(AP Photo/Harry Cabluck)

Senate Bill 20 extends and expands the Renewable Portfolio Standard (RPS) put forward in Senate Bill 7. The 2005 legislation increased Texas RPS goal to 5,880 MW by 2015, of which 500 MW must come from non-wind resources. The legislation also set a goal of 10,000 MW in renewable energy capacity by 2025. The effort to diversify the state’s renewable generation portfolio indirectly promotes solar power and biomass. It also provides farmers and ranchers with new revenue sources from the use of crops and animal waste to produce energy.

Senate Bill 20 also includes a transmission plan for regions that may have great capacity for renewable energy but lack sufficient transmission infrastructure to move it to markets.