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" “It’s unfortunate that the Georgetown [100 percent renewable] experiment went so quickly from being a success story to being something of a cautionary example,” said Adrian Shelley, director of the Texas office of Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group.
... It was supposed to be green and cheap, a 25-year fixed-price contract for solar and wind beginning in 2018.
Instead, as one news story in October 2019 reported: “After losing tens of millions of citizens’ money on a green energy gamble, city officials are trying to escape their self-inflicted mess.”
How?
By filing a lawsuit against its solar provider Buckthorn Westex to cancel its 25-year contract.
A countersuit by Buckthorn followed.
It remains unresolved.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation was all over the municipal energy debacle.
“Virtue signaling” by Georgetown (population 75,000 near Austin) was a costly “distraction from the basic services….
” ... accounting tricks allowed a 100 percent tag, as the actual electrons reflected the energy mix of the region, including natural gas and coal.
... It was supposed to be green and cheap, a 25-year fixed-price contract for solar and wind beginning in 2018.
Instead, as one news story in October 2019 reported: “After losing tens of millions of citizens’ money on a green energy gamble, city officials are trying to escape their self-inflicted mess.”
How?
By filing a lawsuit against its solar provider Buckthorn Westex to cancel its 25-year contract.
A countersuit by Buckthorn followed.
It remains unresolved.
The Texas Public Policy Foundation was all over the municipal energy debacle.
“Virtue signaling” by Georgetown (population 75,000 near Austin) was a costly “distraction from the basic services….
” ... accounting tricks allowed a 100 percent tag, as the actual electrons reflected the energy mix of the region, including natural gas and coal.
... Was Georgetown a warning, the proverbial canary in the coal mine?
The best story of the green reversal–and a rare, fair one given the publication–was from E&E News (November 5, 2019),
“How 100% Renewables Backfired on a Texas Town.” Edward Klump wrote:
An inconvenient truth is hanging over Georgetown, Texas: Its celebrated shift to renewable energy doesn’t look like a national model these days.
Electric rates are up.
Critics are blasting the costs.
And the city north of Austin is trying to figure out how to mitigate the situation.
Georgetown, whose green push gained global attention thanks to former Vice President Al Gore and others, can claim to have 100% renewable power thanks to a credit system tied to electricity purchases.
In 2018, the city bought enough power from wind and solar projects to account for all of the community’s consumption.
It also pays for power fueled by natural gas.
In all, the city contracts for more electricity than its municipal utility needs to serve customers — and that’s been a problem.
Surplus power is sold into a market hampered by weak prices, often delivering financial losses instead of the returns Georgetown expected.
“It’s unfortunate that the Georgetown experiment went so quickly from being a success story to being something of a cautionary example,” said Adrian Shelley, director of the Texas office of Public Citizen, a consumer advocacy group.
... But how the Georgetown saga plays out could affect how other areas with municipal utilities pursue and budget for renewables — especially if they lock in more power than they need.
That’s important because cities and companies across the country are proposing renewable and net-zero carbon goals.
... Georgetown declined to discuss many of the details of its renewable contracts, but said on its website that the city “is still obligated to pay the price for energy we secured in our contracts” when the price of energy decreases.
Renewable advocates around the country continue to tout climate benefits from developing more wind and solar facilities that don’t emit carbon dioxide during power generation.
And Georgetown’s hiccup isn’t expected to derail that trend.
... Georgetown recently filed suit against Buckthorn Westex LLC, an affiliate of Clearway Energy Inc.
The city is seeking the cancellation of a solar contract over the alleged nondisclosure of information about the expected performance of the facility.
In a statement, Buckthorn said it “strongly disputes all claims in the complaint made by the City of Georgetown.” ….
... surplus wind power sold during a time of weaker demand, for example, has less value than solar power sold during the middle of the day.
... Energy use for Georgetown customers varies, though the city said it paid for over 100,000 megawatt-hours in July 2018 and customers used less than 77,000 MWh.
Electricity from various sources commingles on the main Texas grid, and the city said it’s not claiming that electrons produced in West Texas are the same ones people consume in central Texas.
... The monthly bill for an average home in Georgetown that uses 1,000 kWh per month climbed about 22% to $144.35 in 2019 compared with 2018, according to the city.
... Georgetown has argued online that past forecasts from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the state’s main grid operator, proved “to be unreliable.”
Similar complaints have been leveled against ERCOT by other parties over the years."