News & Press

Legislation Could Increase Electric Bills

KTSA-AM (San Antonio Radio)

April 13, 2011

Your electric bill could soon be going up to help pay for solar incentives across the state.

San Angelo Representative Drew Darby has filed a bill that would establish the Solar Texas Program which would be a limited 5-year incentive program that would ideally spark investment by the solar industry in Texas.

The program would be funded by fees that would be tacked on to your electric bill, and while the initial legislation called for a 1-dollar monthly increase for residential customers, 5-dollars for commercial and 50 dollars for industrial, Representative Darby said he is looking to decrease those proposed fees.

Leaders from several of the nation’s top solar companies are urging Texas lawmakers to create solar policy that will help make Texas a national and global leader in solar energy. Solar energy is a $71 billion global industry, $6 billion in the U.S. alone, yet Texas has no comprehensive solar policy and lags behind several states in the development and implementation of solar equipment and infrastructure.

“Texas can either be a leader in the solar industry and attract the jobs and investment House Bill 2961 will help create if passed, or we can simply be consumers of solar equipment and energy from other states where solar’s potential is being fully exploited,” said Rep. Drew Darby (R-San Angelo) author of HB 2961.

Joining Rep. Darby, HB 2961 Joint Authors, Rep. Alan Ritter (R-Nederland), Rep. Myra Crownover (R-Denton) and Co-Author Rep. Ralph Sheffield (R-Temple) at the Capitol Wednesday in support of a Solar Texas program were CEOs and Senior Executives from Applied Materials, Borrego Solar, SPG Solar, SolarCity and Suntech. Each company is a leader in the rapidly growing solar industry, and each is keenly interested in the growth potential for Texas.

“Texas is currently considered one of the sleeping giants in the global solar energy market. When combined with Texas history and success in energy innovation and semiconductor manufacturing, the State is well positioned to be a leader in the global solar industry,” said Mike Hall, CEO of Borrego Solar.

“If this legislation passes, this will become SPG Solar’s highest priority state for geographic expansion. The long-term economic value and highly skilled jobs created will be even great than what I saw helping develop wind projects in this great state,” said Chris Robine, CEO and President of SPG Solar.

If passed, HB 2961 would create a modest, limited-scope Solar Texas program. The program would last no longer than five years and build a fund to provide rebates to residential, commercial and industrial users of solar energy. The fund would also cover administrative costs for the program. It would also lead to increased generation capacity that will help ensure not only economic growth, but further secure our State’s energy independence.

“There is a tremendous amount of pent up demand for solar power in Texas. No market in the U.S. has more potential for growth,” said Lyndon Rive, CEO of SolarCity. “This policy could make Texas a global leader in solar production and solar jobs, practically overnight.”

“Companies need this kind of large-scale policy signal to come and invest in Texas,” said Roger Efird, Managing Director of Suntech America. “Texas knows energy, and across more energy technologies than anyone else in the world. This is the right way to jumpstart solar in Texas and build jobs.”

The program established under HB 2961 requires no state dollars and would be funded through a nominal monthly charge paid by electric utility customers. HB 2961 was crafted to reflect overwhelming public support for this type of program funding. A December 2010 poll by Baselice and Associates shows nearly 70 percent of Texans support paying an additional $1 per month for a solar program like this. Low-income ratepayers would be exempted from the funding the program.

Ultimately, growth in the solar industry will continue to drive the rapidly falling costs of solar even further down. The cost of solar has dropped 90 percent since 2000 and 40 percent just since 2009. It would also allow Texans to fully utilize the transmission lines already committed to by the State in the Competitive Renewable Energy Zones (CREZ).

According to Texas’ State Energy Conservation Office (SECO), the solar energy falling on a single acre of land in West Texas is capable of producing the energy equivalent of 800 barrels of oil each year.

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