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Energy. 89th TX Legislative Session, 2025

Updated: May 22


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Latest Update: 22 May, 2025

Summary: Journal of Willow Park Civics Blogs, other articles, and sources about ENERGY ISSUES in the 89th Texas Legislature, 2025.

• Latest posts: 28 March, 2025






Energy. 89th TX Legislative Session, 2025

• Journal of Willow Park Civics Blogs, other articles, and sources about ENERGY ISSUES in the 89th Texas Legislature, 2025.


Journal



• Texas may put restraints on new big businesses hoping to tap into the energy grid, According to ERCOT, the state’s energy demand may double in six years., The Texas Tribune, 07 May 2025

Driven largely by demand from businesses such as data centers and the oil and gas industry, the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the state’s grid operator, predicts the state’s energy needs will nearly double in six years.

State Sen. Phil King, R-Weatherford, worries ERCOT is not working with a full picture.

“We do not have accurate load forecasting. No one knows if the forecast is real,” he said. Large companies, he added, are requiring ERCOT to plan “for load growth at dramatically higher levels than experienced ever in the history of Texas, and frankly, ever in the history of the United States.”

And “without credible data, we run the risk of overbuilding, with high costs being passed on to consumers, or underbuilding, further exacerbating scarcity,” he said.

He believes his legislation, Senate Bill 6, will put restraints on the state’s open-energy market, and help the grid plan for the future to save rate payers money and avoid another catastrophe when extreme weather strikes again.


House Bill (HB) 14 by state Rep. Cody Harris (R-Palestine) would create the Texas Advanced Nuclear Energy Office within the state government, as well as a new fund under the existing Texas Energy Fund (TEF) that will provide grants to developers looking to build new generation. The bill would also establish a plan for training a workforce capable of managing the new footprint.


Texas’ electricity demand will eclipse 200,000 megawatts by 2030, a 40 percent jump from today. The largest reason for the increase is the expected growth in the state’s data center footprint. The TX 89th Legislature is trying to stay ahead of the growth.


Accounting for nearly 90% of new electricity generating capacity, wind, solar and battery storage industries have established themselves as a reliable source of energy for the state’s grid — and positioned Texas as a national leader in the renewable energy arena.

Legislation by state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, R-Brenham, will dramatically test its ability to maintain its momentum.

Lawmakers have advanced other bills, including a proposal by state Sen. Phil King, R-Weatherford, which requires 50% of the grid's energy to rely on power sources that can be turned on or off at will, meaning natural gas, coal and batteries. Renewable energy companies must help achieve this goal, or must otherwise purchase "natural gas credits" to comply.


Citizens of Sherman and the surrounding area gathered on March 31 to organize a charge against a battery of issues they see from an incoming lithium-ion battery energy storage system (BESS) in nearby Savoy.

Fannin County Judge Newt Cunningham said, “A previous [county] court was sold on a [tax] abatement agreement [to build this BESS facility]; they were told how safe this was [and] we’ll get [tax] money out of this… [The developers] offered us rat cheese, and we ate the rat cheese.”

With 24 projects now operating across the U.S., of which 6 were commissioned this year, ENGIE is among the largest operators of BESS in the country, and one of the largest independent operators of batteries supporting the ERCOT system in Texas,” ENGIE’s website says.

Battery Energy Storage Systems allow you to engage in energy arbitrage. With BESS, you buy your energy during off-peak hours when grid prices are lowest, store it, and use it during peak hours. When coupled with on-site wind or solar power plants, BESS enable you to maximize the value of the electricity produced from such renewable sources, contributing to a certain extent to reducing the cost of energy both at the wholesalelevel and hence reflecting it on electricity bills.”


Enter state Sen. Lois Kolkhorst’s (R-Brenham) Senate Bill (SB) 819, which would establish permitting requirements on wind and solar farms managed by the Public Utility Commission (PUC) and require the conducting of an environmental impact review.


The water proposal received no opposition while the nuclear package was hotly debated


Attorney General Ken Paxton argued before the U.S. Supreme Court that federal officials are violating the law in their efforts to store nuclear waste in Texas.


Nuclear power proliferation is on the mind of the Texas Legislature, and now a priority bill has been filed in the lower chamber with the intention of jumpstarting the state’s small modular reactor footprint.

State Rep. Cody Harris (R-Palestine) filed House Bill (HB) 14, the “Texas Advanced Nuclear Deployment Act,” which would create an extension within the Office of the Governor tasked with attracting advanced nuclear power projects and facilitating their movement through the approval process. 


Of the roughly 4,000 bills filed in the Texas legislature so far, about 120 affect the Texas oil and natural gas industry, according to an analysis by the Texas Independent Producers and Royalty Owners Association (TIPRO).


With the advent of small modular nuclear reactors, the nuclear industry feels bullish on a revival of nuclear power.

Gov. Greg Abbott called for forging a “nuclear power renaissance” in Texas during his 2025 State of the State address, two legislators have filed legislation intended to make the concept a reality.

State Rep. Drew Darby’s House Bill (HB) 2678 would create the Texas Advanced Nuclear Energy Authority and a low-interest loan fund to go with it, and is the companion bill to state Sen. Tan Parker’s (R-Flower Mound) Senate Bill 1105.

The bill states its purpose is to:

• “Leverage the expertise and capacity of institutions of higher education, industry, and regulatory stakeholders to develop a comprehensive strategic plan to ensure the development of advanced nuclear energy and technologies in this state;

• Identify obstacles and provide recommendations to the governor and legislature regarding advanced nuclear energy and technologies;

• Provide strategic leadership within the advanced nuclear reactor system in this state;

• Manage advanced nuclear energy and technology projects with a goal of interconnection of clean, dispatchable nuclear power from advanced nuclear reactors to the power grid of this state by 2035;

• Support existing advanced nuclear energy industries in this state and attract new advanced nuclear energy industry projects and partners to this state;

• Support the development of an advanced nuclear energy supply chain in this state;

• Implement and build on the policy recommendations of the Texas Advanced Nuclear Reactor Working Group.”



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