Sunrun, America’s number one home solar and storage provider, announced last month that it would be partnering with Tesla Electric to help support the Texas Power Grid.
This partnership by Sunrun and Tesla is not only a massive victory for environmentalists and Texans alike but is a victory for Texas in the more protracted struggle of producing a vibrant and successful blueprint for clean energy production that meshes well alongside surging industry demands across the United States.
Although there are many benefits to having our own power grid, such as protection from federal regulation and state autonomy, the Texas grid has recently witnessed multiple setbacks due to climate change-induced disasters. During the 2021 extreme winter storm Uri, sometimes coined as the “Snowpocalypse,” Texas saw the loss of power for millions, property damage in the billions due to lack of energy availability, and sadly, even deaths of fellow Texans.
ERCOT has made attempts to fix lingering problems to the Texas grid, but it again faced a setback in the form of Hurricane Beryl in the summer of 2024, which caused nearly “2.7 million homes and businesses” to be without power and the needed air conditioning to tackle the hot Texas summer. Data and crypto demands have also increased in Texas, and with these industries not seeming to slow down, it has led to concerns about the grid’s readiness to tackle growing business demands and various extreme conditions that could be thrown its way.
However, though anxieties and setbacks exist, they should not overshadow Texas’s productive grid development strategies or steadfast energy leadership. Unlike other states, Texas is setting the standard in balancing realistic clean energy solutions in support of booming business development, while working in tandem with its thriving oil industry. This “all-of-the-above energy approach” is not just a strategy, but a reassurance that Texas is prepared to meet the energy demands of the future. This strategy has also become increasingly popular among young conservatives, who do not desire to sacrifice oil or clean energy; they want to utilize both, and Texas is providing and applying that blueprint. In addition, it is not just young conservatives that favor more clean energy across our energy grids, but the general populace as well.
In Texas, clean energy projects are expected to generate nearly $17 billion in revenue, with clean energy setting a record in February when more than 80% of the electricity on the Texas grid came from carbon-free production. And demand is not slowing down. Clean energy is surging in Texas, with the state’s renewables industry producing the most clean energy in the nation in 2023 and 13% of the nation’s total electricity net generation. With clean energy gaining momentum in usage and popularity, opportunities to refine and perfect its usage and growth are economically ripe for the taking in the Lone Star State. Clean energy industries like Sunrun and Tesla Electric see this fertile ground. They are genuinely taking the “bull by the horns” to carve out their piece of this promising and opportunistic clean energy market.
Texans and the nation must take an active role in supporting initiatives, like Sunrun and Tesla Electric’s partnership, to increase clean energy expansion across Texas. By opting into Sunrun and Tesla Electric’s solar-plus-battery systems, which transfer stored solar energy from at-home consumer batteries to increase electricity reserves on the Texas grid when periods of high consumption occur, Texans contribute to a cleaner environment and partake in a conservation heritage steeped in communal pride and public spirit. This active participation of the citizenry, as highlighted in Sir Roger Scruton’s summa on a conservative approach toward environmentalism titled, Green Philosophy, is key to solving the real environmental problems. And we Texans have this spirit in spades.
Micah Austin is a member of the American Conservation Coalition (ACC) in Austin, Texas.