Part 4/7:
One of the central issues facing Texas is its capacity market—a system that discourages power producers from adding extra capacity unless it can be economically justified. This system has an ideological bias against renewable energy sources, particularly solar. While solar power thrives in other regions, Texas’s regulations limit its scalability due to concerns regarding its intermittent availability, since solar energy is not generated at night.
While the demand for electricity surges in the evenings, particularly between 6:00 to 9:00 PM as people return home and crank up their air conditioning, the current setup prevents the construction of additional power plants tailored to meet these peak demands.