News

Texas news station KBTX News 3 reports that the U.S. Department of Energy has awarded $360 million in funding for United member company Pattern Energy's Southern Spirit transmission project, which aims to connect the ERCOT grid to other U.S. power grids. The station interviewed Matthew Boms of the Texas Advanced Energy Business Alliance, who highlighted the project's potential to lower consumer energy prices and improve overall reliability and efficiency for the Texas energy market.

San Antonio Express-News reports on the growing Texas battery energy storage boom, but some Hill County residents are worried that new battery storage sites will be noisy, increase the risk of fire, and cause environmental damage. The article quotes Texas Advanced Energy Business Alliance's (United's state affiliate) Matthew Boms, who spoke to the importance of battery storage sites in the state.

Amid rising energy demands, The New York Times reports that America's biggest oil-producing state, Texas, is increasingly turning to solar power and battery storage to see it through extreme weather over the years. The article quotes Matthew Boms of Texas Advanced Energy Business Alliance (United's state affiliate), who speaks to Texas' renewable energy potential.

In an opinion piece for the Houston Chronicle, Matthew Boms of Texas Advanced Energy Business Alliance (United's state affiliate), shares how President Biden's Inflation Reduction Act has transformed Texas' energy portfolio, with Texas now ranking as the nation's wind energy leader and a top state for utility-scale solar.

Texas news station KVUE covers a recent forecast by The Electric Reliability Council of Texas that states power demand in the region will nearly double by 2030. The story quotes Matt Boms of Texas Advanced Energy Business Alliance (United's Texas state chapter), who emphasized the importance of distributed energy resources for grid reliability during a Texas Senate Business & Commerce committee hearing. 

In a video interview with The Pattrn Show on The Weather Channel, Matthew Boms of Texas Advanced Energy Business Alliance - Advanced Energy United's Texas state chapter - emphasizes that wind, solar, and storage have played a pivotal role in ensuring Texans have reliable power this summer, consistently contributing over 30-40% of the state's total generation. Spotlighting Texas as a leader in advanced energy generation, Boms underlines that renewable energy technologies are mature, cost-effective, scalable, and critical for Texas’ energy future.

Canary Media reports on the outcome of the recently concluded Texas legislative session, quoting Matthew Boms on how the legislature avoided passing bills that would have derailed the state's clean energy industry's efforts.

The best thing that Doug Lewin, president of Texas-based energy consultancy Stoic Energy, can say about the just-concluded Texas legislative session is that it could have been much, much worse. 

Lawmakers failed to pass bills that would have helped stabilize and clean up the Texas grid, but at least they also, at the last minute, avoided passing bills that would have crushed the state’s clean energy industry.

Emerging Tech Brew detailed how virtual power plants can support grid reliability, citing AEE's Cailtin Marquis and TAEBA's Ignacio Guajardo on the technology and Texas' pilot program. Read snippets below and the full article here.

While virtual power plants might sound like some made-up metaverse feature, they are very real—and they’re powered by actual homes and businesses.