Claire Hao

Houston

Reporting on energy & TX power grid for @HoustonChron • @michigandaily alum • ✉️: [email protected] or clairehao.14 on Signal • RT ≠ endorsement

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Articles

Renewable energy survived Texas attacks. Its future now depends on Trump.

4 days ago | houstonchronicle.com | Claire Hao

Pumpjacks operate in the foreground while wind turbines at the Buckeye Wind Energy wind farm rise in the distance, Monday, Sept. 30, 2024, near Hays, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)Charlie Riedel/Associated PressIt’s official: Texas bills targeting solar and wind power are dead. The state’s flourishing renewable energy industry remains alive and well — for now.
Energy Department cancels $3 billion solar deal with Houston's Sunnova Energy

1 week ago | houstonchronicle.com | Claire Hao

The Trump administration's Department of Energy has canceled most of its $3 billion partial loan guarantee with Houston-based Sunnova Energy, the once-mighty rooftop solar company now struggling to avoid bankruptcy. The deal, completed under the Biden administration, was billed in 2023 as the federal government's single largest commitment ever to solar energy.
Electricity rates could go up under utility-backed Texas bills, critics warn

1 week ago | wacotrib.com | Claire Hao

If you've ever wondered why your electricity bill is getting more expensive, one reason is that utilities such as CenterPoint Energy are allowed by law to pass on their rising expenses maintaining, repairing and building power lines to customers, as well as earn a profit.
Electricity rates could go up under utility-backed Texas bills, critics warn

1 week ago | houstonchronicle.com | Claire Hao

If you've ever wondered why your electricity billisgetting more expensive, one reason is thatutilities such as CenterPoint Energy are allowed by law to pass on their rising expenses maintaining, repairing and building power lines to customers, as well as earn a profit.
Lawmakers: Offshore wind farms should be banned from connecting to ERCOT's grid

2 weeks ago | houstonchronicle.com | Claire Hao

Texas lawmakers have advanced a bill to prohibit offshore wind turbines in the Gulf of Mexico from connecting to the state’s primary power grid through state waters. Senate Bill 383 passed narrowly out of the relevant Texas House committee in a Tuesday meeting that wasn’t broadcast to the public or recorded. Since the bill has already been approved by the state Senate, all that’s left before it heads to Gov. Greg Abbott’s desk is a vote by the full House floor.
CenterPoint fixed its power outage map. Is it ready for hurricane season?

2 weeks ago | houstonchronicle.com | Claire Hao

CenterPoint Energy is promising that its outage tracker is ready this time around for hurricane season, after its Houston-area customers were outraged that the previous tracker was broken through last year's May derecho and Hurricane Beryl. Since Beryl, CenterPoint has switched its outage tracker to a cloud-based platform that can automatically scale its capacity in response to an increase in user demand, according to company filings with the Texas utility regulator.
CenterPoint didn't follow its own policies in leasing generators, audit says

2 weeks ago | houstonchronicle.com | Claire Hao

CenterPoint Energy “did not adequately follow its own practices” inleasing power generatorsthat went mostly unused after Hurricane Beryl, despite their nearly $1 billion price tag, according to a third-party audit of the deal. The Houston-area utility couldn't show evidence that it completed formal risk assessments for the vendor it chose in 2021, or that it considered potential conflicts of interests, the audit found.
From power plants to your home: How the Texas grid works

3 weeks ago | expressnews.com | Claire Hao

CPS Energy. NRG Energy. CenterPoint Energy. Austin Energy. The Electric Reliability Council of Texas - better known as ERCOT. Such names affiliated with the statewide electric grid are well known across Texas. But what do they do? And how, exactly, does the grid work? Many Texans refer to "the grid" as if it were a single entity.
Why are Houston-area residents responsible for CenterPoint's May derecho costs?

3 weeks ago | houstonchronicle.com | Claire Hao

Who really pays for storm damage in Houston? CenterPoint is absorbing a sliver of its Hurricane Beryl costs using its own profits, to atone for its much-criticized lease of unused generators. Article continues below this adThat means shareholders would bear a fraction of CenterPoint’s Beryl costs — $165 million, Ryan told lawmakers last month. Investors also funded the company’s ongoing $5 million program to donate more than 20 backup generators to critical facilities across the Houston area.
How will the ERCOT grid hold up during this week's Texas heat wave?

3 weeks ago | houstonchronicle.com | Claire Hao

How diverse energy sources strengthen the gridAs recently as three to four years ago, a similar May heat wave to the one Texas is seeing this week would’ve “almost certainly” brought a power grid emergency during the hottest afternoon hours, Stoic Energy Consulting president Doug Lewin wrote in his newsletter on Monday.