LOS ANGELES — Texas may be known for oil, but Gov. Rick Perry wants the state to be known for alternative energy sources, too.
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Perry says he wants to double the number of nuclear plants in the state within the next 10 years, increase development of biofuels made from algae and other sources, and dramatically boost the state's production and use of wind energy — an area where Texas recently surpassed California to lead the country.
"I want Texas to be the epicenter of energy development — wind, solar, clean coal, obviously natural gas, nuclear and biofuels," Perry said during a visit to California, which today is considered the nation's leader in alternative energy development. He added that he can envision a day when the state gets more of its power from alternative energy than from fossil fuels like oil and coal.
Perry's aspirations got a major boost recently, when the Texas Public Utility Commission gave preliminary approval to a plan to build billions of dollars worth of new transmission lines to move electricity produced by wind turbines in rural West Texas to more heavily populated parts of central Texas. The lines would represent the nation's biggest wind-related energy project.
In an interview here, Perry said such transmission lines were necessary not just to bring much-needed power from West Texas to state's biggest cities, but also to show investors and others that Texas is serious about alternative energy development. He said Texas is well on its way to producing about three times the amount of wind energy as California.
"You've got to send the message to those people (who) are going to invest, and to the public that's going to pay for it," he said.
Perry indicated that he'd like Texas to develop its nuclear power industry just as much as it has developed its wind power industry.
"We've made some great progress in showing the public that we can build nuclear plants safely and we can operate them safely — just as we've shown the country that we can drill offshore and not impact our shoreline," Perry said.
Already, Texas is on its way to more to meeting Perry's goal of doubling the number of nuclear reactors in the state. Currently, the state has four nuclear plants.
Last September, NRG Energy Inc. became the first company in nearly three decades to apply for a nuclear reactor, with plans for two new reactors at its existing nuclear plant inMatagorda County in South Texas.
Luminant, formerly TXU Corp., has said it wants to build two new reactors its Comanche Peak nuclear plant southwest of Dallas. And Exelon Corp. wants to build two reactors in Victoria County in Southeast Texas.
Perry said he was confident that given the current energy crisis, changing public perceptions would help ensure that the plants will be built.
"As economics becomes a part of this, and as history shows us ... that you can build nuclear plants and do it safely and economically ... it's going to create a difference in how people think about energy," he said.
Not all people.
Karen Hadden, executive director of the SEED (Sustainable Energy and Economic Development) Coalition in Austin, Texas, said Perry should be pushing renewable energy, but not nuclear energy.
"Rick Perry is a friend of dirty energy and of nuclear power, which we do not see as a solution," Hadden said. "It's good that he's supporting renewables — as well he should be. But he's still pushing these other things."
"We don't even need this (nuclear) power," said Hadden whose group runs the Web site nukefreetexas.org. "We know that efficiency and renewables can and will do the job."
With alternative renewable energy sources, Perry says he and Texas is doing plenty there too.
Last month, Perry was on hand at the grand opening of the nation's largest biodiesel refinery, operated by GreenHunter Energy Inc. in Houston. And earlier this year, the Texas Emerging Technology Fund, a state investment vehicle created at Perry's urging, awarded $4 million to Texas A&M for a research project into algae-based biofuels.
"I think algae's got some extraordinary potential," Perry said. So do other genetically modified plants that are being researched by Texas A&M and other universities, he said.
Bob Keefe's email address is bkeefe@coxnews.com
