From the oilfields of the 1901 Spindletop strike to today’s growing wind farms of the west Texas plains, energy has played a key role in the development and prosperity of Texas and Texans alike.

Through incentive and innovation, Texas has successfully diversified its energy portfolio, exploring all energy options from solar and wind to natural gas, nuclear and clean coal. Led by the ingenuity, vision and boldness of Texas entrepreneurs and state support of promising technology, Texas is pointing the way toward energy independence for our nation.

Action Items

»  Governor Perry has made diversifying the energy mix of Texas’ electricity market one of his major priorities, helping to lower electricity prices. In 2010, Texas relied on a variety of fuel sources to meet the growing demand for electricity, including 40 percent of energy produced coming from coal, 38 percent from natural gas, 13 percent from nuclear, 8 percent from wind, and 1 percent from other sources such as hydro, biomass, landfill gas, and solar.
»  In 2005, Governor Perry signed Senate Bill 20, which contained a critical commitment to expand the state’s transmission grid to maximize the ability to move wind power from West Texas to the rest of the state. Texas now has more wind power than any other state, and more than all but five other countries in the world, surpassing 10,000 megawatts of capacity this year. By 2014, Texas will have new transmission capacity to integrate over 18,500 megawatts of wind energy onto our grid.
»  In 2007, Governor Perry signed comprehensive energy efficiency legislation, House Bill 3693, into law. This legislation created incentives to reduce energy costs through investing in energy efficiency technologies. As a result, Texans reduced electric consumption in 2009 alone in this state by 506,000 megawatt hours.
»  Texas added to its considerable progress in energy diversification in 2009 when Governor Perry signed House Bill 469 into law. This legislation provides tax incentives for the development of the next generation of clean coal plants, and encourages the use of carbon dioxide from power plants for enhanced oil recovery projects.
»  Governor Perry has stood up against federal energy policies like the offshore drilling moratoria and cap and trade that would make oil, gas, and electricity dramatically more expensive.

News & Announcements

• Thursday, April 19, 2012 • Lake Jackson, Texas • Press Release
  Gov. Perry Announces TEF Investment in Dow Chemical to Create 150 New Jobs in Brazoria County
  
  
  Gov. Rick Perry announced that The Dow Chemical Co. will create 150 new jobs and $1.7 billion in capital investment with the location of a hydrocarbon cracker in Brazoria County. The governor was joined by Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, Dow CEO and Chairman Andrew Liveris and lawmakers, where he announced the state is investing $1 million through the Texas Enterprise Fund (TEF) to close the deal on this project.
• Wednesday, March 28, 2012 • Austin, Texas • Press Release
  Statement by Gov. Perry on Federal Court Ruling Directing EPA to Reconsider Disapproval of Texas Permitting Process
  Gov. Rick Perry issued a statement regarding a ruling by the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals on the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) disapproval of TCEQ's Pollution Control Project Standard Permit. The court ruling directs the EPA to quickly reconsider its disapproval, after determining that the EPA acted "arbitrarily and capriciously".
• Wednesday, March 14, 2012 • Taylor, Texas • Press Release
  Gov. Perry: Texas Developing Power Sources to Meet Future Energy Needs
  
  
  Gov. Rick Perry today toured the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) facility and met with energy officials to discuss plans for meeting Texas' rising demand for electricity. While the state's business-friendly environment has encouraged investment that has led to sufficient generation and transmission capacity for the near term, Texas' continued growth is likely to require expanded capacity in the years to come.
• Monday, January 30, 2012 • Austin, Texas • Noteworthy
  Infographic: Texas Emerging Technology Fund
  
  
  Six years after its creation, the Texas Emerging Technology Fund is hard at work in laboratories throughout the state and on display in marketplaces across the world, pointing the way to the future of our economy as well as the future of the ways we’ll live, work, diagnose and heal.
• Friday, December 30, 2011 • Austin, Texas • Press Release
  Statement by Gov. Rick Perry on Court Order to Stay Cross State Air Pollution Rule
  Gov. Rick Perry today issued the following statement regarding the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals' decision to grant Texas' request for a stay to the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Cross State Air Pollution Rule (CSAPR)
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