Advocacy groups pan proposed Texas bill that would hinder offshore wind

An environmental organization and consumer advocacy group say a bill advancing in the Texas Legislature would essentially ban offshore wind development in the state's power grid, eliminating one of the best options for future energy resources.

Sierra Club's Lone Star Chapter and Public Citizen Texas held a virtual press briefing May 21 to discuss key energy legislation being considered in the current session, including several bills that could slow renewable energy growth. The legislative session will adjourn June 2.

One of the bills heavily discussed was Senate Bill 383, which has suddenly picked up steam after being passed out of the House Committee on State Affairs on an 8-7 vote May 20. The latest version of the bill, authored by Republican state Senator Mayes Middleton, would ban the interconnection of any wind facility and related transmission infrastructure within 9 nautical miles of the seaward Gulf of Mexico coast to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas grid. The 9 nautical miles from the Texas coastline cover waters under state jurisdiction.

SB 383 has already been passed by the Republican-led state Senate, meaning that all that stands before it heading to Governor Greg Abbott for consideration is a floor vote by the full GOP-majority House. If passed, it would take effect Sept. 1.

Cyrus Reed, conservation director for the Sierra Club's Lone Star Chapter, said Texas does not really have any current offshore wind projects in development that would be affected by passage of the bill, but he cautioned that moving in this direction could eventually hurt the state as electricity demand surges in the coming years.

"This is a really bad idea to take one of the future energy resources that a lot of states are looking at off of the table for Texas at exactly the time when our state is growing," Reed said during the press briefing. "And it's a really good resource because it turns out wind blows a lot in the ocean. So that's a bad bill."

SB 383 is another bill under consideration in the legislature that could bring sweeping changes that would limit renewable energy expansion in Texas. Environmental groups, consumer advocacy groups, and industry observers are also closely watching the progress of SB 819, which would impose permitting requirements on new utility-scale wind and solar projects.

Under the proposed legislation, wind and solar projects would have to obtain a permit from the Public Utility Commission of Texas to build and operate new facilities, and each permit holder would have to pay an annual environmental impact fee. The bill also would require the Texas Parks and Wildlife Department to monitor environmental impacts by renewable generation sources and conduct wildlife assessments. Lastly, the bill would impose 3,000-foot setbacks on wind projects from habitable structures for wind projects and 200-foot setbacks for solar projects.

The bill was passed by the state Senate April 15 and was referred to the House State Affairs Committee, but has not yet been scheduled for a hearing or vote.

"Hopefully [it won't be scheduled], but you never know in the last 12 days of a session," Reed said.

'Not good for consumers'

The bills that could hinder renewable growth have also advanced at the same time as other bills that appear to favor conventional generation at the expense of renewables.

SB 388 calls for a target of 50% of new power plant capacity within ERCOT to be sourced from dispatchable generation other than battery energy storage. The bill has been passed in the state Senate and awaits further action by the House.

ERCOT had 40.1 GW of net wind-powered generation capacity, 26.4 GW of solar and 8.1 GW of battery storage in operation at the end of 2024, according to data compiled May 19 by S&P Global Market Intelligence. The market had 65.2 GW of net gas-fired generation capacity and 13.7 GW of coal-fired output. The wind and solar generation were tops in the nation among power markets, ahead of the California Independent System Operator, and the battery storage capacity was second behind CAISO.

Adrian Shelley, director of consumer advocacy group Public Citizen's Texas office, said these bills favoring conventional generation over renewables and others similar to them actually contradict free-market principles espoused by the state's political leadership and would increase costs for consumers if they become law.

"Senate Bill 388, it's anti-market, it's anti-consumer," Shelley said. "Senate Bill 819, it is anti-renewable energy. All of this legislation would increase costs for consumers. The market is working in Texas. It's providing us with reliable, affordable and increasingly clean energy. We really should not be upending the market because we don't like the sources that are succeeding. It's not good for consumers."