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 2012, Texas relied on a variety of fuel sources to meet the growing demand for electricity, including 34 percent of energy produced coming from coal, 45 percent from natural gas, 12 percent from nuclear, 9 percent from wind, and 0.5 percent from other sources such as hydro, biomass, landfill gas, and solar.
»  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. In 2011, he signed SB SB 1125 increasing the energy efficiency goals, including cost caps for those programs to ensure the costs remain reasonable for customers, and allowing consumers to participate in the generation market through demand-management.
»  In 2011, Governor Perry signed House Bill 3328, the first of its kind in the nation, requiring oil and gas companies to disclose chemicals used in the hydraulic fracturing process. The bill furthers a commitment to ensuring safe energy production in Texas by providing citizens with needed information to better understand this industry practice. HB 3328 illustrates that Texas can lead the nation in oil and gas production while increasing transparency in the process.
»  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

• Wednesday, May 19, 2010 • Palacios, Texas • Speech
  Gov. Perry: Continued Investment in Education is Essential to Texas’ Competitiveness
  "Texas has more nuclear power plants under development than any other state, and this program will prepare our future workforce to carry out the state’s all-of-the-above energy strategy,” Gov. Perry said. “PowerSet WIT is designed to connect motivated, capable students with educational opportunities in the STEM fields, accelerate their learning in these key subjects and give them firsthand experience with careers in the growing field of nuclear power technology.”
• Thursday, May 06, 2010 • Stafford, Texas • Press Release
  Gov. Perry: Incentives Lead to Better Technology and Smarter Approaches
  
  Gov. Rick Perry today reiterated the importance of providing incentives, rather than onerous mandates, to encourage innovation in business and technology. The governor spoke at the rollout of UPS’ expanded fleet of hybrid electric vehicles (HEV), the first to be introduced in Texas through Senate Bill 1759 of the 81st Legislative Session, which provides grants from the Texas Emissions Reduction Plan Fund for large fleet owners to convert old diesel vehicles to alternative fuel vehicles.
  » Read the Speech: Gov. Perry: Incentives Lead to Better Technology and Smarter Approaches
  + Watch Interview of Danny Smith, Public Affairs, UPS
• Monday, March 22, 2010 • Austin, Texas • Press Release
  Gov. Perry Announces $1.5 Million TETF Investment in SolarBridge
  Gov. Rick Perry today announced that the Texas Emerging Technology Fund (TETF) is investing $1.5 million in SolarBridge Technologies Inc. for the development and commercialization of their technology for the widespread use of solar energy.
• Wednesday, March 10, 2010 • Austin, Texas • Press Release
  Gov. Perry Supports Congressional Efforts to Block Misguided EPA Endangerment Findings
  Gov. Rick Perry today sent a letter to members of Congress, as did many governors around the country, commending their efforts to overturn the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) endangerment findings through a disapproval resolution. In his letter, Gov. Perry also emphasized recent legal action taken by State of Texas, including a Petition for Review with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, as well as a Petition for Reconsideration with the EPA administrator challenging the agency’s attempt to regulate carbon dioxide and other gases under the Clean Air Act.
• Tuesday, February 16, 2010 • Austin, Texas • Press Release
  Texas Takes Legal Action Against Federal Government Over EPA CO2 Mandates
  
  Gov. Rick Perry, Attorney General Greg Abbott and Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples today announced that the state is taking legal action in the U.S. Court of Appeals challenging the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) endangerment finding for greenhouse gases.
  » Read the Speech: Texas Takes Legal Action Against EPA Mandates
  + Watch Interview of Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott, Texas Takes Legal Action Against Federal Government over EPA CO2 Mandates
  + Watch Interview of Texas Agriculture Commissioner Todd Staples, Texas Takes Legal Action Against Federal Government over EPA CO2 Mandates
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