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

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.

Texans can now get paid for supporting the grid with their solar panels and batteries as part of a new virtual power plant pilot project.

What happens next could lead to rapid deployment of resilient and clean distributed energy resources across the state.

But realizing that potential won't be easy. One of the biggest hurdles is customer engagement.

Octopus Energy US CEO Michael Lee joined Episode 6 Texas Power Podcast to discuss his extensive background in energy, his company's participation in the VPP pilot, and his vision for bringing the benefits of distributed energy to the masses.

This episode builds on Episode 2 featuring Amy Heart, VP of public policy at Sunrun.

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.