Almost 45 percent of renewable generators' income and benefits in Texas comes from the government and increased electrical costs, The Energy Alliance said in a recent news release and report.

Lower natural gas prices last year drove U.S. wholesale electricity price declines – with the exception of Texas, The Energy Alliance Policy Director Bill Peacock said in an executive summary of a July 27 report issued by the watchdog group.

In Texas, day-ahead, around-the-clock wholesale electricity prices averaged $38 per megawatt-hour, up 13 percent last year, compared to 2018, according to the report, "Wind and Solar Subsidies Increase Texas Electricity Costs."

"The root cause of this cost increase were the massive distortions in Texas' wholesale electricity market caused by renewable energy subsidies," Peacock said in the executive summary. "Since 2006, wind- and solar-power generators in Texas have received about $19.4 billion in subsidies from federal, state, and local governments. In 2019, renewable subsidies totaled almost $2.4 billion."

Texans are paying $3.1 billion for the electricity generated by renewable sources in 2019 and have covered most of the cost for $2.4 billion in renewable energy subsidies to generators, the report said.

"That equals about $67.9 per MWh for the 81.1 million MWhs generated by wind and solar generators last year," Peacock said. "These costs show up on tax bills as well as electricity bills."

The six-page report is the second in a four-part series examining the "harm caused by renewable energy subsidies in Texas."

The Energy Alliance is a Texas Business Coalition project focused on raising awareness of reliability, affordability and efficiency in the energy market, according to the news release.

The Energy Alliance announced release of the report in news release also issued on July 27.

Revenue and benefits paid out to renewable generators in the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) last year totaled almost $5.5 billion, including wholesale market sales of about $3.1 billion, according to the news release.  

“The other 44%, about $2.4 billion, came largely through income tax credits, property tax abatements, and subsidized transmission costs,” the news release said. “That equals about $67.9 per MWh for the 81.1 million MWhs generated by wind and solar generators last year. This gives renewable generators a tremendous advantage over their competitors and distorts the market, making it much less efficient and more costly.”