe weather that crippled the power grid in Texas and other states over the past week continues, as officials grapple with what went wrong and who should be held accountable for an energy emergency that left millions without electricity. Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton on Feb. 19 said his office would […]

  • Great Winter Storm of 2021 Will Live in Grid History

    It will be some time before we know every detail that aligned to cause the tremendous number of sustained power outages in Texas, or the spiking power prices across all markets in the central states. Some things we do know. Some natural gas supply was frozen in. Some wind turbines froze up, and ice damaged some […]

  • Texas Gov. Declares ERCOT Reform ‘Emergency’; Millions Still Without Power

    Texas Gov. Greg Abbott has said reforming the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) is an emergency item for state legislators in the current session, as power outages continue across the state for another day due to record cold temperatures as part of a massive winter storm. The governor on Feb. 16 said he wants […]

  • Beyond Nuclear Files Federal Lawsuit Challenging High-Level Radioactive Waste Dump Targeted at Texas/New Mexico Border

    WASHINGTON, DC (February 10, 2021) — The non-profit organization Beyond Nuclear filed suit in federal court today to prevent the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) from licensing a massive “consolidated interim storage facility” (CISF) for highly radioactive waste in Andrews County, west Texas. In its Petition for Review filed in the U.S. Court of Appeals […]

  • Big New Gas-Fired Plant Enters Commercial Operation in Texas

    The Montgomery County Power Station, a two-unit 993-MW natural gas-fired combined cycle plant, achieved commercial operation on Jan. 1, Entergy Texas Inc. and McDermott International Ltd. reported on Jan. 13. The plant—located at Entergy’s existing Lewis Creek site near Willis, Texas, about 50 miles north of Houston—was reportedly brought online “well ahead of schedule,” according […]

  • Montgomery County Gas-Fired Power Station Begins Commercial Operation

    HOUSTON, Jan. 13, 2021 — McDermott International, Ltd today announced the beginning of commercial operation of the Montgomery County Power Station, a combined-cycle gas power station in Willis, Texas, owned by Entergy Texas, Inc. “Congratulations to Project Director Drew German and the entire team on the Montgomery County Power Station project for bringing it in […]

  • Takkion Holdings Acquires Renew Energy Inc.

    FORT WORTH, Texas (Jan. 4, 2021) — Takkion Holdings LLC (“Takkion” or the “Company”), a portfolio company of funds managed by affiliates of Apollo Global Management, Inc. (NYSE: APO) (together with its consolidated subsidiaries, “Apollo”) and premier multimodal logistics and transportation provider for energy transition infrastructure, today announced that Takkion has acquired Sioux Falls, SD-based […]

  • United Cooperative Services, Navisun and TurningPoint Energy Announce 10 MW Community Solar Project Underway in Texas

    Burleson, TX, December 9, 2020 – United Cooperative Services (United), Navisun, and TurningPoint Energy (TPE) announced today the commencement of construction of the Erath Solar project in Erath, County, TX. The 10 megawatt AC community solar plant is scheduled for completion in early February of next year. This is the second community solar project partnership […]

  • Invenergy Unveils Plan for Largest U.S. Solar Project

    A handful of well-known companies, along with three cities in Texas, have contracted to receive electricity from what would be the largest solar farm built to date in the U.S. Invenergy, a Chicago, Illinois-based energy company, said the Samson Solar Energy Center is scheduled to come online in 2023. The facility is under construction in […]

  • Broad Reach Power to Begin Development of Two 100-Megawatt Battery Storage Projects in Texas

    HOUSTON (Sept. 15, 2020) – Broad Reach Power (“Broad Reach”), an independent power producer (IPP) based in Houston with more than five gigawatts of standalone storage projects in its pipeline, announced today announced that it has begun construction on two 100 megawatt (MW) greenfield battery storage projects. The new assets further expand the company’s rapidly […]

  • DOE-Backed Hydrogen Project Underway in Texas

    A California energy company is collaborating with its parent and the University of Texas on a U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) project to show that renewable hydrogen can be a cost-effective fuel with several applications, including for both the transportation and power generation sectors. Frontier Energy, headquartered in San Ramon, California, and a subsidiary of […]