Ah yes... texas. Home of the "free market".
this post was submitted on 12 May 2025
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We will use the police power of the state to enforce our freedom!!!!!
Watch this lead to inventive new ways to store energy.
Providing power at night is much more reasonable than forcing an equal/backup gas plant.
Requiring solar to have 2-4 hours battery backup power is a great way to expand grid while still keeping existing plants around. Peaker/backup plants have always had a business model based on high rates. If the law says a solar project must buy into a legacy plant and promise to keep it ready for backup, it's not totally crazy, as long as it can charge extortionist rates when it is needed. It doesn't reduce benefit of battery storage, paired with larger solar array.
inventive new ways to store energy.
100 hour storage, like iron air batteries, is cheap but not as economic as mature battery technologies for power arbitrage. Still, if there is a regulation to have 18-48 hours of power reserves, then it is an ok solution. The problem with long term storage with solar is that if you get 6 hours of sun in a day, half to charge, half to sell directly, you only add 6 hours, even if most days you wouldn't draw down 6 hours at night due to lower demand.
Hydrogen electrolysis is another solution to monetizing overproduction. It can be done more cheaply with methane than water, and still be zero emissions, zero capture and sequestration, with marketable carbon black solid as byproduct. Keeping a bit of H2 onsite, with a fuel cell as backup, or NG electric plant, can be profitable, but all depends on how much you have to pay for backup, and how much profit from use.
Introducing V2G service that pays EV owners to be "the backup" in addition to battery arbitrage revenue is another path, that will happen soon enough, but where some kind of regulatory obligation to have it, makes it happen with more commitment.
This bill explicitly excludes batteries and storage of power. This just makes it so solar companies have to match their production with fossil fuel purchases.
It is to stop or slow expansion of renewables, as companies will essentially have to additionally and directly invest in fossil fuels to expand their industry.
Very sad. I get that the grid does need backup/resilience power and someone needs to pay for it, but adding a new FF plant of equal capacity is going well beyond backup needs. A simpler solution would be to tax renewable power in wholesale market such that it funds "payments for backup readiness" as needed, and tax goes down as less of it is needed.
This is idiotic. Besides being an obvious attempt to fin el renewables money to coal/gas...they have to match their output during the day, at a time when demand isn't even as high.
So they need battery backup? Or can they buy from hydro plants?
No batteries don't count.
"The Texas Senate on Wednesday passed a bill to create a new “dispatchable” power credits trading program that would effectively require utilities, generation companies and electric cooperatives in Electric Reliability Council of Texas territory to offset new renewables and battery capacity — with an equal amount of new dispatchable capacity beginning as early as next year.
The bill’s definition of “dispatchable” excludes batteries while also exempting power generation companies that exclusively operate battery energy storage systems from the dispatchable power generation requirement."
https://www.utilitydive.com/news/texas-senate-bill-dispatchable-power-credits-trading/743185/
If this passes the solar companies should close up shop and abandon Texas. Head for a state with as much sun but less stupid.
Leave the assholes to their fate.
I imagine that's the goal
At first I thought, this isn't toooooo terrible as making batteries to store any excess would actually be great, although there could be situations where you don't need excess due to excess baseload already...
This is just bonkers though. Wow.
They could partner with hydro and wind and make up the difference with battery storage
The bill specifically says they cannot use battery. Which is literally the dumbest shit I've ever heard. This bill was written by the coal and gas lobby.
If this passes, the solar and wind companies should simply close up shop and tell Texans to buy all their power from coal and gas and see how far that gets them. These dipshits will only learn through pain.
Texas is an awful place. It is full of Texans.
Hmmm, I wonder how that'll jibe with the presidents executive order on energy:
Protecting American Energy from State Overreach: This order instructs the Attorney General to identify and challenge state and local laws that could impede the development or use of domestic energy resources . . .
Of course the AG would have to step in and actually do something
understand that the EO meant fossil fuels exclusively, mango mussolini hates renewables (especially wind, which has been HUGE in texas)
Technically not about fossil fuels exclusively, as they include hydro, bio-mass, and nuclear in their list of priorities
Sec 3a
. . . undue burden on identification, development, or use of domestic energy resources — with particular attention to oil, natural gas, coal, hydropower, biofuels, critical mineral, and nuclear energy resources . . .
In a functioning government the AG, independent from executive influence, could act on this, but I certainly don't have hope for the current administration
Not really much hydro in Texas, or close by
Must spread the 666 particle made from black demon blood sealed in the earth!
Drag hopes the grid produces too much energy at night and fries everyone's fridges. That would lead to a lot of public outcry and hopefully they'll repeal this bill.
With a bill like this coming along, I expect more trouble up ahead. Those politicians need to be voted out
I'm just wishing my utility offered Time of Use rates so I could meaningfully optimize my EV charging and water heating use timing.
Checkout RayGen in Australia. They provide 24hr power with sunshine power
Edit: its with heated and non heated water powering rankin engines
Searching... it's batteries
They're not allowed to use those
Chemical batteries or all "batteries". Sounds ridiculous both ways... But anyway.
Lots of things get called batteries now days, but AFAIK this is a temperature gradient of salt water.
Ehh, the word sounds odd but works. Batteries may be invented in some weird ways as of recent. That's just a part of the path towards inventing a good solution: not all ideas are going to be the best.
As for how weird? Whatever, as long as they work
You didn't say which batteries were not allowed.
Its ridiculous to think that batteries are "not allowed" at all.
What? No batteries in general. Why are you moving the goalpost beyond the bill it's about?
What is a battery? (In the eyes of this bill)
this kinda sucks, but honestly shouldnt be too bad in the long run because of all the batteries on the grid
Batteries are excluded from the calculations.
well this actually does suck