New Report Says Texas Consumers Would Have Saved $520 Million Last Summer with Solar Power

Photo taken by Jeff Kubina In a report entitled The Potential Impact of Solar PV on Electricity Markets in Texas, the Brattle Group energy consultancy found that adding solar photovoltaic (PV) power to the Texas grid last summer would have reduced shortages, consumed less water, and saved consumers money. With high air conditioning use during the summer, Texan electricity generation faces problems meeting demand on particularly hot days. Last summer, the hottest on record for Texas, saw six periods of voluntary electricity shutoffs for participating consumers.

Blackouts are likely to occur again this summer as high temperatures spike electricity demand beyond capacity. Last Tuesday, June 26, soaring temperatures led to record electricity demand for June of 66,000 megawatts, just 900 MW shy of the total online capacity that afternoon.

Solar PV power provides a solution to covering on-peak demand. Commercial and personal solar arrays would help provide extra power during critical times. Both electricity demand and solar power supply peak during the afternoon hours.

According to the study, PV would not only relieve stress on the grid, but also stress on consumer’s wallets. Texas operates on an “energy-only” system in which electricity generators bid to offer power to the system instead of getting paid for availability of their plants, so high-demand times can cause power plant bids to cash in at $3000/MW.

To compare costs, the report factored in “the total potential cost savings for electricity customers through reduced prices from additional electricity generation, lower fuel costs from utilizing solar instead of additional fossil fuel electricity generation, and the lower costs for operation and maintenance that come with solar energy.” It concludes that energy prices would have been $1.50 less per MWh with 2.5 GW of installed PV capacity and $2.90 less per MWh with 5 GW of installed PV capacity. Such a cost decrease would have amounted to a $520 million cost reduction across the whole state. By comparison, Texas spent $5.4 billion on electricity last summer.

The study, commissioned by the Solar Energy Industries Association , the Energy Foundation and the Texas Clean Energy Coalition , did not account for the added cost of installing photovoltaic cells.

Sources:
The Potential Impact of Solar PV on Electricity Markets in Texas
Solar Energy Industries Association
Brattle Group
HydrogenFuelNews.com
FuelFix.com
PV-Magazine.com
SolarNovus.com
CleanTechnica.com