[Watchdogs] Renewables, Drilling Among Upcoming Energy Bills — Energy | The Texas Tribune

[Milton Hawkins]

Renewables, Drilling Among Upcoming Energy Bills — Energy | The Texas
Tribune<http://www.texastribune.org/texas-energy/energy/renewables-drilling-among-upcoming-energy-bills/?utm_source=texastribune.org&utm_medium=alerts&utm_campaign=News%20Alert:%20Subscriptions>

>From the article:

Environmentalists will be eager for policies to aid solar power. Last
session — which advocates dubbed the "solar
session<http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/solar-push-in-texas-fails/>"
— dozens of bills got filed to promote solar energy in various ways, but
virtually none got through; key bills died amid the last-minute chubbing, a
filibustering tactic. Solar types will be back for another try, and they'll
be clamoring for one of two things: a mandate to aid renewable energy
sources other than wind (which thrived under a mandate originally crafted in
1999) or a rebate program that would specifically benefit solar.

Either would face uphill climbs, as even advocates acknowledge. Renewables
are more expensive than conventional power sources, and given the deep
budget hole, proposals that require money will have to fund themselves.
Anything that taps into the general fund will be a non-starter, said Land
Commissioner and former state lawmaker Jerry
Patterson<http://www.texastribune.org/directory/jerry-patterson/>,
speaking on a clean-technology panel at the Capitol last week.

In addition, noted Christopher Hughes, an Austin-based attorney and
renewable energy specialist with the Brown McCarroll law firm, the arrival
of three dozen new lawmakers — few of whom ran on platforms that emphasized
renewable energy — will make the fate of any legislation less predictable,
so renewables advocates will need to work especially hard to make their
cases. Groups like the powerful Texas Association of Manufacturers will
oppose any measure that could increase electricity prices.

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