Texas would be 'crazy to penalize renewables,' CPS Energy CEO Rudy Garza says
05/11/23 • 55 min
Rudy Garza, CEO of CPS Energy, the nation's largest integrated municipal power and gas utility, doesn't mince words when it comes to the effort by some policymakers in Texas to punish renewables for the broad failures during Winter Storm Uri.
Garza became CEO a little over a year ago but has deep experience in Texas energy. And as one of the largest generators and customers in ERCOT, CPS Energy has a unique position in the market.
Garza, while recognizing the need for more dispatchable resources in the ERCOT market, opposes efforts to penalize renewables, a current legislative focus.
"I think it’s crazy to penalize renewables. We need every megawatt on the system that we can get our hands on," Garza said on Episode 8 of the Texas Power Podcast.
If you like the Texas Power Podcast, please leave a rating and review!
The Texas Power Podcast is a production of Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Check out our podcast for the solar industry, Factor This!
You can connect with Texas Power Podcast host Doug Lewin on Twitter and LinkedIn.
TIMESTAMPS
2:16 - About Rudy Garza
4:29 - About CPS
8:03 - Winter Storm Uri
11:12 - Rotating outages
15:56 - Market redesign proposals in the legislature
18:23 - Attempts to penalize renewables
20:35 - Closing coal units and diversification of energy sources at CPS
23:56 - Battery storage
25:23 - Deliverability issues with natural gas
28:46 - Energy efficiency, virtual power plants, demand response
35:20 - Impact of the Inflation Reduction Act, including direct pay for municipal utilities like CPS
42:18 - Large scale storage, including CPS’ pumped hydro storage pilot
44:58 - Distributed storage
47:20 - How CPS empowers customer to reduce costs and increase efficiency
51:45 - CPS’s future
52:44 - EVs
Rudy Garza, CEO of CPS Energy, the nation's largest integrated municipal power and gas utility, doesn't mince words when it comes to the effort by some policymakers in Texas to punish renewables for the broad failures during Winter Storm Uri.
Garza became CEO a little over a year ago but has deep experience in Texas energy. And as one of the largest generators and customers in ERCOT, CPS Energy has a unique position in the market.
Garza, while recognizing the need for more dispatchable resources in the ERCOT market, opposes efforts to penalize renewables, a current legislative focus.
"I think it’s crazy to penalize renewables. We need every megawatt on the system that we can get our hands on," Garza said on Episode 8 of the Texas Power Podcast.
If you like the Texas Power Podcast, please leave a rating and review!
The Texas Power Podcast is a production of Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Check out our podcast for the solar industry, Factor This!
You can connect with Texas Power Podcast host Doug Lewin on Twitter and LinkedIn.
TIMESTAMPS
2:16 - About Rudy Garza
4:29 - About CPS
8:03 - Winter Storm Uri
11:12 - Rotating outages
15:56 - Market redesign proposals in the legislature
18:23 - Attempts to penalize renewables
20:35 - Closing coal units and diversification of energy sources at CPS
23:56 - Battery storage
25:23 - Deliverability issues with natural gas
28:46 - Energy efficiency, virtual power plants, demand response
35:20 - Impact of the Inflation Reduction Act, including direct pay for municipal utilities like CPS
42:18 - Large scale storage, including CPS’ pumped hydro storage pilot
44:58 - Distributed storage
47:20 - How CPS empowers customer to reduce costs and increase efficiency
51:45 - CPS’s future
52:44 - EVs
Previous Episode
1-on-1 with Vistra CEO Jim Burke
The energy transition is daunting to incumbent energy companies— albeit in very different ways.
Vistra CEO Jim Burke joined Episode 7 of the Texas Power Podcast with Doug Lewin to discuss how the largest electricity generator in Texas is navigating the energy transition and adjusting to a shifting ERCOT market design.
Burke discussed the impacts of the Inflation Reduction Act, his ‘technology agnosticism,’ and Vistra’s current focus on reliability. He also explored what the ongoing and impending energy transition means for a company that has traditionally relied on fossil fuels and the need to move away from an either/or, overly-simplistic debate in regard to the use of natural gas and renewables.
If you like the Texas Power Podcast, please leave a rating and review!
The Texas Power Podcast is a production of Renewable Energy World and Clarion Energy. Check out our podcast for the solar industry, Factor This!
You can connect with Texas Power Podcast host Doug Lewin on Twitter and LinkedIn.
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