April 15, 2019 • EPE Related News
Report: El Paso a Top 10 city for solar in Texas
El Paso ranks third in Texas for solar energy capacity, according to a new report from advocacy group Environment Texas.
San Antonio ranks first in the state, followed by Austin in the 2019 Shining Cities report released last Tuesday.
“We still have a long way to go, but leaders like El Paso are taking the steps necessary to power more homes, schools and businesses with clean energy from the sun,” Luke Metzger, executive director of the Austin-based nonprofit, said in a statement.
Still, less than 3 percent of El Paso Electric’s energy mix comes from the sun. Most comes from natural gas and nuclear power plants. But the utility does have plans to dramatically increase its solar power.
“The planned addition of 200 megawatts of solar generation and 100 megawatts of battery storage will continue to reduce the carbon footprint of our already coal-free generation portfolio,” El Paso Electric President and CEO Mary Kipp said in a statement.
The utility plans to purchase the power and battery storage over the next four years from facilities operated by private companies.
The Shining Cities report points to the city’s Gold designation from SolSmart, a program funded by the U.S. Department of Energy. El Paso received the award in 2017 for creating an online checklist to guide residents through the process of adopting solar panels and streamlining the permitting process.
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