Claire Hao
Reporting on energy & TX power grid @houstonchronicle.com • ✉️: claire.hao@houstonchronicle.com or clairehao.14 on Signal • RT ≠ endorsement
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- President Trump might be wind power's biggest critic. Yet, it was Texas Republicans who started the U.S. wind boom 20+ years ago. How did Texas, a Republican stronghold, come to dominate in an energy source that many Republican politicians now love to hate? www.houstonchronicle.com/business/ene...
- During the 2021 freeze, Griddy made lots of headlines for charging customers thousands of $$ for electricity. It agreed to forgive all unpaid bills in a settlement w/ the Texas AG. Those who paid could seek reimbursements. Years later, customers haven't gotten back a dime. 🧵
- Remember when some Texas lawmakers suggested CenterPoint shouldn't be allowed to charge Houston residents for its Hurricane Beryl costs last summer? Here's my pitch for local journalism: We follow up. www.houstonchronicle.com/business/ene...
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- Earlier this month, the Houston-area application portal for utility bill assistance crashed — because a record 100k people tried to apply for just 5,000 slots set aside for August & September. For context, in the entirety of 2024, 44k people applied: www.houstonchronicle.com/business/ene...
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- Houston solar powerhouse Sunnova Energy had a quick rise — and a dramatic fall. What happened, and what does Sunnova's bankruptcy filing mean for the U.S. residential solar industry's future? I tackled those questions here: www.houstonchronicle.com/business/ene...
- Less clean energy — perhaps much less — will be built in Texas as a result of the “One Big Beautiful Bill” signed into law by President Donald Trump on the Fourth of July. That could raise energy costs for everyday residents: www.houstonchronicle.com/business/ene...
- After Hurricane Beryl, Houston-area Democrats redoubled their fight to require generators or other types of backup power at senior homes. A year later, none of their bills passed. The only new law cancels out Harris County's own backup power mandate: www.houstonchronicle.com/business/ene...
- Low- to moderate-income residents in the Houston area struggle to pay their energy bills more than residents in other parts of Texas, a statewide nonprofit found in its new report. Meanwhile, the government's safety net to help such residents is fraying: www.houstonchronicle.com/business/ene...
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- There was a lot of anger at CenterPoint after Hurricane Beryl last year — and a lot of talk from Texas politicians about reform. Nearly a year later, did leaders keep those big promises? Mostly no. W/ @neenareports.bsky.social, who I learn so much from: www.houstonchronicle.com/news/investi...
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- Renewable energy & battery project cancellations in April and May spiked to levels unseen since 2021's COVID-19 woes, per a recent analysis of ERCOT data. Tariffs and the uncertain fate of the tax credits are to blame: “It’s like a canary in a coal mine.” www.houstonchronicle.com/business/ene...
- Texas is betting big on nuclear: Lawmakers have approved a new $350M taxpayer-backed fund to give companies grants to develop new projects. The amount did drop significantly after months of debate. Gov. Abbott said he looks forward to signing the bill: www.houstonchronicle.com/business/ene...
- Houston's Sunnova Energy has filed for bankruptcy, according to court & regulatory filings. The news comes days after Sunnova told federal regulators it had laid off 55% of its workforce: www.houstonchronicle.com/business/ene...
- So, the jokes about announcing bad news yesterday, when everyone's attention was elsewhere? Houston's Sunnova Energy seems to have actually done that. The solar company has laid off 700+ employees, or 55% of its workforce, per a Thursday SEC filing: www.houstonchronicle.com/business/ene...
- Is CenterPoint ready for hurricane season? CEO Jason Wells touted a list of "unprecedented" prep to the Chronicle's ed board yesterday. City & community leaders say CenterPoint's responsiveness has improved since Beryl. Still, they want more transparency. www.houstonchronicle.com/business/ene...
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- It’s official: Texas bills targeting solar and wind power are dead. Here's a recap of the arguments that worked, as the renewable energy industry tries the same appeals to lobby against Trump's "big, beautiful bill." www.houstonchronicle.com/business/ene...
- Texas lawmakers have advanced a bill to prohibit offshore wind turbines in the Gulf from connecting to the ERCOT power grid through state waters. All that’s left before it goes to the governor’s desk is a full House vote: www.houstonchronicle.com/business/ene...
- CenterPoint “did not adequately follow its own practices” in leasing generators for nearly $1 billion, per a third-party audit of the deal. Most of the generators can't be used to restore outages caused by damage to neighborhood-level power lines: www.houstonchronicle.com/business/ene...
- A few weeks ago, I wrote that CenterPoint would hike rates to pass on $400M of its derecho & other storm costs from last May to Houston-area customers. Many readers responded: Why is the company allowed to do this? Today's story tackles that question: www.houstonchronicle.com/business/ene...
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- Another day, another big power generation deal. Houston's NRG Energy announced a $12 billion agreement to acquire 18 natural gas power plants today. Why? To supply electricity to data centers, of course: www.houstonchronicle.com/business/ene...
- The Texas GOP is getting closer than ever to killing the state’s renewable energy boom, according to the industry. Much of the concern centers around a bill that passed the Senate yesterday requiring backup power for every solar & wind farm in Texas: www.houstonchronicle.com/business/ene...
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- Should Texas use taxpayer dollars to support the advanced nuclear industry? The House voted yes yesterday. The body has proposed using $750 million to give companies grants to build nuclear plants. But in the Senate, it's "not guaranteed at all." www.houstonchronicle.com/business/ene...
- Some renewable energy developers — especially smaller companies — have hit pause on projects amid a fog of uncertainty. “This is probably the highest-risk environment for investing, certainly that I've seen in my lifetime. It feels bigger than COVID.” www.houstonchronicle.com/business/ene...
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- Millions of Texans say they've spent less on food or medicine to pay an energy bill. Some lawmakers want to re-establish a fund to help. The effort hopes to learn from the mistakes of a past misused fund — and honor the late Sylvester Turner's advocacy: www.houstonchronicle.com/business/ene...
- The Texas power grid could experience rapid changes in the next 5-6 years as a flood of data centers & other facilities push the already-maxed-out system into unprecedented territory. Can the power grid keep up with growth, so ERCOT doesn’t have to order rotating outages again?
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- By the end of this month, the average household will have paid ~$100 for CenterPoint's unused generators. Instead of refunds, the company has proposed other fixes. Does that really make customers 'whole'? Here's a breakdown of what's in the proposal: www.houstonchronicle.com/business/ene...
- Last year, various reporters, me included, wrote articles about a huge natural gas power plant planned for the old Alcoa plant near Rockdale. Local residents later told me that we were wrong: The new plant would actually be 15 miles away, near their homes, much to their dismay.
- Politicians ask: What will it take for companies to build more natural gas power plants for the strained Texas power grid? As it turns out, for a growing number of developers, even the Texas government handing out taxpayer-backed loans is not sufficient. www.houstonchronicle.com/business/ene...
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- Renewable energy & battery storage have had years of booming growth in Texas. But companies say the Texas Legislature is now considering bills that could be "industry killers." And if Congress repeals clean energy tax credits, Texas could be hit harder than any other state. 🧵
- Confused or frustrated by the Texas power grid? Help us report on it. This survey is open for anyone to 1) ask questions about the state's grid, 2) share experiences about electricity bills & power outages, and 3) send story ideas & tips 👀 www.houstonchronicle.com/projects/202...
- AI data centers are coming to Texas, and companies are rushing forward with proposals to power them. There were a few notable developments this week. NRG, a Houston-based company, announced plans to build 4 gas-fired power plants for data centers: www.houstonchronicle.com/business/ene...
