Wind is outpacing coal as a power source in Texas for the first time

Authored by edition.cnn.com and submitted by mvea

(CNN) Wind power has surpassed coal for the first time in Texas, according to a new report.

The numbers cap an enormous rise in wind power in the nation's top energy-producing state over the past decades.

Wind has generated 22% of the state's electrical needs this year. It just edged out coal, which provided 21% of the Lone Star State's power, according to the Electrical Reliability Council of Texas, which manages electrical flow on about 90% of the Texan grid.

Sixteen years ago, in 2003, wind made up just 0.8% of the state's power, and coal satisfied 40% of electrical needs, the council documents show.

By 2010, wind accounted for 8% of the state's energy, and it steadily inched forward to 19% last year and now 22% in the first half of 2019.

SummerMummer on July 26th, 2019 at 15:16 UTC »

Coal is not that big of an energy source in Texas anyway. I'll be truly impressed when renewables outpace natural gas, as nothing else comes close at the moment.

yakovgolyadkin on July 26th, 2019 at 13:46 UTC »

Not surprising, they've been going ham with wind turbine construction in north Texas for years now. I can't remember the exact number, but I read a few years back that in the empty areas around Amarillo, the average wind speed works out to something like 24mph winds 24/7/365. It's hundreds of thousands of square miles of mostly empty desert with ridiculous wind. Ideal for wind power.

oishoot on July 26th, 2019 at 12:09 UTC »

Renewable energy is the way of the future, not because companies will see it as cleaner but because it’s renewable. Old money industries will eek every dollar out of coal but eventually we’ll see BP wind farms and Exxon solar fields.