Electricity In Texas

Texas produces and uses more electricity than any other state in the country. Texas uses 23 percent more electricity than California and 57 percent more electricity than Florida. In recent years, peak demand in the state grew from 56,848 megawatts in 1995 to 65,469 megawatts of electricity in 1999, 77 percent of which was furnished by investor-owned utility companies and 15 percent by municipalities and river authorities. The annual growth rate for peak demand was 3.6 percent.

As of 2003, Texas is awash in electric power plants. Since 1995, when the state's wholesale market was deregulated, 56 new power plants have been built. Plans to build another 14 permitted power plants are on hold. It was expected that the new power plants would replace the old, inefficient and more polluting plants, and that has happened, but not as much as anticipated. It is believed that Texas has enough electric power today to meet demand for the next five years.

Unlike other states in the country, Texas's electricity grid has limited interconnection with other states. Due to this lack of infrastructure, Texas is not able to connect its electricity beyond its own borders. Wholesale utility deregulation went into effect in Texas in 1995 and retail utility deregulation went into effect in January 2002.

Generating utilities in 1999 served 7.3 million Texas customers. Residential customers accounted for about 29 percent of sales, industrial customers accounted for about 28 percent of sales, and commercial customers accounted for about 23 percent of sales.

In Texas, electricity is generated by a variety of different fuel sources, including coal, and lignite (Lignite is a low-grade form of coal.) natural gas and nuclear power. In 2000, 46 percent of electricity in Texas came from natural gas-fired plants, 41 percent coal and lignite fired plants, and 13 percent from nuclear. All of which are non-renewable resources. Under the retial utility regulation bill, investor owned utilities will be required to develop 2000 MW of new renewable based power by 2009, a standard of three percent of renewable electricity for utilities would be achieved.

The state's appetite for coal and lignite has caused serious pollution problems. Coal-fired power plants are a major reason why Texas is leading the U.S. in emissions of carbon dioxide.

The top 16 major electric generating plants in Texas account for a little over 80 percent of all criteria pollutant emissions—particulate matter, carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and lead—from power plants; and approximately 36 percent of all criteria pollutants from all industrial sources in Texas.

Such issues as electric utility deregulation, green pricing, and utility fuel labeling and conservation will help determine how much electricity Texans will use and which non-renewable and renewable sources will be used to produce it. Energy demands and energy production are major factors in air, water, and solid waste pollution in Texas.

http://www.texasep.org/html/nrg/nrg_2ele.html

Electricity Texas