Increasing the Texas Renewable Energy Standard: Economic and Employment Benefits

The Union of Concerned Scientists analyzed two proposals to increase the Texas Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS). The more aggressive 20 percent by 2020 proposal would result in 17,820 MW of renewable capacity by 2025, creating 38,290 new jobs and saving consumers $5.6 billion in energy bills. The more modest 10,000 MW by 2025 proposal would yield approximately 8 percent renewable energy by 2025, creating 19,950 new jobs and $5.5 billion in consumer savings. Both proposals would diversify the electricity mix by displacing natural gas and coal, reducing CO2 emissions and providing significant capital investment and tax revenues to rural Texas communities.

• The 20 percent by 2020 RPS proposal would significantly diversify the electricity mix, increasing total homegrown renewable power to over 17,800 MW by 2025 and displacing natural gas and new coal generation.
• Under the 20 percent standard, total consumer energy bills for natural gas and electricity are projected to be nearly $5.6 billion lower by 2025, with residential, commercial, and industrial savings of $1.3 billion, $2.4 billion, and $1.8 billion respectively.
• The 20 percent RPS is projected to create 38,290 new jobs by 2025, which is 2.8 times more jobs than fossil fuels, resulting in a net increase of 24,650 jobs.
• Rural Texas would see substantial economic gains under the 20 percent standard, including $9.4 billion in new capital investment, $1.1 billion in school district property tax revenues, and $154 million in wind power land lease income.
• The 20 percent by 2020 standard would reduce annual power plant CO2 emissions by approximately 20 million metric tons (MMT) by 2025, a 7.4 percent reduction compared to business-as-usual levels.
• The 10,000 MW by 2025 proposal would result in approximately 8 percent of statewide electricity sales coming from renewable energy by 2025 and would reduce annual CO2 emissions by 5 MMT.
• The 10,000 MW proposal would create 19,950 new jobs by 2025 and generate cumulative consumer energy bill savings of nearly $5.5 billion.
• In a 'less likely' scenario using more pessimistic EIA cost assumptions, the 20 percent standard would actually see higher job creation (45,470) and higher CO2 reductions (27 MMT) due to a shift toward more bioenergy facilities.
• The existing Texas RPS, enacted in 1999, required 2,000 MW of new renewable capacity by 2009 and has been successful, with nearly 1,200 MW already installed by the time of the report.

APA

Deyette, J., & Clemmer, S. (2005). Increasing the Texas Renewable Energy Standard: Economic and Employment Benefits. Union of Concerned Scientists. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/texas_res_report-02-05_final.pdf

Chicago

Deyette, Jeff, and Steve Clemmer. Increasing the Texas Renewable Energy Standard: Economic and Employment Benefits. Union of Concerned Scientists, 2005. https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/texas_res_report-02-05_final.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Deyette |first1=Jeff |last2=Clemmer |first2=Steve |title=Increasing the Texas Renewable Energy Standard: Economic and Employment Benefits |publisher=Union of Concerned Scientists |date=February 2005 |url=https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/texas_res_report-02-05_final.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{deyette2005increasing, author = {Deyette, Jeff and Clemmer, Steve}, title = {{Increasing the Texas Renewable Energy Standard: Economic and Employment Benefits}}, institution = {Union of Concerned Scientists}, year = {2005}, month = feb, url = {https://www.ucs.org/sites/default/files/2019-09/texas_res_report-02-05_final.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }