Texas generated record electricity from renewables, natural gas in 2022

Coal-to-gas fuel switching; runaway renewable growth

Texas generated record amounts of wind and solar power last year, even as its natural gas fleet produced more electricity than ever to keep up with booming demand.

The chart below shows 365-day trailing average generation by fuel in ERCOT from 2010-2022. Nuclear generation is flat; wind and solar are arching upward; and coal is giving way to gas, though still with plenty of fuel-switching depending on the relative cost between the two.

Natural gas generation has increased by half since 2010 while coal generation has halved. Wind and solar farms in Texas now produce nearly twice as much electricity as coal-fired plants.

Renewables are limiting opportunities for the ERCOT fossil fleet to run, even in an environment of growing electricity demand. The chart below shows incremental changes in annual generation by fuel since 2010.

Total coal + gas generation remains the same as in 2010 despite growing load, with renewables meeting the bulk of new incremental demand. As shown in the previous chart, coal generation has plummeted from both operational fuel switching to cheaper gas as well as from retirements taking gigawatts of capacity permanently out of the mix.