Texas Energy: Lawmakers Strive to Make Their Electrical Markets Work Despite Federal Meddling

The April 2 piece, “Texas Targets the Free Market,” by California Policy Center president Will Swaim, misses the mark.

Mr. Swaim’s instincts are right; markets are generally superior to government fiat. But in making his point, he ignores a woolly mammoth in the room: Federal subsidies for wind and solar have long distorted Texas’s electricity market, threatening higher prices and greater likelihood of blackouts and “demand reduction” events — purposeful outages to reduce the strain on the grid.

CD

About the Author

Chuck DeVore

Chuck DeVore is the chief national initiatives officer for the Texas Public Policy Foundation, served in the California legislature, is a U.S. Army lieutenant colonel (retired), and is the author of “Crisis of the House Never United.”

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The April 2 piece, “Texas Targets the Free Market,” by California Policy Center president Will Swaim, misses the mark.

Mr. Swaim’s instincts are right; markets are generally superior to government fiat. But in making his point, he ignores a woolly mammoth in the room: Federal subsidies for wind and solar have long distorted Texas’s electricity market, threatening higher prices and greater likelihood of blackouts and “demand reduction” events — purposeful outages to reduce the strain on the grid.

CD

About the Author

Chuck DeVore

Chuck DeVore is the chief national initiatives officer for the Texas Public Policy Foundation, served in the California legislature, is a U.S. Army lieutenant colonel (retired), and is the author of “Crisis of the House Never United.”