Alternative state energy plan calls for more renewables in Texas

AUSTIN, Texas, US, 2004-12-01 Refocus Weekly An environmental group wants the state of Texas to create “appropriate policies, programs and business climate” to source the majority of its total energy from renewables by 2020.

“All Texans have the right to live in a sustainable clean environment today and in the future,” says the ‘Declaration of Sustainability & Sustainable Energy Bill of Rights’ produced by Public Citizen and delegates to the first Texas Clean Energy Congress in the capital city of Austin. “All Texans have the right to purchase clean renewable energy from their electric provider at prices that are reasonable and just and nondiscriminatory.”

All Texans have the right to enjoy the economic benefits to Texas of the expanded use of renewable energy and energy efficiency measures, and the right to produce sustainable energy for on-site use, while all Texans who produce renewable energy have the right to fair compensation for energy sold that reflects the full value of that energy, the document states. All Texans have the right to be protected by energy efficiency codes and to be educated about energy savings options for their homes and businesses, the right to participate in an open public process to determine how energy is produced, the right to access a means of transportation that runs on sustainable fuels, and the right to know the environmental impacts of their ways of life, including purchasing and energy consumption decisions.

Public Citizen unveiled a plan that calls for greater development of renewable energy resources and more energy efficiency to meet the state's energy demand, and the consumer advocacy group has released the plan as an alternative to one devised by the Texas Energy Planning Council. Govenor Rick Perry appointed the 22-member Council late last year to develop a new energy plan, but that plan relies too much on coal and imported natural gas, underestimates the value of solar and wind power, and ignores energy efficiency, says Tom Smith of Public Citizen.

The Texas Legislature will act on the Council's recommendations when it reconvenes in January.

The Public Citizen plan, ‘A Clean, Secure & Independent Energy Plan for Texas,’ calls for greater development of renewable energy resources, a 1% annual reduction in demand by doubling the energy efficiency code for new buildings, greater reliance on power generation from cogeneration, and new transmission lines to west Texas and the Panhandle to access the wind resource.

Texas anticipates a 31% increase in electricity demand by 2025, from 95,000 MW to 124,000 MW, and Public Citizen says renewables, cogeneration and energy efficiency could provide 10,000 MW each, for a combined total of 30,000 MW. More jobs would be created because renewables create three times more jobs than conventional energy, while windfarms have the potential to generate hundreds of millions of dollars in tax revenues for schools.

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