An alliance of Wall Street and big tech is warning the Texas government against imposing new costs on renewable power plants as the blame game over the state’s winter blackouts intensifies. Companies ranging from Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan Chase to Amazon and Google, and including Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Energy, are trying to head off new legislation they say would upend the economics of wind and solar power in the state.
The Texas House of Representatives on Thursday was scheduled to discuss a bill that would force wind and solar plants to pay for grid services essential to keeping supply and demand in balance. Lawmakers have been debating ways to prevent a repeat of the February blackouts, when days of arctic cold knocked almost half of Texas’s power capacity offline. The cost of these so-called ancillary services — which keep frequency and voltage steady whatever the supply and demand conditions — are currently borne by electricity consumers, not generators. They totalled $275m last year, but surged to $7bn during the crisis in February.
Stuart Turley is President and CEO of Sandstone Group, a top energy data, and finance consultancy working with companies all throughout the energy value chain. Sandstone helps both small and large-cap energy companies to develop customized applications and manage data workflows/integration throughout the entire business. With experience implementing enterprise networks, supercomputers, and cellular tower solutions, Sandstone has become a trusted source and advisor. He is also the Executive Publisher of www.energynewsbeat.com, the best source for 24/7 energy news coverage, and is the Co-Host of the energy news video and Podcast Energy News Beat. Energy should be used to elevate humanity out of poverty. Let's use all forms of energy with the least impact on the environment while being sustainable without printing money. Stu is also a co-host on the 3 Podcasters Walk into A Bar podcast with David Blackmon, and Rey Trevino.
Stuart is guided by over 30 years of business management experience, having successfully built and help sell multiple small and medium businesses while consulting for numerous Fortune 500 companies. He holds a B.A in Business Administration from Oklahoma State and an MBA from Oklahoma City University.
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