Restrictions on wind, solar unpopular among Texas Republicans: Poll
The polling by Conservative Texans for Energy Innovation comes out amid a multifront push by suburban Texas Republican legislators to hamstring the growth of wind and solar in the state.
Texans 'understand what is at stake,' CTEI state director Matt Welch said in a statement, supporting a wide range of common sense, market-driven solutions,' said Matt Welch, state director of CTEI. 'By getting this right, Texas will remain a national leader in energy production and job creation.'
The survey of 1,000 likely voters with about a 4 percent margin of error was completed March 22-30. It found that 91 percent of Texans 'strongly supported' landowners' ability to use wind and solar on their own land, or lease it to utilities.
And 51 percent of Texans 'strongly supported' that right, per the survey.
The findings come as the Texas renewable industry comes under legislative assault. The Texas Senate has passed two bills — S.B. 819 and S.B. 388 — that would restrict landowners' ability to put wind and solar energy on their land, and require every new watt of renewable power to be accompanied by a watt of power from coal or natural gas.
Backers of these bills argue that the state's renewables boom is ultimately bad for the state. Texas is 'number one in wind, number one in solar,' Sen. Lois Kolkhorst (R), who represents the suburbs of Houston and sponsored both S.B. 819 and S.B. 388, told KXAN.
'I'm not sure that's something to brag about,' Kolkhorst added.
The CTEI survey suggests that opposition to renewables — and in particular restrictions on landowners' ability to install them — are not popular positions, even among Republicans.
The CTEI poll found that 80 percent of Texans supported more government action to increase development of renewable energy — with more than 40 percent strongly supporting such state intervention.
The poll found that 75 percent of Republicans — and 90 percent of independents — also favored 'government action to accelerate clean energy.'
Nearly identical numbers of Texans also supported the use of energy efficiency measures to cut total use of power — a proposal that the pollsters found was especially attractive to Republicans.
While self-described 'very conservative' Texans were the most opposed to renewables of any group, 56 percent of such respondents still supported it — a jump from the 49 percent who responded that way in 2023.
And a more than three-quarters of men without college degrees also support renewables — up from less than two-thirds in 2023.
These findings don't imply blanket support for green policies or renewable energy. A plurality of Texans — 45 percent — want to see the state develop more gas resources.
In statements to the press, Kolkhorst has insisted that her measures wouldn't meaningfully harm renewables, but would 'places guardrails to ensure every inch of Texas is not covered' by windmills and turbines.
'I have no doubt that with SB 819, Texas will be able to build the generation it needs to keep up with growth while also protecting Texas land,' she said.
The renewable energy industry disagrees. The bill 'will kill renewable energy in Texas,' Jeff Clark, CEO of Texas Power Alliance, said during public testimony on the bill earlier this month.
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4 minutes ago
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