San Antonio and Austin are using their municipal power companies to push solar electricity generation, and other Texas cities should support state policies boosting solar power, Austin-based Environment Texas says in a study released Thursday.
CPS Energy, the municipal power company that serves the San Antonio area, is the state's solar leader with 43,800 kilowatts operated commercially and another 8,815 kilowatts installed by customers. Austin Energy, which serves the state's capital and surrounding areas in parts of Travis and Williamson counties, has 35,000 kilowatts operated commercially and 6,312 kilowatts installed by customers.Among the state's other transmission and distribution utilities, Oncor Electric Delivery, which operates most of the power poles and wires serving North Texas, has the most solar capacity installed by customers, the study shows. Oncor has 9,889 kilowatts of solar power on its system, including 972 kilowatts in Fort Worth and 1,243 kilowatts in Dallas that received financial incentives from the utility.The Austin and San Antonio munis together account for about 90 percent of all the utility-supported solar in the state. Those figures do not include a deal signed last July by CPS Energy to buy power from a 400-megawatt solar project to be built by OCI Solar Power. A megawatt is 1,000 kilowatts."Dallas-Fort Worth is a world leader in energy, but when it comes to solar we are being eclipsed by other cities in Texas," Jennifer Rubiello, Environment Texas' Dallas-Fort Worth organizer, said at a Fort Worth news conference Thursday.Oncor spokeswoman Jeamy Molina said the Dallas-based utility has more than $7 million available in its 2013 solar residential program. According to Oncor's website, the utility has paid out $21.4 million in solar photovoltaic incentives between 2009 and 2012.Even at Austin Energy and CPS Energy, however, installed solar power on a per-customer basis is still tiny compared to the hefty cooling demands of a Texas summer.Austin Energy is the leader with 99 watts per account, followed by CPS Energy with 73 watts. In comparison, a typical Texas residence can top out at about 5,000 watts on a hot day.Environment Texas said it supports a state policy of adding 4,000 megawatts by 2020.Jim Fuquay, (817) 390-7552Twitter: @jimfuquayHave more to add? News tip? Tell us
