Texas is entering a new political era. After Democrats swept into statewide office in the November election, the state's energy policies could be headed for a major shake-up.
For decades, Texas has been synonymous with oil and gas. But today, the state is also a national leader in wind and solar power, and battery storage is rapidly transforming the electricity grid.
Now, with new leadership coming to Austin, there are big questions about the future of the Texas energy economy. Will the state accelerate its transition to cleaner energy?
Can new technologies make the ERCOT grid more reliable and prevent another catastrophic blackout? And perhaps most importantly, will any of this translate into lower electricity bills for Texas families?
There's also the challenge of surging electricity demand from data centers, industrial expansion and a growing population.
Who will pay for the infrastructure needed to keep the lights on?
Guest:
Joshua Rhodes, an energy researcher at the University of Texas at Austin and an expert with the Reliable Grid Project.
Texas Democratic Promises
In the midterm election, Texas voters handed Democrats a level of power they haven’t had at the state Capitol in decades.
They flipped the Texas House after more than twenty years of Republican control and elected a Democratic governor and lieutenant governor.
Now, campaign promises about health care, schools and the cost of living are becoming a governing agenda.
But Republicans still control the state Senate — and, as The Texas Newsroom’s Blaise Gainey reports, that could make it difficult for Democrats to deliver on some of their biggest promises.
Immigration Reform
For decades, Congress has struggled to fix America's broken immigration system. And again and again, efforts to reach a bipartisan compromise have collapsed.
In 2006 and 2007, major immigration reform proposals failed to become law. In 2013, the U.S. Senate passed a sweeping bipartisan immigration bill that offered a pathway to citizenship for millions of undocumented immigrants, along with increased border security. But the Republican-controlled House never brought the legislation to a vote.
And in 2024, another bipartisan deal, this time focused on border security and asylum restrictions, fell apart amid opposition from Donald Trump and congressional Republicans.
Now, just days after voters delivered a sweeping rebuke of President Trump's mass deportation crackdown in the midterm elections, Democratic lawmakers representing heavily Latino congressional districts are calling for Congress to try again.
They're demanding a bipartisan immigration reform deal that would protect longtime undocumented residents and provide greater certainty for millions of mixed-status families.
And they say they don't want to wait for the new Congress to take office. They want a deal during the lame-duck session, while Republicans still hold power.
Texas & Elon Musk
Elon Musk moved to Texas in 2020, seeking to avoid Democratic policies in California.
Republicans in Texas welcomed him enthusiastically as a business partner.
Now, six years later, Democrats will soon take charge in the state government. Will Musk have a home in the Lone Star State?
Michael Adkison reports with Houston Public Media.
