Latest news with #Louderback
Yahoo
25-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Texas bail reform package: Reps discuss key changes
The Brief The Texas Legislature passed a bail reform package. Freshman representatives Mitch Little and A.J. Louderback played important roles in negotiations. Parts of the package will go up for a vote in Texas for approval. AUSTIN - A landmark bail reform plan is headed to Texas Governor Greg Abbott for approval. The initial passage of the package, which includes constitutional amendments, was somewhat watered down from the original bills. That was done to help win enough support from Democrats to reach a critical 100-vote level to allow for a public vote. Two freshman House members, former Jackson County Sheriff A.J. Louderback (R-Victoria) and high-profile defense attorney Mitch Little (R-Lewisville), played key roles in the bail reform package. Both legislators talked with FOX's Rudy Koski. What they're saying "It's massive. I think we have the ability to transform some of the violent crime that's going on in our cities," said Rep. Little. "The great thing about Senate Joint Resolution 5 is that it's going to allow judges the discretion to deny bail in cases where somebody is proven by a preponderance of the evidence to be a flight risk or by clear and convincing evidence to an ongoing risk to public safety on our most violent crimes." He says one of the key components of the bill is blocking certain magistrates from reducing bonds set by district courts. A previous version of Senate Bill 664 required judges to write a letter to inform the public about why a suspect was being granted bail. As part of the negotiation process that has changed. "There's going to be a required finding if a judge denies bail. That way the state has the ability to appeal that decision in a very expedited appeal to the Court of Appeals and leave those violent offenders in jail pending that decision," said Little. Little says bail bills like this one have been upheld. "What we've done in Texas is try to bring it within the confines of the Bail Reform Act of 1984, the federal law. There's no automatic right to bail under federal law, it's just if you are granted bail, it should not be excessive. So we're trying to strike the right balance between denying very serious violent offenders bail and making sure that we do not do violence to civil rights," he said. What they're saying Rep. Louderback says he's not surprised that bail reform has finally come after years of failed attempts. "I think the violent crimes here in our state have risen. I think people have had enough," he said. "It'll be one of the strongest bond denials in the country. So it's a great move for us to put something like this together. It's a package of four bills right now." Louderback calls the package a "tremendous piece of legislation." "It's a great move to support all the victims that we have here. Where some defendants have beat them back out of the parking lot before," he said. Louderback says he's confident the package would stand up to a court challenge. "I think so. I'm confident about it. I think the entire country, not just Texas, will look at this very seriously," he said. You can watch Texas: The Issue Is Sunday nights on FOX and anytime on FOX LOCAL or the Texas: The Texas Issue Is Podcast. The Source Information in this article comes from past FOX reporting and interviews with Texas House members Mitch Little and A.J. Louderback.
Yahoo
24-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Texas lawmakers weigh opening $5B energy fund to geothermal amid attacks on renewables
A Republican-authored proposal in the Texas Legislature seeks to open up state funds aimed at encouraging fossil fuel development to a form of renewable energy. The bill, which passed unanimously out of committee in the Texas House late Wednesday and now heads to the floor for consideration, could provide a runway for state incubation of next-generation geothermal energy, which uses oil and gas drilling methods to extract heat from the earth to provide low-carbon, round-the-clock energy. Along with another bill still in committee, the legislation could also serve as a lifeline for the flagging Texas Energy Fund (TEF), a $5 billion low-interest loan program originally aimed at encouraging more fossil fuel generation. The fund was created in 2023 to incentivize the building of new gas plants, with a stated aim of shoring up the grid by bringing on flexible power generation that could be turned on and off as needed. But at least seven companies have withdrawn their applications from the TEF since the beginning of the year, largely citing an inability to procure gas turbines in time to meet the terms of the loan. The fund has so far failed to develop the 10 gigawatts of power it was intended to add to the Texas grid. Republican lawmakers are now seeking to change two major criteria of the TEF: that projects it covers have capacity to produce at least 100 megawatts (enough to power about 100,000 houses), and a de facto requirement that they be fossil-fuel powered. The most recent piece of legislation, authored by state Rep. AJ Louderback (R) and voted unanimously out of a Texas House committee Wednesday night, would take a step toward opening up the program to geothermal projects by officially classing them as dispatchable. It now heads to the floor of the House. Another proposal under discussion would allow the board overseeing TEF to make loans to geothermal projects in the 10- to 100-megawatt range — enough energy to power about 10,000 to 100,000 homes — which would allow the current generation of geothermal projects (which are smaller capacity than gas plants) to apply for funding. These efforts come amid an attack on wind and solar power by a different faction of Texas Republicans. Over the past two months, the state Senate has passed bills seeking to drastically restrict where wind and solar can be built, and to require every watt of new solar that is brought online to be accompanied by a watt of new gas. The same evening that Louderback's geothermal legislation passed out of the House State Affairs Committee, members of the panel also narrowly passed another bill, H.B. 3356, which would force wind and solar companies to buy fossil-fuel based power to cover the time periods that they're not operating. Critics of these bills argue they will hamstring the Texas economy for the same reason that gas companies are leaving the TEF: There aren't enough gas turbines, or enough interest from utilities in building new gas plants, to meet Texas's skyrocketing energy needs or deliver the power the TEF was meant to incentivize. A report for the Texas Association of Business found that if just one of those anti-solar bills, H.B. 3356, is passed, it would cost state ratepayers $5 billion, while increasing the threat of rolling blackouts — the kind of outcomes that TEF's creation was theoretically intended to help the state avoid. Geothermal isn't the only form of dispatchable power state lawmakers want to incentivize. Yet another bill being weighed by the Legislature would make an additional $2 billion available to nuclear developers under similar terms to the TEF. Because lawmakers excluded battery storage projects — which, along with solar, make up the fastest growing part of the Texas grid — from consideration for the TEF, and because no nuclear projects are anywhere near ready to apply, the fund has in effect amounted to a subsidy for fossil fuels. The timeline for nuclear projects could prove to be an issue for the nuclear proposals as well. Geothermal advocates, however, argue that power plants that tap the subterranean heat in Texas also offer dispatchable power — and that the energy funds can speed the growth of geothermal in the state, which is emerging as a key hub for the industry. While Texas doesn't have the red-hot shallow rock or circulating underground geyser systems of the Mountain West or Pacific Rim, recent maps produced by the advocacy group Project InnerSpace show considerable geothermal resources beneath the state. And Texas also has something perhaps even more important than those resources: a vast and increasingly underutilized oil and gas workforce, whose job skills — from mapping underground reservoirs to drilling and encasing wells — are a close match to geothermal's needs. The field also has allies in the Trump administration. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, a skeptic of renewables and the concept of 'clean energy' writ large, has thrown his support behind geothermal. And President Trump himself, in an Earth Day message largely focused on touting the president's accomplishments in opening up the nation's lands and waters to more logging, fishing, mining and drilling, emphasized the administration's commitment to 'next-generation geothermal.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
The Hill
24-04-2025
- Business
- The Hill
Texas lawmakers weigh opening $5B energy fund to geothermal amid attacks on renewables
A Republican-authored proposal in the Texas legislature seeks to open up state funds aimed at encouraging fossil fuel development to a form of renewable energy. The bill, which passed unanimously out of committee in the Texas House late Wednesday and now heads to the floor for consideration, could provide a runway for state incubation of next-generation geothermal energy, which uses oil and gas drilling methods to extract heat from the earth to provide low-carbon, round-the-clock energy. Along with another bill still in committee, the legislation could also serve as a lifeline for the flagging Texas Energy Fund (TEF), a $5 billion low-interest loan program originally aimed at encouraging more fossil fuel generation. The fund was created in 2023 to incentivize the building of new gas plants, with a stated aim of shoring up the grid by bringing on flexible power generation that could be turned on and off as needed. But at least seven companies have withdrawn their applications from the TEF since the beginning of the year, largely citing an inability to procure gas turbines in time to meet the terms of the loan. The fund has so far failed to develop the 10 gigawatts of power it was intended to add to the Texas grid. Republican lawmakers are now seeking to change two major criteria of the TEF: that projects it covers have capacity to produceat least 100 megawatts (enough to power about 100,000 houses), and a de facto requirement that they be fossil-fuel powered. The most recent piece of legislation, authored by state Rep. A.J. Louderback (R) and voted unanimously out of a Texas House committee Wednesday night, would take a step toward opening up the program to geothermal projects by officially classing them as dispatchable. It now heads to the floor of the House. Another proposal under discussion would allow the board overseeing TEF to make loans to geothermal projects in the 10- to 100-megawatt range — enough energy to power about 10,000 to 100,000 homes — which would allow the current generation of geothermal projects (which are smaller capacity than gas plants) to apply for funding. These efforts come amid an attack on wind and solar power by a different faction of Texas Republicans. Over the past two months, the state Senate has passed bills seeking to drastically restrict where wind and solar can be built, and to require every watt of new solar that is brought online to be accompanied by a watt of new gas. The same evening that Louderback's geothermal legislation passed out of the House State Affairs Committee, members of the panel also narrowly passed another bill, HB 3356, which would force wind and solar companies to buy fossil-fuel based power to cover the time periods that they're not operating. Critics of these bills argue they will hamstring the Texas economy for the same reason that gas companies are leaving the TEF: there aren't enough gas turbines, or enough interest from utilities in building new gas plants, to meet Texas's skyrocketing energy needs or deliver the power the TEF was meant to incentivize. A report for the Texas Association of Business found that if just one of those anti-solar bills, HB 3356, is passed, it would cost state ratepayers $5 billion, while increasing the threat of rolling blackouts — the kind of outcomes that TEF's creation was theoretically intended to help the state avoid. Geothermal isn't the only form of dispatchable power state lawmakers want to incentivize. Yet another bill being weighed by the legislature would make an additional $2 billion available to nuclear developers under similar terms to the TEF. Because lawmakers excluded battery storage projects — which, along with solar, make up the fastest growing part of the Texas grid — from consideration for the TEF, and because no nuclear projects are anywhere near ready to apply, the fund has in effect amounted to a subsidy for fossil fuels. The timeline for nuclear projects could prove to be an issue for the nuclear proposals as well. Geothermal advocates, however, argue that power plants that tap the subterranean heat Texas also offer dispatchable power — and that the energy funds can speed the growth of geothermal in the state, which is emerging as a key hub for the industry. While Texas doesn't have the red-hot shallow rock or circulating underground geyser systems of the Mountain West or Pacific Rim, recent maps produced by the advocacy group Project Innerspace show considerable geothermal resources beneath the state. And Texas also has something perhaps even more important than those resources: a vast and increasingly underutilized oil and gas workforce, whose job skills — from mapping underground reservoirs to drilling and encasing wells — are a close match to geothermal's needs. The field also has allies in the Trump administration. Secretary of Energy Chris Wright, a skeptic of renewables and the concept of 'clean energy' writ large, has thrown his support behind geothermal. And President Trump himself, in an Earth Day message largely focused on touting the president's accomplishments in opening up the nation's lands and waters to more logging, fishing, mining and drilling, emphasized the administration's commitment to 'next-generation geothermal.'
