Plotting Texas’ energy future in the dark

A small group of coal, gas, and oil executives are putting together a plan for Texas’ energy future.

They have no website. They have had only one meeting since the Legislature created the group over a year ago — they made no public announcement of that meeting, and there was no livestream, recording or transcript.

The State Energy Plan Advisory Committee is charting Texas’ energy future out of public view and in the dark.

The reasons for the secrecy likely won’t be clear until the group files its report over the next few weeks. But given the membership, it seems likely that the group intends to falsely blame clean energy generators for the state’s electricity woes — and to punish them with discriminatory costs that drive up Texans’ electricity bills even higher. Many observers believe the group’s report is already written.

Some who attack renewables do so for ideological reasons—not this group. It’s purely economic.

Who has a voice — and who doesn’t

The State Energy Plan Advisory Committee was created in Senate Bill 3, which the Texas Legislature passed in response to the blackouts during Winter Storm Uri. Its 12 members — appointed by the Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Speaker of the House — represent coal and gas generators (NRG, former Energy Future Holdings/Vistra, and the Lower Colorado River Authority), oil and gas drillers (Apache, Pioneer, and ConocoPhillips), and utilities (Oncor and Pedernales).

Not one consumer representative, independent expert, or non-profit group of any kind has a seat…