Abbott, Patrick release statement regarding Texas Energy Fund concerns

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- Governor Greg Abbott and Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick released a statement on Monday regarding the future of the Texas Energy Fund.

"In recent testimony before the Senate Business and Commerce committee, ERCOT CEO Pablo Vegas testified that Texas may need 150,000 megawatts of power to power our grid by 2030. That is only six years away," the statement from Abbott and Patrick said.

The statement said Texas has approximately 85,000 megawatts of power available counting wind, solar, coal, nuclear and natural gas. If the new estimate is correct, the updated numbers provided will call for an immediate review of all policies concerning the grid.

KXAN previously reported last November Texans voted on a proposition that created the Texas Energy Fund, providing a $5 billion low-interest program to incentivize the building of more dispatchable natural gas plants.

"Texas has already received notice of intent to apply for $39 billion in loans, making the program nearly eight times oversubscribed. With the new projections for 2030, we will seek to expand the program to $10 billion to build more new plants as soon as possible," the statement from Abbott and Patrick said.

The average plant will take three to four years to complete, and new transmission lines will take three to six years to complete, according to the statement.

"Texas is currently the fastest state to approve and build new plants and transmission lines because of our low regulations and pro-business policies, but we must move quickly," the statement from Abbott and Patrick said.