Texas More than Doubles its Renewable Energy Requirement

August 3, 2005

Photo of many wind turbines arranged in zigzag lines that recede into the distance.

FPL Energy's 278-megawatt King Mountain Wind Ranch is one of many wind power plants built in Texas to meet the requirements set in 1999.
Credit: Todd Spink

Texas Governor Rick Perry signed a bill on August 1st that will significantly increase the state's requirement for the use of renewable energy in its electrical supply. Senate Bill 20 (SB 20) requires the state's generating capacity from renewable energy sources to reach 5,880 megawatts by 2015, an amount capable of producing about 5 percent of the state's electricity needs. It also sets a goal of reaching 10,000 megawatts in renewable energy capacity by 2025. The bill helps to further diversify the state's sources of energy by requiring that 500 megawatts be produced by renewable energy sources other than wind power. The bill instructs the Public Utility Commission (PUC) of Texas to require utilities to add to their transmission systems as necessary to meet the renewable energy goal, and to allow utilities to recover the cost of such projects in their electric rates. See the governor's press release and the text of the bill (PDF 47 KB). Download Adobe Reader.

The previous requirement, set in 1999, was for 2,880 megawatts of renewable power by 2009, an increase of 2,000 megawatts over the 880 megawatts of renewable generating capacity that was installed at that time. However, the PUC announced in March that the state would probably meet that goal by the end of this year. According to the PUC, wind power accounts for 96 percent of the renewable energy capacity added in the state since 1999. See the PUC of Texas press release.