texas electric choice - renewable energy
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About Charlie Hewitt
Charlie Hewitt has more than 20 years of in-depth energy experience having served in executive and managerial roles at some of the largest retail energy providers in North America. His expertise covers a wide range of retail energy disciplines including pricing, contracting, risk management, and credit. He holds an MBA from UT Arlington, MA and BS degrees in geology from UT Austin, and was a TXU environmental research fellow.
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Power to Choose Green
One of the benefits of Texas retail electric choice is the ability for customers to select renewable energy plans.
Every retail electric rate is accompanied by an Electricity Facts Label, or fact sheet, that specifies the renewable energy content for that specific product. The statewide average renewable content is also listed on that sheet. This information allows the customer to evaluate if the electric rate plan they are considering meets their renewable energy criteria.
Customers are choosing green energy in greater numbers than ever. The graph below shows the growth of renewable generation as a percentage of consumption in areas open to retail electric competition.
This presentation also provides insight into the sources of Texas green energy and the growth of those generation sources during the past decade.
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0.0%
2.0%
4.0%
6.0%
8.0%
10.0%
12.0%
14.0%
16.0%
2000 2002 2004 2006 2008 2010 2012 2014
Texas Renewable Generation Relative to Competitive Load
Source: https://www.texasrenewables.com/reports.asp
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Renewable Energy Sources
There are five primary types of renewable electricity generation in Texas.
Biomass refers to any fuel source developed from organic materials. This can include scrap lumber , manure, paper manufacturing waste and other organic waste residues.
Hydropower utilizes a change in elevation of a watercourse to convert potential energy into kinetic energy and then into electrical energy. There is trend toward low impact hydropower facilities which focus on smaller-scale projects that minimize adverse environmental impact.
Landfill gas is produced by microbial digestion of landfill wastes. It typically contains 40 to 60% methane.
Solar electric generation can come from either photovoltaics or concentrating solar thermal power (CSP) plants. CSP plants use reflectors or lenses to heat water which can be then used for electric turbine operation.
Wind generation relies on consistent and sustained winds to spin electric turbines. Facilities can be located either onshore or offshore.
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Source 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008
Biomass 36,940 58,637 60,569 51,823 70,833
Hydro 234,791 310,302 210,077 382,882 445,428
Landfill Gas 203,443 213,777 306,087 356,339 386,606
Solar 211 227 136 1,844 3,338
Wind 3,209,629 4,221,568 6,530,928 9,339,756 16,286,383
TOTAL 3,685,014 4,804,511 7,107,797 10,132,645 17,192,588
Source 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Biomass 73,364 97,535 137,004 288,988 200,564
Hydro 507,507 609,257 267,113 389,197 294,238
Landfill Gas 412,926 464,904 497,645 537,966 550,845
Solar 4,492 14,449 36,580 133,642 178,326
Wind 20,595,989 26,828,660 30,769,674 32,566,009 36,909,385
TOTAL 21,594,278 28,014,805 31,708,016 33,915,803 38,133,358
Texas Renewable Energy Generation Sources (MWh)
Source: https://www.texasrenewables.com/reports.asp
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Texas Green Electricity Assessment (2003-2013)
Biomass generation in Texas has increased by more than 440% during the past decade. Even with this growth, biomass accounts for less than 1% of Texas renewable energy.
Hydropower in Texas is primarily run-of the-river generation which varies seasonally and with larger trends like droughts. The lack of elevation change in Texas limits the commercial development of hydropower.
Electric generation from landfill gas has increased 170% in 10 years but supply can be unpredictable and large-scale development opportunities are limited.
Solar electric generation increased 745% from 2003. While still a very small percentage of green generation in Texas, utility-scale plants in Bexar, Travis, and Presidio counties have accelerated growth.
Wind generation has led the increase in green generation at over 1000% growth. While the open range of west Texas have been the site of most of this development, coastal wind farms with on-peak generation have also been developed.
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Choosing a Power Plan
When choosing a renewable Texas electricity rate, customers should assume that the renewable component is derived from wind generation.
Over 96% of all renewable energy in Texas comes from wind generation making it the most plentiful and affordable renewable generation source.
As the most plentiful renewable generation resource, it is also the most economical and the best way to provide customers environmentally-conscious energy while still offering low electric rates.