ERCOT report predicts 5100 percent increase in solar

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Environment Texas Research and Policy Center

AUSTIN – A new report by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) predicts major increases in the use of solar power to meet Texas’ energy needs. The report, which reviews the impacts of new Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) rules – including the Clean Power Plan (CPP) – on Texas’ electric grid, predicts solar will increase from 250 megawatts (mw) today to 13,000 mw by 2030 – an increase of 5100 percent – even without the new EPA rules. A year earlier ERCOT predicted the state would generate 9,900 mw by 2029, an increase in their estimate Environment Texas Research and Policy Center called “remarkable”. The report estimates that with the EPA rules, solar will increase to as high as 14,100 mw by 2030.

“This recognizes the historically low prices we’re seeing in the solar market today,” said Luke Metzger, Director of Environment Texas Research and Policy Center. “It’s a remarkable time for solar, with each new prediction or price beating the previous historic one.”