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Texas leads the nation in clean and renewable energy production, and it’s largely due to its geography, federal energy subsidies, deregulated energy market and state-run energy grid.
Texas is one the leading US energy producers — and renewables are a big reason why.
Traditionally considered to be “oil country,” Texas continues to have a heavy fossil fuel presence in the state. Though it may not seem like the likeliest candidate on the surface, the state is a pioneer of clean and renewable energy production. Texas generated roughly 15% of the country’s electricity from all-renewable sources in 2022, according to the Energy Information Association.
While it was wind power that helped blow Texas to the top of the clean energy production charts, increased solar capacity in recent decades has helped its standing. Through 2022, Texas was the second-largest producer of solar energy behind California, according to data from the Solar Energy Industries Association.
Yet, the political pushback happening in Texas could play an outsized role on the future of renewable energy production in the state. While the growth over the past couple of decades is and has been rather remarkable — creating a model that many other states may try to replicate — it has been largely in part due to a unique combination of forces.
Texas’ unique geography, some changes to federal energy subsidies, and a unique mix of deregulated energy and state-wide energy grid, are just a few of the driving forces behind Texas’ developed renewable energy production. But shifts in political influence could change things.
