Brent Bennett, Ph.D., is the policy director for Life:Powered, an initiative of the Texas Public Policy Foundation to raise America’s energy IQ.
Dr. Bennett has an M.S.E. and Ph.D. in materials science and engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and a B.S. in physics from the University of Tulsa. His graduate research focused on advanced chemistries for utility-scale energy storage systems.
Today, after nearly three months of taking input from electric market participants, the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) is now past the midway point of a lightning-fast effort (by the PUC’s historical standards) to come up with a market redesign plan by the end of this year. The open meeting held last week and...
With the tragic events of Winter Storm Uri fading into history and the expected success of the main electric grid reform legislation, SB 3, later this week, it is a good time to take stock of what we have learned from the event and what changes we can expect for the Texas electricity market in...
On Earth Day 2021, President Biden announced that the U.S. will cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 50% by 2030. The pledge marked a radical about-face from the Trump administration’s prioritization of poverty reduction, economic growth, and U.S. energy dominance over GHG emissions. It is also twice the size of the Obama administration’s pledge to...
Should power generators be required to guarantee that they can provide a certain amount of electricity? That’s what state legislators are considering at the Texas Capitol. A cadre of out-of-state banks and tech companies fretted in a letter to state leaders that such a mandate would “inappropriately and unfairly” impose more costs on renewable energy companies. Instead,...
The story of how Texas was brought to its knees by crippling cold weather leaving millions without power is a complex one, yet entirely predictable and avoidable. The details matter, so it is important to know the long story, but let’s start with the short version: For years, Texas’ grid operator (ERCOT) has overestimated the...
An article appeared in the Dallas Morning News on Nov. 3—and was reprinted on the front page of the Nov. 8 Austin-American Statesman business section—with the title “Can clean energy plug hole in Texas oil patch?”. This article made us stop and think about some of terminology mistakes we make when we talk about energy....
There is a familiar pattern when new electric vehicles enter the market: rave reviews, awards from environmental groups, and highly publicized waiting lists. But Tesla has taken the hype to a whole new level. “Battery Day” was last Tuesday, September 22, and thanks to the uncanny marketing prowess of its founder, Elon Musk, the company has built up serious excitement...
Introduction The drumbeat of press about the declining costs of installing wind and solar generators have led most of the public and our policymakers to believe that an “energy transition” from fossil fuels to wind and solar is just around the corner. However, this belief overlooks the fundamental physical limitations of producing electricity from wind and solar. There is a...
On Tuesday, the EPA and National Highway Traffic Safety Administration finalized what is likely their most impactful and controversial rulemaking to-date during the Trump administration, the Safer Affordable Fuel Efficient (SAFE) Vehicles rule. The SAFE rule modifies the 2012 Corporate Average Fuel Economy, or CAFE, standards, reducing the projected overall industry average required fuel economy for model...
A recent study from Synapse Energy Economics (commissioned by the Sierra Club) claims that replacing the J.K. Spruce coal-fired power plant units owned by CPS Energy — San Antonio’s municipal utility — with wind and solar power “could benefit rate payers an average of $85 million each year from 2026-2040.” Unfortunately, the Sierra Club and...
Texas Public Policy Foundation hosted an event in Georgetown, Texas — the city once famous, now infamous, for the claim that its municipal electricity utility uses 100 percent renewable energy. But reality has officially caught up with the hype. The city is losing millions of dollars in its electricity fund, spending nearly $30 million more...