San Antonio Standard

For Texas business owners like Bill Lyons, who runs the Casa Rio restaurant on the San Antonio River Walk, energy is crucial.

“Of course energy is vital to our business, especially in the area of food supply storage,” owner Bill Lyons told the San Antonio Standard.

Last February, when winter storms caused widespread power outages across Texas, the lights stayed on at Casa Rio.

“We were on a grid with first responders and never lost power,” he said.

Lyons would like to keep it that way, adding, “Our leaders must continue to do all they can to ensure grid reliability." 

An over-reliance on wind and solar power could threaten that reliability, Energy Alliance policy director Bill Peacock told the Lone Star Standard as Texas was in the middle of power outages. Most analysts say wind and solar power account for less than one-third of Texas' energy needs.

“Beyond the weather, environmental policies that have been pushing renewable energy across the country and in Texas for a long time are largely keeping the Texas grid from providing reliable power,” Peacock said.

Last winter’s outages were caused, in part, by freezing of the wind turbines and the fact that the sun wasn’t shining, Peacock said.

“We could have a reliable natural gas backup in place but we don't,” Peacock said. “The more wind and solar you get onto the grid, the more problems you're going to have with reliability.”

In March, Texas Railroad Commissioner Wayne Christian expressed similar sentiments, noting that the facts must overrule both emotions and politics when discussing energy issues in Texas.

“While many celebrate the seemingly impressive 30 gigawatt 'capacity' of Texas’ wind turbines and solar panels, that capacity has always been an illusion,” Christian told the Austin News. “In the leadup to the storm, before any wind turbines froze, solar and wind generation fell from meeting over 50% to under 5% of demand – solely due to their inherent unreliability.”

Christian said he held the same opinion even before the storm.

“My first public statement in the context of Winter Storm Uri happened on the Tuesday or Wednesday during the storm, but I have been vocal against renewable subsidies for years because of the cost to the taxpayer and impact on the market,” he said.