Texas Clean Energy: What It Means for You

When people hear the terms “green energy” or “clean energy”, what may come into mind would be pictures of large arrays of mirrors laid out on a desert or rows upon rows of gigantic windmills sprawled across hills and open fields. Some people might think these installations as obtrusive in the natural landscape and may have doubts if these are making some impact at all for the ordinary Texas consumer.

But as the population of Texas continues to boom, some may worry as to where the state will get all its power and water to support the needs of this growing populace. Energy deregulation has opened a new awareness about how people use energy now that they have the power to select their Texas electricity providers. But many don’t realize that conventional power plants not only contribute significantly to greenhouse gas emissions, they are also considered the single largest user of water in the United States.

What Texas and its people need are clean energy resources that produce minimal impact on the environment as well as the public health. The future of Texas electricity will rely heavily on further advancements and developments of renewable energy resources. The state has recognized this need and has invested much in this area. Soon, alternative clean energy resources would become mainstream and cheap electricity would be available for all to enjoy.

What is Clean Energy?

Clean or Green energy is basically electrical power generated from renewable energy sources such as solar or wind energy. The power produced is safe for the environment and does not emit or produce harmful emissions. In Texas, wind energy is the most prevalent renewable clean energy resource and actually leads the nation and the whole world in terms of generated capacity.

As people become more aware of the impacts of energy generation to the environment as well as a growing consciousness on energy efficiency, people have come to recognize the social and economic importance of the use of clean energy to power their everyday processes. Given the power to choose their energy options, people in cities such as Houston have the prerogative to select electricity providers that make use clean energy to produce Houston electricity.

What is the Impact of Clean Energy for Texas?

Aside from the primary impact on the environment, clean energy used for generating Texas electricity have other significant impacts and benefits for the ordinary Texas consumer. According to ERCOT, the use of clean energy will provide consumers with up to 2.4 billion dollars in savings each year. The initiatives in increasing wind, solar and other clean energy systems over 3,800 jobs which will eventually reach to over 10,000 jobs once current construction and manufacturing plans are started.

The use of clean energy will also have significant impacts on other resources of the state including significant reductions of up to 17 billion gallons of water annually. Clean energy will also reduce harmful gas emissions by as much as 16% for carbon dioxide and 13% for nitrogen oxide which are produced during the combustion of fossil fuels used by conventional power plants to produce Texas electricity.

Clean energy will also have a significant impact on the wholesale prices of other fuels as well as control and keep the prices of Texas electricity low. Solar and Wind energy do not use fossil fuels to generate electricity resulting in significantly reduced overall cost.