INSIDER
San Miguel Electric Cooperative's plan to turn into a solar and battery plant will leave only 14 coal-fired power plants in the state.
The Public Utility Commission found that the performance credit mechanism, a financial tool the Legislature capped at $1 billion, would only marginally improve reliability of the state power grid.
Texas regulators are taking public comment about how they should implement an EPA rule to reduce methane leaks from the oil and gas industry.
Oilfield wastewater injected underground is causing earthquakes and blowouts. Now, pilot projects are exploring whether this water could be treated and used to grow crops.
ERCOT says conditions this winter could spark extreme cold, but additional power supply and continued weatherization efforts will lower the risk of power outages.
The Public Utility Commission of Texas adopted the rule amid surging demand for power across the state and a growing crypto mining industry in Texas.
The proposal comes after the state’s oil and gas regulatory agency said it needs more money to plug wells that are in some instances erupting.
The three-member board oversees Texas’ oil and gas industry. The agency has faced criticism over safety concerns linked to fracking, well blowouts and groundwater protection.
Abandoned wells in the Permian Basin are increasingly erupting with briney, polluted water. The Texas Railroad Commission says it needs emergency money to respond.
Bexar County is expected to use a Department of Energy grant to better track greenhouse gas emissions (GHG) across the region, developing a county-wide GHG emissions inventory assessment in response to high local ozone levels.
CPS Energy will hold a public input session on Monday in downtown San Antonio to offer community members and stakeholders the opportunity to engage with board members directly.
Incumbent Christi Craddick is touting the health of the Texas energy industry and its impact on the economy. Her top opponent says regulation on the commission is too lax.
Experts warn that more blowouts should be expected unless oil and gas companies change their methods.
The examination of Deloitte’s existing contracts comes after it failed to catch red flags in a company’s application for a loan to build or upgrade power plants in the state.
Former employees say the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality gutted the unit soon after the fracking boom swept the state oil industry. The operation never returned to what it was before.
Residents were worried about the impact on their drinking water while business leaders were excited for the new jobs.
CPS Energy’s J.K. Spruce coal power plant released "seven million metric tons of greenhouse gas emissions in 2022, making it the 42nd-worst climate polluter in the country," according to a study published by the Frontier Group.
The lawsuit claims federal regulators have undermined the Texas oil and gas industry by misusing environmental law, negatively impacting drilling and production.
The smell of oil wells has long permeated Caldwell County, near Austin and San Antonio. Now researchers have documented wells releasing dangerous amounts of hydrogen sulfide gas.
Lawmakers tasked the Public Utility Commission with overseeing the Texas Energy Fund, though the agency has no experience running a loan program.
Texas isn’t expected to take a direct hit when the storm makes landfall as a hurricane. But storm surge and dangerous winds are possible.
While environmentalists say the new rules don’t do enough to protect groundwater, oil and gas operators are contesting stricter requirements for waste pits near wells.
The $30 million initiative advances the city’s goal of attaining a net zero capacity for all municipal buildings by 2040, a step outlined in the Climate Action and Adaptation Plan.
The 23-page document highlights measures to address energy equity, increase sustainability and curb greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions.
Before the pandemic, Ben Bilbrey worked with some of the largest oil companies. Now he’s waiting for the phone to ring.
This week’s ruling was the latest twist since cities and groups in Texas’ Rio Grande Valley sued to block the projects.
No state agency is taking responsibility for making sure the privately built lines that power many oil and gas sites are safe. Such lines have been blamed for sparking two recent Panhandle fires.
Jason Wells told regulators the company will launch a new outage tracker by Aug. 1. It will also trim more tree limbs near power lines and hire an executive to focus on emergency response.
The company’s power outages in July have drawn the ire of state leaders. Here’s what you need to know.
The program helps low-income people with heating and cooling bills, but advocates say it disadvantages Texas and other warm-weather states, even though extreme heat is a key cause of weather-related deaths.
In Harris County, more federal money is available to help low- and moderate-income residents install rooftop solar.
More than 200,000 CenterPoint Energy customers without power struggle with the heat one week after Hurricane Beryl swept through southeast Texas.
Abbott demanded that the utility company produce a plan by the end of July outlining how it will improve power reliability ahead of future storms.
According to state filings, the utility is restoring power at a relatively quicker pace than after prior storms. Texans are still fed up.
Federal tax incentives are available to weatherize your house and switch to more energy efficient appliances. Rebates are coming.
The $1.2 million will enhance energy efficiency, mitigate climate pollution associated with transportation-related emissions and reduce energy consumption.
Truckers say they can wait up to 18 hours without pay to load or unload fracking sand. The drilling sites often lack restrooms.
Southwest Research Institute built a power plant from the ground up, and its energy production is attracting attention.
The prediction by ERCOT reflects a new way of counting future demand and a spike in requests to connect to the grid from large power users.
Short of an immediate statewide response, Texans who lost homes and livestock are taking matters into their own hands to better prepare their property for a wildfire.
The dunes sagebrush lizard lives in the same West Texas land that supports the state’s biggest oil and gas fields, and industry leaders say the new designation will hurt drilling and production.
The biggest recipient of campaign donations from the industry isn’t Donald Trump or President Joe Biden, it’s a Texas House member who represents part of the Permian Basin.
Dozens of evacuees, including the elderly and barefoot children, crowded in an old school building Friday, praying for clear skies on Monday.
A lack of air support and ineffective coordination hurt efforts to contain this year's Panhandle fires, the committee said.
Texas regulators are issuing permits to discharge large volumes of treated “produced water” into some waterways. Questions remain about the toxic pollutants found in the wastewater.
The rules will require coal-fueled plants, including Texas plants that produced about 12% of power on the state’s grid this year, to reduce carbon emissions and mercury pollution and handle disposed coal ash more safely.
The infrastructure set to be replaced is located in a low-income community on the West Side, a CPS Energy news release said. The project, which will improve safety and performance measures, is expected to conclude by the end of the year.
Thursday’s hearing marked the end of the Legislature’s three-day marathon of public hearings.
The wind industry promises attractive salaries. But a lack of training programs and waning political support make it difficult to find new recruits.
A city-wide collaboration advancing sustainable technology in the aviation industry is expected to dampen San Antonio International Airport’s energy footprint.
The Texas A&M Forest Service concluded that a fallen decayed utility pole caused the Smokehouse Creek fire.
A nuclear power plant hasn’t been built in Texas in decades because of cost and public fears of a major accident. Now the governor wants to find out if smaller reactors could meet the state’s growing need for on-demand power.
Texas has become an early hot spot for geothermal energy exploration as scores of former oil industry workers and executives are taking their knowledge to a new energy source.
Supporters say developing hydrogen as a fuel is critical to slowing climate change. Critics are concerned that producing it with fossil fuels will prop up the oil and gas industry.
A series of deadly wildfires have burned for nearly three weeks, destroying farms and ranches in several counties.
A new report by the Environmental Integrity Project compiled data on every U.S. plastics plant built, expanded or proposed since 2012, revealing massive growth in Texas.
Los datos públicos de una red de monitores de la calidad del aire alrededor del Canal de Navegación de Houston son difíciles de interpretar y a menudo son insuficientes, dejando a vecindarios de mayoría latina, como Cloverleaf, sin saber si el aire que respiran es seguro.
Public data from a network of state air monitors around the Houston Ship Channel is hard to interpret and is often inadequate, leaving Latino-majority neighborhoods like Cloverleaf unaware of whether the air they breathe is safe.
The full scope of damage still isn’t known, but some Panhandle residents have returned home. Firefighters continue battling the infernos.
As officials try to determine a cause for the wildfires, a Canadian homeowner filed a lawsuit blaming an energy company for the destruction. And more are expected.
The Texas Railroad Commission is tasked with plugging wells. But the state regulators say their scope is limited.
Martin Water is building an oil and gas waste recycling facility next to the Circle 6 Baptist Camp in the Permian Basin despite concerns about water and air pollution.
The report, which charts metrics related to climate and sustainability issues affecting the Alamo City, comes with several scannable QR codes and links.
Years in the making, the transition from a municipal electric company to an open market has left some residents unsure.
A new report out Tuesday ranks Texas third in residential solar power generation as San Antonio continues to spearhead clean energy in the state.
Crude oil and natural gas extraction in Texas reached record levels in 2023, according to the industry’s annual report.
The Texas Parks and Wildlife Commission is scheduled to vote in March on a deal that environmental advocates, the Esto'k Gna Tribal Nation of Texas and local officials oppose.
San Antonio-based pipeline and terminal operator NuStar Energy LP has agreed to be acquired by Dallas-based fuel distributor Sunoco LP for $7.3 billion, NuStar announced.
Injecting saltwater back into the ground “is likely contributing to recent seismic activity,” the Railroad Commission of Texas has said.
Industrial developers describe large facilities as “minor” polluters to avoid federal permitting requirements, and environmental lawyers say the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality lets it happen.
Like local leaders in many other towns in West Texas, the Kermit City Council spent years saving its tax revenue fearing the energy economy would crash. Now it is struggling to keep up with essential services like trash and road repair.
Bitcoin miner Riot Platforms made headlines over the summer for making millions by selling pre-purchased power back to the grid. The news highlighted how the grid can benefit businesses more than consumers.
After nearly a year’s worth of legislative sessions, several issues are poised to dominate Texas politics this year. Here’s a look at how things ended on several fronts last year — and where they’re headed next.
Across the state, people are looking for ways to make Texas a better place to live as they tackle hunger, rural “brain drain,” health care obstacles and other impediments.
Critics are calling on federal regulators to increase their scrutiny and oversight of the proposed pipeline, which would send gas from Texas to the Mexican coast for export to other countries.
Kelcy Warren, a Dallas pipeline billionaire, sued O’Rourke in early 2022, saying the Democrat defamed him with critical comments about his company’s windfall profits after the Texas energy-grid collapse in February 2021.
Rudolph the Red-Nose Pumping Unit has long been a holiday tradition in Lufkin. The machinery, now used worldwide to extract oil from the ground, was invented by a local businessman.
The Biden Administration announced a crackdown on methane emissions, a major driver of climate change. Major oil and gas companies also signed on to a voluntary net-zero commitment.
Industry experts continue to argue over whether the electricity market in Texas needs to change to make the grid more reliable in winter and summer.
The city-owned utility proposed to increase its gas and electric base rates by 4.25% in a pair of meetings earlier this month before the CPS Energy Board of Trustees and San Antonio City Council. Customers during a meeting on Thursday night asked why.
