AUSTIN— Today, the Texas Public Policy Foundation published the policy perspective The Cost of Renewable Energy Subsidies in Texas.

“Texas consumers and taxpayers are paying billions of dollars to support corporations who are relying on subsidies to profit from an otherwise profitless endeavor—generating electricity from the wind and sun,” said Bill Peacock, vice president of research at the Texas Public Policy Foundation. “In addition to their high cost, these subsidies are harming the reliability of the Texas electricity market. The only path forward for a reliable and affordable electricity grid in Texas—and the United States—is to eliminate renewable energy subsidies.”

Key Points:

  • We estimate the total cost to taxpayers and consumers of subsidies going to renewable energy operators in Texas from 2006 to 2029 to be $36 billion.
  • The biggest single subsidy in Texas is the federal Production Tax Credit (PTC) at just over $16 billion dollars through 2029.
  • Generators doing business in Texas that have received PTC subsidies include NextEra Energy (leading the way with eligibility for $5.7 billion of tax credits nationally since 2008), EDP Renewables ($1.6 billion), Invenergy ($1.3 billion), NRG Energy ($1.1 billion), E.ON ($1.1 billion), Duke Energy (938 million), BP ($913 million), EDF Renewables ($622 million), Exelon ($528 million), and Pattern ($500 million). This $14.4 billion worth of tax subsidies to date has gone to generators with more than $355 billion of market capitalization.
  • Texas state and local subsidies expected to be paid out through 2029 combine to reach almost $18 billion, including the Competitive Renewable Energy Zone transmission lines ($14 billion), 313 property tax abatements ($2.5 billion), grid interconnection costs ($1 billion), and the REC program ($570 million).

To read the policy perspective in full, please visit:

https://www.texaspolicy.com/the-cost-of-renewable-energy-subsidies-in-texas/