Texas Senate passes bill requiring solar plants to provide power at night

[progree]

2. Two other bills that the Texas Senate recently passed (both are the same kind of idiocy)

The bill follows two prior bills passed by the Texas Senate that target the state’s nation-leading renewables industry. S.B. 388 requires every new megawatt of renewables to be matched by a megawatt of new gas power — effectively throttling the growth of the state electric production in an environment where new gas turbines are in short supply.

. . . renewables, which take about half the time of gas plants to be added to the grid. . . .

And S.B. 819, championed by suburban Republican Sen. Lois Kolkhorst, would use “the police power of the state” to restrict landowners from leasing their property to wind and solar companies. [[that's different than the usual meaning of "states rights". Freedom! --Progree]]

The fate of all three now lies in the Texas House, where pro-renewable voices among the GOP were winnowed amid the Republican primary purges of 2024,

As for the cost of the bill in the OP --

A study by the Texas Association of Business (TAB) found that the legislation would cost the state $5.2 billion more per year — and cost individual consumers $225 more. In addition to more expensive power, the TAB study found, Texans would also get a higher risk of blackouts in the heat of summer or in future ice storms.