At the start of Texas’ legislative session, lawmakers launched an unprecedented assault on corporate accountability and responsible investing, introducing more than 20 anti-responsible investing bills. Unlocking America’s Future has been fighting back—and over the past two weeks, a number of dangerous proposals were defeated. Among them, House Bill 872, which would have shifted the burden of proof in certain lawsuits onto companies, making it harder for businesses to defend responsible investment practices and exposing them to increased legal risk.
But the fight is far from over. As Texas braces for a record-breaking mid-May heatwave and energy demand spikes, Republican lawmakers are putting political ideology ahead of sound policy—and ahead of Texans’ safety. Instead of working to strengthen the state’s energy infrastructure, Senate Bill 388, which passed in the Senate last month, is mandating that every new watt of renewable energy be paired with a new watt of fossil fuel energy. With known supply chain bottlenecks making it very difficult to build new gas plants before 2030, the bill threatens to stall renewable development at a time when Texas can least afford it.
Even as Texas lawmakers are making it harder for responsible businesses to do the right thing, they’re making it easier for big corporations, to sidestep corporate accountability. Senate Bill 1057—now on Governor Greg Abbott’s desk—dramatically raises the bar for submitting shareholder proposals, requiring either $1 million in holdings or a 3% ownership stake. The bill effectively allows companies to evade the vast majority of shareholder proposals that keep corporations accountable, limiting input to only the wealthiest of shareholders.
More information on all the bills moving through the state’s legislature here.
See how the anti-responsible investing bills moving through Texas’ legislature will hurt Texans and the state’s economy below:
Business Insider: Texas is on the verge of handing Tesla and other big businesses a major win
As Delaware rebukes Elon Musk over his pay package, Texas is now offering corporate America a path to sidestep legal challenges from most of its shareholders.
Over the past two months, lawmakers have pushed through a pair of bills they say would bring more businesses to the Lone Star State. Senate Bill 29 would make it harder for shareholders to sue companies, while Senate Bill 1057 would raise the bar for bringing resolutions at annual meetings.
[…]“There’s a famous quote from John Dingell, the former Michigan congressman, who said, ‘If you write the substance and you let me write the procedure, I’ll screw you every time.’ That’s exactly what’s happening here,” said Joel Fleming, a lawyer who represents investors in governance disputes.
The Hill: Record-early heat wave hits Texas as lawmakers target renewables
A brutal and record-early heat wave is baking Texas this week — bringing the triple-digit temperatures typical of July to the middle of May.
The sudden heat spike, which was made more likely by the decades-long failure to stop burning fossil fuels, creates an acute danger for a populace not yet acclimatized to summer heat.
It also comes at a fraught time: as the Texas Legislature debates measures that experts say would curtail the very power supply that will keep the air conditioning on and deadly blackouts at bay.
[…]Last month, the Senate also passed S.B. 388, a bill requiring that every new watt of wind and solar power also come with a corresponding new watt of coal, nuclear or gas — despite a turbine supply chain bottleneck that will make it very difficult to build new gas plants before the 2030s.
The New York Times: Renewable Energy Is Booming in Texas. Republicans Want to Change That
The Republican-controlled State Senate in Texas has passed — and the State House is currently considering — several regulatory bills to curtail solar and wind projects in favor of new natural gas plants. Long the party of limited regulation and free markets, Republicans are now seeking to impose new rules on how electricity should be produced.
“That’s the choice these lawmakers have to make: ideology or pragmatism,” said Doug Lewin, an energy consultant who writes a newsletter focused on the Texas electricity grid. “Do you hate renewables so much that you’re willing to take out the Texas economy with it?”
[…]In Texas, the effort comes at a potentially challenging time for the power grid. Energy-intensive businesses, including new manufacturing plants and massive data centers for artificial intelligence and cryptocurrencies, have been flocking to the state in part because of its plentiful and relatively cheap power.
Houston Chronicle: Texas bills could shut down existing wind, solar farms: ‘I cannot recall legislation as damaging.’
Texas Republicans are getting closer than ever to killing the state’s renewable energy boom, according to the clean energy industry — not only by halting new development in its tracks, but also by possibly sending scores of existing projects to an early grave.
Many in the Texas electric power industry were focused on two companion bills, House Bill 3356 and Senate Bill 715, as the Senate version passed Thursday afternoon.
The bills would require nearly every solar and wind farm in the state to back up their electricity output with natural gas power plants or a fleet of batteries.
If an existing renewable project doesn’t have backup power so it can supply electricity when the sun isn’t shining or the wind isn’t blowing, its owner would have to pay a steep fine — or stop operating the project completely.
Such a requirement could be so cost-prohibitive that thousands of megawatts of existing renewable energy projects in Texas might shut down, and companies wanting to develop new ones would go elsewhere, industry leaders say.
San Antonio Express-News: Anti-renewables bill adds more risk for Texas grid, ERCOT boss says
Republican-led legislation that barreled through the state Senate has the solar and wind industries tied in knots — and the Texas grid boss can see why.
During a discussion with reporters this week, Electric Reliability Council of Texas CEO Pablo Vegas said bills that call for costly back-up power requirements on renewables could push them out of the market and slow new development.
“It could cause certain resources not to be able to operate,” Vegas said. “That’s a risk.”
Senate Bill 715, which was approved Thursday by the Senate, could put a massive strain on wind and solar farms at a time the grid is facing an unprecedented demand spike, largely from data centers and AI computing firms flocking to Texas.
