Infrastructure and Energy
The United States Census Bureau projects Texas will be home to 33 million people by 2030, up from 20.8 million in 2000. To keep pace with growth in the state’s economy and population, Texas must continue to make strategic investments in critical infrastructure.
Transportation
Gas tax revenue not constitutionally dedicated to education should be spent on the construction and maintenance of the state’s transportation system. I propose ending diversions from the gas tax to ensure that tax dollars are used for the purpose for which they are collected, thereby increasing the funds available to the state for road construction and maintenance. Ending this diversion complies with my commitment to truth-in-budgeting, while helping fulfill the need for transportation infrastructure.
Additionally, I support the expansion of the highway and debt service payment line items in the state budget. This level of budget transparency more accurately captures the agency’s budget for legislators and taxpayers.
Water 2060
As the state’s population grows, so too does the need for water. The 2007 Texas State Water Plan projects that the demand for water will increase 18 percent over the next 50 years, from 18.3 million acre-feet per year in 2010 to 21.6 million acre-feet per year in 2060 (one acre-foot is equivalent to 325,851 gallons), when the population is estimated to be almost 46 million. A one-time fund transfer from the Economic Stabilization Fund to a new Infrastructure Account would utilize principal and interest for the acquisition of 16 previously designated reservoir sites. Accelerating the acquisition and construction of these sites would provide cost-effective and reliable surface water supplies for municipal and industrial users, steam electric power generation, and other purposes in many areas of the state.
I recommend transferring $260 million in one-time funding from the Economic Stabilization Fund to a new Infrastructure Account.
Energy
Texas is the nation’s leading energy producer. Texas companies provide 20% of the nation’s crude oil production, one-third of the nation’s natural gas production, and nearly a quarter of the nation’s gasoline. Texas also leads the nation in wind power production and is on a path to a diversified energy portfolio. Governor Perry is a strong believer that we can only meet the nation’s energy challenges and become more energy independent by pursuing an “all of the above” strategy.
Oil and natural Gas Production
Though it is a smaller portion of Texas’ overall economy than it was decades ago, Texas is still the nation’s leading oil and natural gas producer, and the oil and gas industry accounts for nearly 15% of Texas’ gross state product. Texas also has more than a fourth of US refining capacity, and Texas petrochemical products reach every major consumption area east of Rocky Mountains.
Texas companies have also pioneered new energy production technologies that allow access to reserves that were previously unrecoverable in the Barnett Shale and other regions of Texas. According the US Department of Energy, Texas natural gas supplies increased an astonishing 15% between the first quarter of 2007 and the first quarter of 2008, and the Barnett Shale already accounts for nearly 7% of all natural gas production from the lower 48 states.
Wind Power and Other Renewable Energy
Texas is the nation’s leading wind power producer, with more than 8,600 MW of wind generation operating in the state as of January 1, 2009, more than one-third of the nation’s total. This is more than three times the second leading state, California, and is more than all but three other countries. Texas more than doubled its installed wind capacity in 2008 compared to 2007, and accounted for more than half of new wind capacity added in the United States in 2008.
Wind power provided nearly 5% of all electricity consumed in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas – Texas’ main power grid - in 2008, and this nearly 15 million megawatt hours of energy was enough to meet the annual electricity needs of 1.26 million Texas homes.
Texas has also pioneered an innovative planning process to remove the single largest barrier to wind power development - transmission. In 2005, Governor Perry signed Senate Bill 20 into law, setting in motion a process that will culminate in the investment of nearly $5 billion of new transmission lines to West Texas and the Panhandle, ultimately enabling more than 18,500 MW of wind generation to be integrated into the Texas grid. This investment, combined with wind power projects along the Texas coast, will ensure that Texas will remain a leader in renewable energy for the foreseeable future.
Texas companies are also developing other sources of renewable energy, such as landfill gas, biomass, and solar energy. The Texas Enterprise Fund has also provided a $1 million investment in an Austin solar manufacturing facility.
The Next Generation of Nuclear Power
Governor Perry is a strong supporter of efforts to make Texas the leader in the nation’s nuclear renaissance. Texas is home to more applications for new nuclear plants than any other state, with more than 9,000 MW of new capacity under development. These investments are a direct result of Texas’ world leading competitive electricity market, which has lead to more investment in electric generation capacity than any other state.
Clean Coal
Governor Perry enthusiastically supported Texas’ bid for the Federal FutureGen program, and remains committed to fostering the development of the next generation of clean coal technology. Texas is already the world’s leader in using carbon dioxide in enhanced oil recovery, and Governor Perry believes the opportunity to utilize Texas lignite and the nation’s other coal deposits in a way that reduces both electricity costs our reliance on foreign oil is one than cannot be passed up.
Energy Efficiency and Advanced Metering
In 2007, Governor Perry signed HB 3693, comprehensive energy efficiency legislation into law, significantly increasing the amount of Texas’ energy needs that will be met with cost-effective reductions in energy consumption through wise investments in efficiency. These programs have made Texas a leader in using energy efficiency to reduce the need to build new power plants. Governor Perry also supports the modernization of our electricity meters to intelligent smart meters that will better help customers manage their energy consumption and utilize low-cost off-peak energy provided by Texas’ competitive electricity markets.
Plug-in Hybrid Electric Vehicles
Texas’ energy policies have provided the opportunity for Texas to lead in the transformation of our transportation sector away from its dependence on foreign oil to energy produced right here in Texas. Texas’ wise investments in transmission, new conventional and renewable power plants, energy efficiency and advanced meters have uniquely positioned Texas for the wide-scale adoption and deployment of plug-in electric hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) over the next decade.
PHEVs are vehicles that have both an electric motor driven by electricity stored in battery packs and a conventional gasoline engine. PHEVs are envisioned to operate solely on electricity for the first 30-50 miles, at which point the gasoline engine will take over. PHEVs can then be plugged into any electrical outlet to recharge from the electricity grid.
PHEVs, in conjunction with the smart meters being deployed around the state, will enable Texans to utilize low-cost electricity produced at night by wind farms in West Texas and the Panhandle to provide the majority of the energy needed for their daily transportation needs. A number of studies have concluded that Texas’ existing electrical generation capacity is more sufficient to fuel nearly all of the passenger vehicles in Texas, and these studies have shown that adoption of PHEVs will have substantial air quality benefits for major urban areas in Texas.
Recognizing that the initial costs of these vehicles will be high as the technology matures and automakers ramp up production, Governor Perry supports the development of a statewide program that would provide rebates to customers who purchase these vehicles as they become available in order to defray a portion of the higher expense.