Claire Hao

Houston

Reporting on energy & the TX power grid for @HoustonChron • From the Mitten State, alum @michigandaily • ✉️: [email protected] • RT ≠ endorsement

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Articles

Bills in Texas Legislature could shut down existing wind, solar farms

2 days ago | news-journal.com | Claire Hao

Texas Republicans are getting closer than ever to killing the state's renewable energy boom, according to the clean energy industry — not only by halting new development in its tracks, but also by possibly sending scores of existing projects to an early grave. Many in the Texas electric power industry were focused on two companion bills, House Bill 3356 and Senate Bill 715, as the Senate version was approved this past week.
NRG Energy to double its power generation capacity in $12 billion deal

3 days ago | houstonchronicle.com | Claire Hao

NRG Energy plans to double its power generation capacity by acquiring 18 natural gas power plants from LS Power in a deal valued at $12 billion, the companies announced Monday. The deal helps NRG Energy, already one of the largest power generation companies in Texas, to better serve skyrocketing electricity demand, especially from artificial intelligence data centers, the Houston company said in the Monday announcement.
Texas GOP moves closer to killing the state's renewable energy boom

6 days ago | houstonchronicle.com | Claire Hao

Texas Republicans are getting closer than ever to killing the state’s renewable energy boom, according to the clean energy industry — not only by halting new development in its tracks, but also by possibly sending scores of existing projects to an early grave. Many in the Texas electric power industry were focused on two companion bills, House Bill 3356 and Senate Bill 715, as the Senate version passed Thursday afternoon.
Texas solar companies urge Congress to protect federal tax credits

1 week ago | houstonchronicle.com | Claire Hao

More than 50 solar companies with Texas ties signed a letter Thursday pleading members of Congress to preserve federal clean energy tax credits that have catalyzed a booming solar industry in the Lone Star State. The tax credits for clean energy were supercharged by the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act, the Biden administration’s most significant piece of climate legislation.
The status of new Texas bills inspired by Houston's extreme weather last year

1 week ago | houstonchronicle.com | Claire Hao

Designate certain facilities, customers as ‘critical’ Even senior City Hall officials had trouble reaching CenterPoint in Beryl’s aftermath. In fact, one official had to send a 1 a.m. email pleading with the utility to restore power to a city water plant and four sewer plants, several days after Beryl made landfall. Since then, CenterPoint says it has improved its communication with critical care facilities and local emergency management offices.
CenterPoint Energy to launch 100 weather stations before hurricane season

2 weeks ago | houstonchronicle.com | Claire Hao

CenterPoint Energy plans to install a network of 100 weather stations across its 12-county service territory in the Greater Houston area before hurricane season kicks off on June 1, the company announced Monday. The weather stations are expected to help the Houston-area electric utility better forecast severe weather and more precisely distribute resources, among other improvements, according to CenterPoint’s statement.
Texas regulators defend $5B loan program for new natural gas power plants

2 weeks ago | houstonchronicle.com | Claire Hao

Texas utility regulators are defending the state’s $5 billionfund for new natural gas power plants after numerous projects have dropped out of the taxpayer-backed loan program. Companies that have withdrawn projects from the Texas Energy Fund have cited a variety of market challenges, such as supply chain delays and permitting uncertainty, that even access to state subsidies can’t help them overcome.
CenterPoint Energy will soon hike rates to recover last May's derecho costs

2 weeks ago | houstonchronicle.com | Claire Hao

CenterPoint Energy canproceed with a rate increase to recover more than $400 million of its costs restoring power outages after last year’s May storms, per a settlement agreement approved by Texas utility regulators Thursday. The ruling comes just a few weeks shy of the one-year anniversary of the surprise May derecho, which toppled trees, mangled transmission lines and shattered numerous downtown office windows, including at CenterPoint’s own Houston headquarters.
CenterPoint: Houston metro could need 50% more electricity by 2031 at peak times

2 weeks ago | houstonchronicle.com | Claire Hao

Greater Houston is growing. So is its voracious appetite for electricity. In fact, CenterPoint Energy’s Houston-area customers could require 50% more electricity during peak usage times by 2031, company executives told investors Tuesday. That’s like adding two San Antonio metros to the Houston region.
Should Texas use taxpayer dollars to support the advanced nuclear industry?

3 weeks ago | houstonchronicle.com | Claire Hao

Should Texas spend taxpayer money to boost the country’s nuclear renaissance? That’s not the question nuclear industry allies hoped the state legislature would be debating at this point in the legislative session, which ends in less than six weeks. Instead, nuclear proponents wanted lawmakers to enthusiastically embrace the industry — as Gov. Greg Abbott has — so Texas can meet its rapidly-growing thirst for electricity and lead the world in developing advanced nuclear technologies.