When people think of Texas, chances are their thoughts include oil derricks and other petroleum-based imagines. After all, after the 1901 Spindletop strike, this state was the world leader in oil production and refinement.
Our state remains the country’s top oil producer; these days, however, Texas also is the nation’s leader in the production of green energy, particularly wind.
That’s probably no surprise for SouthTexas residents. People who drive between the Rio GrandeValley and Corpus Christi or San Antonio is sure to see the acres of massive wind turbines along the side of the highway.
According to the state comptroller’s office, Texas is the country’s top wind producer, generating nearly one-third of all the wind power produced in the country. And with one of the nation’s longest coastlines along the Gulf of Mexico, we stand to benefit even more from the next generation of power generation — offshore wind farms.
That is, unless we get too much unnecessary meddling from the federal government. And early indications are that such meddling is a distinct possibility.
Texas has gained dominance in renewable energy not because our residents are any more dedicated to saving the planet than people anywhere else. What sets our state apart is its relative support for private entrepreneurship. Instead of petitioning for permission to set up generating stations on public lands, energy companies have been free to lease land from private owners, such as the Kenedy and Yturria ranches, avoiding the costs and delays associated with public hearings and impact studies, and avoiding the protests of environmentalists who want to keep public land pristine.
Unfortunately, with regard to offshore wind farms, the works already are starting to gum up with government impositions and the anti-commerce actions they invite.
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm, during a visit this month to a Connecticut wind farm, noted that offshore turbine production and operation would create hundreds of new jobs — and that they all needed to be union jobs.
Most land-based wind and solar power producers were built without union workers, probably leading to faster construction times and lower costs.
Granholm was joined on her visit by representatives of Orsted Energy, a Danish company that already has secured a contract with North America’s Building Trades Unions, an umbrella group that represents the most unionized workers in the building trades.
That deal could effectively lock out other energy companies, giving Orsted a de facto monopoly in the industry and enabling it to set whatever prices it wants, without the pressure of competition. Of course, such costs are passed on to the consumer, virtually guaranteeing higher utility costs for their customers.
Before setting any burdensome rules on offshore energy facilities, officials should review what already has been done and see what works, what doesn’t, and why. They likely would see that freedom from costly and cumbersome mandates is the best, most cost-effective option, both for those who pay for the projects and for those who will buy the energy they produce.
