Public influence has
driven energy companies in Texas to adopt more environmentally friendly ways of
powering homes, according to a company executive at the UT Energy Symposium
last Thursday.
Energy company
representatives said that federal regulation and a push by the citizens of
Texas have led their companies to adopt improved renewable resource goals. As
part of its efforts, Austin and Austin Energy have gone so far as to adopt
plans to eliminate carbon sourcing by 2030.
Cris Eugster, executive
vice president of CPS, a San Antonio based company that serves over 740,000 electric
and 331,000 natural gas customers, highlighted the public’s influence on emphasizing
renewables and diversifying energy sources.
“Here in this country
the government is by the people,” Eugster said, “and so there is such interest
in renewables and solar by the people out there that I think those kinds of
policies are going to be hard for the government to say ‘I’m going to go 180
degrees; I am going to stop incentivizing these kinds of technologies.’”
According to Eugster,
the goal is to diversify energy production by expanding the percentage produced
by renewable sources (wind, air and solar) and decreasing the majority that
comes from environmentally unstable means, like coal.
Trevor Udwin, a
graduate research student at UT, spoke about Eugster’s main issues after the
symposium,
“Mr. Eugster made it clear to the audience at the Energy
Symposium that diversifying the city's energy mix was a top priority for the
utility,” Udwin said.
Eugster also said that dividing
the pie so that all of the pieces are the same size is important when it comes
to stability.
“We have a diverse generation of fleets so if
one fuel type fails we are balanced and we have other types to use,” Eugster
said, “Part of it is protecting our customers from the downside of any
potential disruptions.”
According to 2013
statistics provided by the Energy Information Administration, 67 percent of
America’s energy is sourced by fossil fuels (coal, natural gas and petroleum),
but new legislation from the Environmental Protection Agency is making coal
less profitable by forcing energy companies to cut carbon emissions for
existing power plants.
“So what that
[legislation] means is that you have to shut down plants,” Eugster said, “or create a smaller footprint of the plants
that you have… so that plays well for nuclear, renewable, solar, wind and any
kind of efficiency gains…coal is now off the table.”
Changgui Dong, a UT
doctorate student studying energy policy, said after the symposium that he was
impressed that the public has responded by inviting new, cleaner sources of
energy.
“It is amazing to hear that consumers in
San Antonio are willing to pay a little more for renewable energy sources,
though living in the biggest oil and gas state like Texas,” Changgui Dong said.
“I think that is the future of energy diversity, since both our people and the
environment want that.”
Austinites and the City Council have gone a step further by
pushing Austin Energy, Austin’s largest municipally owned energy company, to
adopt 100 percent carbon free sourcing by 2030.
Carlos Cordova, spokesman for Austin Energy addressed the
city’s goal.
“The first goal is 35 percent renewable
energy by 2020,” Cardova said. “We have already announced that we will meet
that by the 2016/2017 time frame… next is carbon free by 2030. That is a little
harder to do; we have less than 16 years to do that.”
When asked about
Austin’s carbon free goal, the San Antonio based executive vice president of
CPS Energy made it clear that it would be a tough task to reach.
“I wish you guys the
best of luck.” Eugster said with a smile.
Cordova explained that
the ambitious goal set by the city of Austin is proof that the public can make
a difference.
“Austin Energy is a public
power utility owned by the citizens of Austin because we are part of the city
government,” Cordova said. “Citizens of Austin have a voice on how their energy
is sourced.”
By: Phillip Tracy
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