Legislation going before the Texas Senate this week would end the state mandate forcing Texans to purchase expensive, inefficient wind and other so-called “renewable” energy sources. Because generating power from wind is notoriously fickle and expensive, government has long forced taxpayers to subsidize the industry — then added insult to injury by mandating use.
(Hint: subsidies and compelled-use are usually a sign something is not economically viable.)
Those days could be numbered, with State Sen. Troy Frasier (R-Horseshoe Bay) moving forward Senate Bill 931.
Predictably, the highly-subsidized wind industry is howling mad. An industry lobbyist is quoted in today’s Austin American Statesman as saying that ending the mandate would tell the nation “this state is no longer committed to an all-the-above energy strategy.”
Actually, I think it would send a different message: taxpayers shouldn’t be forced to buy or subsidize services they don’t want at prices they cannot afford.
It’s time for the “renewable” energy sources to stand on their legs. If they haven’t yet figured out how to provide their service at a rate people will voluntarily pay, then they don’t deserve to be in the marketplace. And under no circumstances should Texans continue to be forced to subsidize a product they don’t want.
