{"id":117406,"date":"2025-11-20T19:22:30","date_gmt":"2025-11-21T00:22:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.citizen.org\/?post_type=news&p=117406"},"modified":"2025-11-20T19:22:30","modified_gmt":"2025-11-21T00:22:30","slug":"texas-turns-toward-the-sun-public-citizen-celebrates-solar-power","status":"publish","type":"news","link":"https:\/\/www.citizen.org\/news\/texas-turns-toward-the-sun-public-citizen-celebrates-solar-power\/","title":{"rendered":"Texas Turns Toward the Sun: Public Citizen Celebrates Solar Power"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article appeared in the November\/December 2025 edition of Public Citizen News. Download the full edition here<\/a>.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Texas is known for its abundant resources, including the vast amounts of oil and gas that have been extracted for decades and shipped around the world. The state also benefits from another energy source that happens to be free: sunshine.<\/span><\/p>\n

It might surprise many that the state known for its fossil fuels is also a leader in utility-scale solar-generated energy. It\u2019s something that should be celebrated. That\u2019s precisely what Public Citizen did this fall. On Sept. 21, members of our Texas office co-sponsored SUN DAY with the climate action group Third Act, celebrating renewable energy and encouraging rooftop solar adoption.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSolar power is not only growing \u2013 it\u2019s also saving Texas during periods of peak demand,\u201d said Haley Schulz, Public Citizen\u2019s Houston-area organizer who participated in the Bayou City’s SUN DAY event.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Austin celebration was symbolically held on the grounds of the state Capitol, a place where policy decisions can make or break entire industries. The event featured informational talks on solar and other clean energy topics. It included a presentation by Kaiba White, a climate policy and outreach specialist with Public Citizen\u2019s Texas office, who explained how homeowners can become solar adopters.<\/span><\/p>\n

At the San Antonio SUN DAY event, Public Citizen\u2019s Texas Director Adrian Shelley spoke about energy legislation considered during this year\u2019s session of the Texas Legislature, which concluded in June.<\/span><\/p>\n

In Houston, Schulz provided information and updates on Public Citizen\u2019s work at both national and local levels, highlighting the clean energy transition campaign with the group Close Parish Coal, which aims to end the use of coal at the WA Parish power plant in neighboring Fort Bend County.<\/span><\/p>\n

There were approximately 450 SUN DAY events held nationwide, with additional celebrations in other countries. The current iteration of SUN DAY is the brainchild of journalist and activist Bill McKibben. He recently explained the idea in an interview with the <\/span>New York Times<\/span><\/i>:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cSolar power is no longer the \u201dWhole Foods of energy \u2014 nice but pricey.\u201d It has become the \u201cCostco of power \u2014 cheap, available in bulk, and on the shelf ready to go.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Texas has come to the same conclusion. Renewable sources of energy have stabilized the state\u2019s grid and lowered prices.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the years since the deadly Winter Storm Uri left millions of Texans without power in 2021, Texas has faced other close calls, with state officials urging the public to conserve energy to avoid outages. Happily, the state has avoided another power outage disaster thanks largely to the booming solar and wind industries, which have, at times, provided more than half the energy Texans need to keep the lights on and homes cool.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Still, Texas has plenty of room to grow its renewable usage. While it leads in large-scale wind and solar power generation, it lags behind other states in small-scale installations commonly seen in homes and businesses. Public Citizen is actively working in several Texas cities to support local policies that make such installations easier and more financially sound.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cRooftop solar minimizes environmental impact, which reduces electric bills. The challenge is in financing the up-front investment needed to access those benefits,\u201d said White, whose work in Austin includes efforts to decarbonize the city\u2019s electric utility and convincing the city council to support solar installations on city buildings as well as residential solar incentive programs.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cTexas has big skies and lots of sunshine year-round,\u201d White added. \u201cWe should harness that energy in order to power the world into the future. It will happen if we get the word out with events like SUN DAY and strong pro-renewable advocacy at every level of government.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n ","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-117406","news","type-news","status-publish","hentry","tax_topic-public-citizen-news","tax_news-featured-articles"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nTexas Turns Toward the Sun: Public Citizen Celebrates Solar Power - Public Citizen<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.citizen.org\/news\/texas-turns-toward-the-sun-public-citizen-celebrates-solar-power\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Texas Turns Toward the Sun: Public Citizen Celebrates Solar Power - Public Citizen\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"This article appeared in the November\/December 2025 edition of Public Citizen News. 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