AUSTIN (KXAN) — The future of clean energy in Austin is taking its first steps on Wednesday. The city’s utility provider, Austin Energy, is cutting the ribbon on a new solar panel installation that could generate nearly 660,000 kWh of power. That’s enough energy to power sixty U.S. homes for a full year.

The move comes as energy demands skyrocket across Texas. In an upcoming meeting by the
Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT), the state’s energy provider, plans to discuss a 270% increase in megawatt demand since this January. 77% of those requests are related to solar and energy storage resources.

The installation is part of Austin Energy’s Solar Standard Project. Announced in November 2024, the project “allows commercial property owners to either host solar panels on their rooftops or lease their roof space to third-party solar developers.”

The energy generated by these projects is then sold to Austin Energy and used to power the city’s grid. According to Austin Energy, businesses pay no upfront cost to lease the space and will generate passive income.

The first installation is on the rooftop of Radial Power in northeast Austin.

“We have an incredible amount of rooftop solar potential here in Austin – thousands of megawatts – but most of it has been unutilized because of the financial barrier for actually getting that solar installed,” said Kaiba White, a climate policy specialist at Public Citizen, in November.

The move towards more solar in Austin is part of the utilities’ “Austin Energy Resource, Generation and Climate Protection Plan to 2035”. The city is taking multiple steps to improve reliability and reduce costs in Austin, including more solar.

Austin Energy Resource, Generation and Climate Protection Plan 2035Download

According to the report, Austin Energy plans to “reach 405 MW of installed local solar capacity by 2035 — including 160 MW of existing capacity.”

Increased demand in the state has been blamed on a push for more data centers. 70% of the new load requests have come from data centers, according to ERCOT.

In October, a new data center was approved new Jarrell High School, in Jarrell, TX. In July, the city of Taylor approved a data center in their community.

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