ICYMI: Powering Texans CEO Walt Baum Discusses Texas PowerGeneration, Grid Reforms Before Texas Legislative Committees
Austin, Texas — This week, Powering Texans CEO Walt Baum delivered testimony on behalf of Texas’ leading power generators to the Texas House State Affairs Committee and Senate Business and Commerce Committee. Baum emphasized the need for Texas to preserve a healthy, competitive market for power generation in Texas to serve consumers and businesses.
On Monday, Baum spoke to the House State Affairs Committee, which heard testimony from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and the Public Utility Commission of Texas, among other state agencies, on measures passed by the 88th Legislature to reform the power generation market in Texas. In his remarks to the Committee, Baum emphasized the benefits of free market policies and robust competition for Texas consumers:
“One of the primary focuses of powering Texans will be to preserve, protect and defend customer choice, the competitive wholesale market, and ERCOT. We think robust competition has best served consumers, and we’re here to preserve its benefits and ensure reliable and affordable power for Texans, families, and businesses.”
To watch the full video of Baum’s remarks before the Texas House Committee on State Affairs, click here or on the image below.
Additionally, Baum delivered testimony to the Texas Senate Committee on Business and Commerce, which heard testimony on Texas’ electric market design, electric transmission distribution, and the impact of energy-intensive facilities on the Texas grid. In his remarks, Baum underscored how recent market reforms have helped Powering Texans’ members lead the charge in bringing new, dispatchable power generation online to keep up with rising demand for businesses and consumers across the state:
“The market reforms passed by this committee to send investment signals for dispatchable generation are starting to yield results, and my members are leading the way.”
To watch Baum’s full remarks before the Texas Senate Business and Commerce Committee, click here or on the image below.
Additionally, Baum also spoke to NBC-5 in Dallas-Fort Worth regarding increased power generation capacity needed to serve Texas’ growing data center and cryptocurrency mining operations, noting that:
“It will be a challenge meeting this growth. But I think the Texas market is up to that challenge…With these new data centers or the just standalone Bitcoin miners, they can come in and build the load of a medium sized city in 18 or 24 months.”
To watch the full segment on NBC 5, click here or on the image below.
ABOUT POWERING TEXANS
Powering Texans advocates for free market policies and principles within the Texas energy landscape, and promotes the general welfare of all Texans. By keeping the energy market free from excessive government control, we seek to promote investment, encourage competition, and deliver a stronger grid for Texans, their businesses, and their families. To learn more, visit https://poweringtexans.com/
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