From Coke County to Kaufman County, in rural, urban, and suburban communities across the state, advanced energy projects are popping up all over Texas, bringing with them jobs, new tax revenue, improved grid resiliency, and energy cost savings for consumers and businesses.
Projects from Apex Clean Energy, Enel Green Power, Navistar, Tesla, and more highlight the various economic benefits of wind and solar power and expanded electric vehicle manufacturing and infrastructure.
These Advanced energy technologies — along with microgrids, storage, demand response, and energy efficiency — can all bolster reliability and resilience of the electricity grid to protect critical facilities like water treatment plants, hospitals, and allow customers to self-generate and store energy on-site for additional security.
State policy along with national efforts can work in concert to accelerate our transition to secure, clean, reliable, and affordable energy resources.
Read the success stories to learn about what advanced energy is doing for communities across the state and how lawmakers can support more projects like these:
Read the success stories to learn about what advanced energy is doing for communities across the state and how lawmakers can support more projects like these:
Aviator has helped diversify local tax revenues in a region historically reliant on oil and gas, bringing in $142 million in tax revenue and $172 million in landowner payments. The project also provides revenue for local roads, the fire department, and hospitals, as well as jobs revenue for the community and tax relief to the local school district.
Lily’s sustainability strategy in Kaufman County includes co-located agriculture and solar photovoltaic infrastructure, dubbed “agrivoltaics.” Co-developing agriculture and solar power on the existing land improves native vegetation, protects local wildlife and ecosystems, and establishes pollinator-friendly habitats that can improve local food production.
Students at Stockton Junior High School participate in an energy education program that incorporates on-site learning about the campus’ solar array, seamlessly integrating students into their learning environment. Parents and teachers are also able to learn about the benefits of solar and how it saves the school district money.
As a part of the project, Tesla plans to invest 10% of its pre-incentive tax liability back into local programs and is partnering with Workforce Solutions Capital Area and Austin Community College to create a workforce pipeline for Travis County residents. “It seems this is bringing the supply chain back to America," Travis County Commissioner Jeffrey Travillion said. "We are going to have the most modern car manufacturing facility in… Travis County."
Students spend more than 120 hours commuting to and from school on average each year, and a child riding inside a traditional diesel school bus is exposed to as much as four times the level of toxic diesel emissions than someone riding in a car next to it. Electric school buses reduce children’s exposure to harmful diesel emissions, correlating to improved school test scores and reduced asthma-related ER visits.
Governor Greg Abbott welcomed “Navistar into the Lone Star State's thriving community of innovation, technology and economic momentum," boasting that "the state's partnership with a leader in commercial vehicle innovation will fuel Texas' COVID-19 recovery by providing great job opportunities to our diverse and highly skilled manufacturing workforce."
