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.

Matt Boms of Texas Advanced Energy Business Alliance (TAEBA), Advanced Energy United's Texas entity, is interviewed live on Scripps News' The National Report on July 12 about the impacts Hurricane Beryl had on the Texas power grid. Boms makes the case that Texas utilities should be relying less on centralized power plants and more on distributed resources, like rooftop solar and other aggregated resources, to improve resiliency in the face of extreme weather like hurricanes.

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.

1,350 more miles of electric transmission lines needed to meet Texas’ growing energy needs 

AUSTIN, TX – A new report by Texas-based energy analysis group IdeaSmiths LLC has modeled the most cost-effective path for the Texas electric grid to meet the state’s growing electricity needs by 2040, aiming to more effectively guarantee lower pricing for consumers. According to the report, keeping up with the demand for electricity will require the construction of approximately 1,350 miles of new transmission lines.

"The report lays out a clear, actionable roadmap for the ERCOT grid," says Matt Boms, Executive Director of the Texas Advanced Energy Business Alliance (TAEBA), which co-funded the report with national business association Advanced Energy United. "Our findings underscore the urgent need for modernizing Texas’s electricity infrastructure. Adopting this roadmap will lower electricity bills for millions of Texans, bolster grid reliability and create thousands of jobs in the Lone Star State."