Connecting the Regulatory Dots Shaping Texas Energy | Reading and Podcast Picks - April 20, 2026
Texas regulators and ERCOT are confronting a surge of roughly 410 GW of new load applications, about 90% of which are data‑center projects, as the state positions itself in the national AI race. A CSIS report ties together recent PUCT and ERCOT proceedings, highlighting three regulatory pivots: a market‑based Dispatchable Reliability Reserve Service, the “denominator effect” that spreads fixed‑cost burdens across a larger load base, and a novel batch‑interconnection process that replaces traditional load studies. Together, these measures aim to clear transmission bottlenecks, manage rapid demand growth, and set a cost‑allocation framework for the grid’s evolution. Meanwhile, rural Texas is seeing renewable projects emerge as a critical income source despite political resistance.
More Generation, More Transmission, More Load, More Challenges: Texas Grid Roundup #90
ERCOT’s interconnection queue has absorbed roughly 9,275 MW of new projects since December, spanning solar, wind, battery storage and gas. Gas proposals have surged to 57,403 MW, nearly doubling the previous year, while solar (163,000 MW) and storage (178,000 MW) still dominate. Planned transmission...
Earnings Calls Paint Dramatic Energy Growth Picture
Earnings calls highlight an AI‑driven surge in electricity demand, boosting both regulated utilities and independent generators. CenterPoint Energy now projects Greater Houston’s peak load to rise 50% by 2029, two years ahead of its prior estimate. The utility expects operating...
Texas-California Clean Power Race Heats Up | Reading and Podcast Picks - Mar. 23, 2026
Texas set a new solar generation record of over 33 GW, overtaking California as the nation’s leader in utility‑scale solar. The U.S. Energy Information Administration projects Texas will supply roughly 40% of all new solar capacity and 53% of battery storage...
Top 5 Potential Federal Roadblocks Facing Texas Renewables
The U.S. Department of the Interior has overhauled its permitting framework, introducing slower review timelines, new approval processes, and unfamiliar evaluative standards that now affect both federal and private lands. These directives, rolled out over the past 14 months, add...
Build Fast or Fall Behind with Michael Webber
In this episode, Dr. Michael Weber discusses the interplay of engineering, policy, and market forces in the U.S. energy sector, using the shale revolution as a case study of rare alignment that spurred rapid change. He reflects on past forecasting...
Who Pays for Texas Grid Growth? - Roundtable Discussion
In this roundtable, host Michaela with Josh Rhodes and Matt Bombs dissect the surge in Texas electricity costs, pinpointing rapid demand growth from data centers, AI, electrified buildings and transport, and the continued reliance on natural‑gas generation whose fuel price...
How Texas Turned a Grid Failure Into a Public Bailout
The episode examines Texas’s 2021 Winter Storm Uri, which knocked out half of ERCOT’s capacity and caused massive blackouts. While the market design intended to let extreme events impose financial penalties on generators that failed to hedge, regulators intervened—forcing a...
The New Rules Behind ERCOT Prices with Andrew Reimers
In this episode, Andrew Reimers, deputy director of the ERCOT Independent Market Monitor at Potomac Economics, explains how ERCOT’s market design—particularly operating reserves, scarcity pricing, and the December 5 real‑time co‑optimization—shapes price signals that drive new generation investment in Texas....
Solar Surge: Texas Grid Roundup #88
Episode #88 of Solar Surge examines the rapid growth of utility‑scale solar in Texas, highlighting a Dallas Fed report that shows solar capacity added in 2025 matched 2024 levels despite tariffs and shifting federal policies. The show also discusses a...
Stop Heating Texas Like It’s 1985 (with Kurt Heim)
In this episode, Matt Boms and Kurt Heim discuss how Texas’s winter grid strain is driven largely by outdated electric resistance heating in homes and apartments. Heim explains that resistance heaters waste electricity, while modern heat pumps can deliver up...