On Tuesday, January 28, 2025, the LBJ School of Public Affairs hosted Canary Media and David Roberts of Volts as they joined LBJ School faculty for an afternoon of expert conversations about the clean energy transition.
Overarching themes included the future of clean energy in Texas, grid capacity and energy use and energy policy in the new administration.
The event began with Canary Media Senior Reporter Julian Spector moderating a panel discussion with LBJ faculty Dr. Emily Beagle, Dr. Joshua Rhodes and Doug Lewin, where panelists shared their insights on key policy questions surrounding the clean energy transition.
The discussion began by exploring clean energy projects under the new administration. The recent withdrawal from the landmark Paris Climate Agreement could have an effect on worldwide efforts to combat climate change. Additionally, the panelists discussed the future of clean energy projects under the Inflation Reduction Act and infrastructure law after the latest funding freeze.
Spector asked the panelist "What kind of lessons will Texas have for people who are interest in clean energy?" To that, Josh Rhodes speaks about how it's easy to build in Texas, and when it's easy to build wind and solar, you attract companies that want to have those energy as part of their portfolio, and that creates a kind of cycle.
Lewin touches on the fact that, though the summer of 2024 was the sixth hottest in Austin history, demand was down, and the grid was able to provide reliable service for Texans, which can be partially attributed to solar and storage.
In the coming week, this conversation can be found on the LBJ School's Policy on Purpose podcast.
In the second part of the afternoon, the LBJ School recorded a live podcast featuring Volts founder and journalist David Roberts with Lisa Martin, Deputy General Manager & Chief Operating Officer at Austin Energy and Michael Enger, VP of Energy Market Operations & Resource Planning at Austin Energy. This conversation can be found on the Volts podcast in the coming weeks.
In this conversation, Roberts asked Martin and Enger, "Why can't we just buy everything clean tomorrow? What's stopping you from doing that?" To that, Martin said, though there is a ton of clean energy generation in the market, you also have to make sure it gets to where customers can use it, and that's not always achievable in the market. Prices are constantly changing, making it difficult to serve customers reliably.
Enger briefly discussed Austin Energy's Solar Standard Offer, a program that helps commercial businesses and properties install solar panels or lease their roof space to third-party solar developers. Participants are paid for what they produce and charged for what they consume.
"If you're committed to total decarbonization by 2035, you're implicitly committed to shutting these new natural gas plants down by 2035, are you not," Roberts asked Martin and Enger.
Martin explained that this will depend on what resources are available to provide clean and dependable energy to customers. She quoted LBJ professor Michael Webber, saying:
"Do your best and clean up the rest."