[FoxNews] Political leaders in a college town in central Texas won wide praise from former Vice President Al Gore and the larger Green Movement when they decided to go "100 percent renewable" seven years ago. Now, however, they are on the defensive over electricity costs that have their residents paying more than $1,000 per household in higher electricity charges over the last four years.By 2017, the mayor’s green gamble was undercut by the cheap natural gas prices brought about by the revolution in high-tech fracking. Power that year cost the city’s budget $9.5 million more than expected, rising to $10.5 million last year, according to budget documents.
Whether Mayor Ross and his colleagues on the Georgetown City Council were motivated by good intentions, political machinations, or mere vanity is unknown. What is known is that Georgetown’s municipal utility, an integral part of the city budget, is hemorrhaging red ink thanks to those long term renewable energy contracts.
The deficits were triggered by the drop in natural gas prices‐now the mainstay of the U.S. electric grid, having displaced coal‐which caused the city to sell its surplus wind and solar power at a steep discount into Texas' wholesale energy market. City leaders had to lock in a large excess of wind and solar power to be able to lend credibility to their 100 percent renewable claim, since wind and solar power can't be relied on to keep the lights on 24/7/365. And, even with that surplus, there are times when Georgetown draws traditional fossil fuel power from the Texas grid, making the city's "100 percent renewable" claim nothing more than spurious sloganeering.Most Texas residents have the ability to choose their electricity provider in a competitive statewide market, leading to electricity prices that are among the lowest in the nation: 18 percent below the national average in 2018, and 48 percent below prices in green energy pacesetter California.
Fortunately, Californians have more money than common sense, with the exception of those who visit Rantburg.
But Texas' electricity market excludes municipal utilities like Georgetown's from competition, leaving consumers without choice and allowing political decisions – rather than market forces – to determine the mix of electricity suppliers.