How Conservative Texas Took the Lead in U.S. Wind Power

The steady expansion of the company RES Americas in Texas mirrors a surge in wind energy production in a state better known for its oil and gas booms, its conservative politics, and its skepticism about human-caused climate change than for its flourishing renewable energy sector.  As it turns out, though, Texas now leads the United States in wind power production.

In 2014 wind generated 10.6 percent of Texas electricity, up from 9.9 percent the previous year and 6.2 percent in 2009, according to the U.S Energy Information Administration.  Wind energy generation that falls under the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), which manages the grid for 24 million Texans, nearly doubled from 2009 to 2014.  Currently, Texas has more than 12 gigawatts of wind power capacity installed across the state — equivalent to six Hoover Dams.  That figure could jump to 20 gigawatts in a few years with upgrades to the current transmission system, according to Ross Baldick, an engineering professor at University of Texas at Austin.

“I don’t think any state has been quite as fast at blowing past their [wind power] goals as Texas has,” says Nathanael Greene, director of renewable energy policy for the Natural Resources Defense Council.

So how has the Lone Star state done it?  Strong government incentives, sizeable investments in infrastructure, and innovative policies have played an important role.  So has the backing of governors of all political persuasions, from liberal Democrat Ann Richards to conservative Republican Rick Perry.  But at heart the profit motive has driven the state’s wind energy boom, with ranchers and landowners seeing gold in the spinning turbines on the Texas plains.

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