It’s been a few weeks since we here at The Feed published our last newletter. There’s a ton happening and we’ve been super busy with both our commercial and residential projects! So here’s a digest of news bits gathered from (mostly) around the state- which we think are impactful and interesting for folks following the Texas solar (and battery storage!) marketplace.

Cities push back on Abbott’s plan to open Austin Energy and CPS Energy to competition (Texas Tribune, Sept. 8)
Abbott says ending city-owned utilities would cut average bills about 10% in Austin and San Antonio, while city and utility officials argue the change would raise rates and cost a lot to implement. Austin Mayor Kirk Watson called it a multi-year process that would cost customers more than a billion dollars. We aren’t quite sure what to think about all of this yet, but we’re closely watching the progress…
https://www.texastribune.org/2026/09/08/texas-austin-energy-san-antonio-cps-abbott/

ERCOT (Texas grid operator) load keeps setting records (Utility Dive, ~Sept. 8)
EIA says average hourly load in the week ending Aug. 22 was 10% above any week last summer and 6% above the 2023 record, and six straight weeks beat that 2023 mark. The fact that we saw no widespread or extended grid outages during the summer peak loads makes us think that maybe the regulators and utilities are finally investing in the infrastructure needed to strengthen our stressed-out grid for coming years.  https://www.utilitydive.com/news/load-ercot-record-highs-eia/829801/

PUC approves Texas’s first 765-kV lines (Texas Tribune via TPR, Aug. 28)
On Aug. 28, regulators unanimously approved two Oncor projects covering more than 400 miles of 765-kV line, despite objections from lawmakers, landowners and the Attorney General. This seems ok to us here at NATiVE. “Repowering” existing high-tension utility poles for higher-capacity transmission lines seems like a no-brainer given the forecasted load demand growth.
https://www.tpr.org/news/2026-08-28/texas-regulators-approve-two-massive-west-texas-transmission-lines-amid-outcry-from-landowners

Study says reconductoring could save Texas $20B (pv magazine USA, Aug. 31)
Evolved Energy Research modeled a high-growth ERCOT scenario in which $10 billion of reconductoring avoids $30 billion in new-build transmission. About $35 billion of new lines would still be needed. This article provides more context to the related entry and link above.
http://pv-magazine-usa.com/2026/08/31/reconductoring-existing-transmission-lines-in-texas-could-save-20-billion-study-says/

Batteries are now setting evening power prices (Quartz, Aug. 21)
Batteries have started displacing gas peakers as the resource that sets wholesale prices. Energy trading made up 76% of Texas battery revenue by June 2025, triple the share a year earlier. Most of the battery capacity driving down the rate prices is coming from utility-scale BESS, but smaller commercial and residential grid-connected batteries are beginning to make a dent as well.
https://qz.com/batteries-set-electricity-prices-wholesale-markets-081726

Austin moves to regulate, and possibly ban, large data centers (CBS Austin, ~Aug. 28)
Council voted unanimously on Aug. 27 to start drafting rules, with binding regulations due by the end of 2026 and support for prohibiting larger facilities. For those of us who want to see more constraints placed on hyperscalers, this will be welcome news.
https://cbsaustin.com/news/local/austin-city-council-unanimously-moves-forward-with-new-data-center-regulations

Texas leads the U.S. in generation growth (Yahoo, ~Sept. 10)
Texas utility-scale generation grew 3.2% in the first half, versus 2.1% nationally. Solar output rose 35.2%, and in May solar out-generated coal for the first time on a monthly basis. We’ve officially taken the lead from California, ya’ll.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/us/articles/solar-powers-texas-fastest-electricity-161115125.html

EIA expects solar to pass coal in ERCOT (North American Dallas, Aug. 31)
EIA projects solar will out-generate coal most months of 2026, with ERCOT solar reaching 99 billion kWh in 2027 compared with 66 billion from coal. -More good news for those of us who care about the planet’s environment.
https://www.nadallas.com/2026/08/31/581544/solar-gains-ground-in-texas-energy-mix

Second-life EV batteries power a San Antonio-area BESS (Solar Power World, Sept. 9)
B2U’s Bexar Martinez project now provides 28 MWh of grid services to ERCOT in CPS Energy territory. The company plans 50+ MWh more over six months and says its sites qualify for the ITC domestic content bonus. Used batteries collected from crashed UV’s for the win here! We’re all for this! https://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2026/09/repurposed-ev-batteries-now-delivering-28-mwh-of-grid-services-to-ercot/

Base Power launches commercial electricity plans (EnergyChoiceMatters, Aug. 25)
The plans are fixed-rate for business accounts. Base says pilot customers pay an average of 19% less, and it will cover up to $350 in early termination fees for small and medium businesses. [REVIEW: financial claim] The savings figure is company-reported, and Base also competes in residential batteries. Base Energy has a pretty compelling product and business model. We’re watching these folks closely
http://www.energychoicematters.com/stories/20260825c.html

Enphase builds solid-state transformer modules in Arlington (Transformer Magazine, Sept. 9)
The 4 kW modules combine into racks of up to 5 MW for AI data centers. Demonstrations are expected in November 2026, with pilots in 2027. As a Gold-level Enphase installation firm, we here at NATiVE see and appreciate the investment that ENphase has continued to make in helping Texas become a major centor of renewable tech manufacuring! https://transformer-magazine.com/news/enphase-starts-us-sst-module-production/

Well, there’s a lot more to report on, but we’ll save that for the next newsletter, folks.  Please be well and stay hydrated as we (hopefully) start to see temps dropping over the news few weeks!

Get in touch with us if you have any questions or concerns around solar for your own commercial or residential property. For any service-related issues, we’re always available to get your system running at top performance.