• Allison Miles •
• Originally published May 29, 2008 at 9:34 p.m., updated May 29, 2008 at 9:34 p.m.

Texas’ population is expected to grow from 24 million people to 40 million by 2040, Texas senator Glenn Hegar said, and the state must be ready to meet its growing energy needs.

“When you talk about generation of electricity, it requires a tremendous amount of water,” he said. “It only makes sense that obviously we’re going to have to have a lot more electric generation capacity in this state.”

Hegar spoke to a crowd of about 300 people Thursday morning at the South Texas Electric Cooperative’s annual meeting.

When you look at water resources – whether underwater, water that flows through the rivers or otherwise – there is competing demand, Hegar said.

Addressing those resource issues during the next legislative session, he said, will benefit generating capacity, residential areas and economic development across Texas.

Hegar addressed other issues that he said affect the general public.

The Legislature put a moratorium on the Trans Texas Corridor during the last session, he said, but the Texas Department of Transportation continued to spend taxpayers’ money to convince people the road was the right choice for Texas.

“I have a 3-year-old little girl and, usually, when I tell her not to do something, I pretty well mean it,” he said. “And that’s the same way with the Legislature. When we give direction to a state agency and they completely turn the opposite and do something different, that is very real to people. And how do you manage that?”

International Power President Bruce Levy discussed the company’s ongoing partnership with the South Texas Electric Cooperative to build a new 650 megawatt unit at International Power’s Coleto Creek location.

The venture will provide additional energy options for a market that needs the extra supply, he said, but the business has changed immensely in recently years.

A renewed focus on the environment complicates the way people think about building new plants, he said.

Companies are taking care to make sure that emissions such as carbon dioxide and mercury are greatly reduced at the new plant, Levy said, and are updating the existing unit with improved turbines and boilers.

“We’re planning to build one of the cleanest coal plants in the world,” he said.

Allison Miles is a reporter for the Advocate. Contact her at 361-580-6511 or amiles@vicad.com.

• Print
• •
• Share
  • Share this item

    Send this to a friend

    Share on FaceBook

  • Grab the link

    Copy and paste the link:

  • Blog about it

    Blog about this page.

  • Close
• •
• Post a Comment
• •
• Favorite
• •
• Report error
  • Thank you for your submission.
    Error report or correction

    Contact name (optional) Contact phone/e-mail (optional)  

    
  • Close
• •