On March 23rd the Texas Senate Committee on Business and Commerce convened to hear testimony on substitute Senate Bill 6 and Senate Joint Resolution 1. SB6 is co-sponsored by Senators Schwertner and Kolkhorst and proposes the Texas Energy Insurance Program and a Maintenance and Modernization Loan Program for dispatchable generation.
Collectively, the objectives of SB6 are to construct 10,000 megawatts of new, dispatchable natural gas-fired generation in areas requiring generation capacity as determined by the Texas PUC (the Insurance Program) and to put in place a zero-interest loan program to finance maintenance or modernization of dispatchable electric generating facilities (the Maintenance Program).
Testimony was offered by fourteen witnesses, including several citizens not affiliated with any company or organization. Most witnesses present at the hearing were opposed to the proposed legislation.
Corey Amthor of Enchanted Rock, which owns more than 600 megawatts of behind-the-meter, natural gas-fired standby generation assets, opposed the bill stating there should be more investment in dispatchable generation that participates actively in the market rather than sitting on the sidelines. Amthor went on to state that microgrids such as those owned and operated by Enchanted Rock, support operational flexibility at the distribution level.
Trish Demeter representing the Texas Advanced Energy Business Alliance also opposed the bill and prefers to see a more diverse mix of technologies including distributed energy and storage that would be more affordable and flexible.
Michelle Richmond of Texas Competitive Power Advocates and Mike Alvarado, President of WattBridge, which currently operates roughly 1.8 gigawatts of natural gas-fired generation in the ERCOT market, both spoke in opposition to the bill.
SB6 remains pending in Committee.
