Wind power in Texas

[4][5] ERCOT set a new wind output record of nearly 19.7 GW at 7:19 pm Central Standard Time on Monday, January 21, 2019.

Texas farmers can lease their land to wind developers for either a set rental per turbine or for a small percentage of gross annual revenue from the project.

Sabotage and industrial accidents can be potential threats to the large, centrally located, power plants that provide most of Texas’ electricity.

Should one of these plants be damaged, repairs could take more than a year, possibly creating power shortages on a scale that Texans have never experienced before.

The modular structure of a wind farm also means that if one turbine is damaged, the overall output of the plant is not significantly affected.

The number of commercially attractive sites has expanded as wind turbine technology has improved and development costs continue to drop.

[21][22] According to Michael Goggin, electric industry analyst at AWEA, "Prices fell below US −$30/MWh (megawatt-hour) on 63% of days during the first half of 2008, compared to 10% for the same period in 2007 and 5% in 2006.

"[23] In July 2008, utility officials gave preliminary approval to a $4.9 billion plan to build new transmission lines to carry wind-generated electricity from West Texas to urban areas such as Dallas.

The new plan would be the biggest investment in renewable energy in U.S. history, and would add transmission lines capable of moving about 18,000 megawatts.

[24] ERCOT curtailed wind power by 17% (3.8 TWh) in 2009, but that decreased to only 0.5% by 2014, as transmission improved, particularly the Competitive Renewable Energy Zone (CREZ) in 2013.

[6] Two days later, ERCOT set a new wind output record of nearly 19.7GW at 7:19 pm Central Standard Time on Monday, January 21, 2019.

[30] After years of preparation,[31][32] the Texas Renewable Portfolio Standard was originally created by Senate Bill 7 and signed by Governor Bush in 1999,[33][34][35] which helped Texas eventually become the leading producer of wind powered electricity in the U.S.[36][37] The RPS was part of new laws that restructured the electricity industry.

The Texas RPS mandated that utility companies jointly create 2000 megawatts (MW) of new renewable energy by 2009 based on their market share.

[39] According to DSIRE.org, "In 1999 the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT) adopted rules for the state's Renewable Energy Mandate, establishing a renewable portfolio standard (RPS), a renewable-energy credit (REC) trading program, and renewable-energy purchase requirements for competitive retailers in Texas.

Under PUCT rules, one REC represents one megawatt-hour (MWh) of qualified renewable energy that is generated and metered in Texas.

A capacity conversion factor (CCF) is used to convert MW goals into MWh requirements for each retailer in the competitive market.

The 781 MW Roscoe Wind Farm at sunrise.
Brazos Wind Ranch
Part of the Desert Sky Wind Farm off I-10
Wind turbines on the windswept high plains of the Llano Estacado , Lubbock County, Texas .
Vestas V47-660kW wind turbine at American Wind Power Center in Lubbock , Texas
A wind turbine blade on I-35 near Elm Mott , an increasingly common sight in Texas
Curtailment in Texas
Texas wind power map
Texas electricity generation by type
In 2018, wind power was the third-largest source of electricity generation in Texas. In 2020, it surpassed coal as the second-largest source, [ 30 ] as previously projected. [ 40 ]