One of Texas’ dirtiest coal plants will swap to solar with help from US grant
A coal plant in South Texas will shut down and convert to a solar + battery electricity generation facility, with the help of a $1.4 billion grant from the US Department of Agriculture meant to help clean energy while saving rural jobs.
The grant will go to San Miguel Electric Cooperative Inc (SMECI) headquartered in Atascosa County, Texas, south of San Antonio, and serving 340,000 customers 47 South Texas counties.
SMECI has operated a mine mouth lignite-fired coal plant (named due to its proximity to the mine that supplies it) since 1982. The plant is in the town of Christine, Texas, population 337.
But that coal-fired plant is one of the dirtiest in Texas. It’s the fourth-largest mercury polluter in the state, producing around 12 times as much mercury as is allowed by a new EPA rule.
It also has two coal ash ponds on site which leech into the local water table and create some of the most contaminated groundwater in the country. Here’s a passage from a 2022 Earthjustice report which analyzed contamination from coal plants:
Numerous constituents were found in concentrations exceeding relevant thresholds from the outset of monitoring in 2018—in wells both up- and downgradient from CCR units. These constituents include arsenic (up to 7 times the Maximum Contamination Level (MCL)), beryllium (up to 112 times the MCL), boron (up to 28 times its 10-day child health advisory), cadmium (up to 83 times the MCL), cobalt (up to 360 times its default GWPS in the CCR Rule), lithium (up to 82 times its default GWPS), selenium (up to 16 times the MCL), and radium (up to 6 times the MCL).
–Poisonous Coverup, The Widespread Failure of the Power Industry to Clean Up Coal Ash Dumps, Earthjustice, 2022
In particular, note that the coal plant resulted in 360x as much cobalt as is allowed in the groundwater protection standard – an element that people often associate with electric car batteries, but is also present in many fossil fueled applications (oil refining, for one).
So, moving away from this coal plant and to a cleaner option would definitely be a big win, given what an environmental stain it is on the area.
In September, SMECI was chosen as a finalist for a new USDA “Empowering Rural America” grant, and this week, was officially selected as one of the sites to receive part of grant, alongside 9 others. SMECI received the largest chunk of the $4.37 billion total, with other sites mostly getting grants in the hundreds of millions.
In total, the grants will support 5,000 jobs and reduced climate pollution by 11 million tons per year, according to the USDA. SMECI’s grant will reduce climate pollution by 1.8 million tons, as much removing 446,000 cars from the road, and support around 600 jobs.
The grant money will be used to convert the plant away from coal power and replace it with solar and battery storage. Solar is an abundant resource in sunny South Texas, and the plant already has grid connections to make this an easier drop-in than having to run new transmission lines.
But not only that, the site’s capacity will see a significant upgrade. The current coal plant can produce up to 410 megawatts of power, but the upcoming solar plant will be capable of 600 MW – nearly half again as much as its previous capacity.
And pairing this solar power with grid-tied batteries will help to make the grid more resilient, too. Thermal power plants tend to take time to turn off and on, meaning it’s harder to manage unexpected peaks and troughs in electricity demand – plus, equipment at the plants tends to wear when it heats up and cools down a lot, contributing to the high costs of coal power. There have been numerous studies showing that new solar plants are cheaper than old coal – and that’s even ignoring externalities.
While solar power is often considered intermittent – you are at the mercy of the sun, after all – batteries can solve that problem. These batteries can help to smooth out peaks and troughs in generation and demand, and can be dispatched to the grid within milliseconds, to better match supply with demand. They can also be used for energy arbitrage, by charging when supply is abundant and discharging when demand is high.
While there’s no announced timeline yet for exactly when the plant will complete its transition, SMECI will develop a Community Benefits Plan over the course of the next year as a provision of the grant process.
Once this transition is completed, Texas will be left with 14 coal plants. In 2023, Texas generated 71GWh of electricity through coal, down from a peak of 157GWh in 2011. Electricity generation in the state was 37.2% coal in 2000, and just 13.1% in 2023.
And if you want to make the transition to solar on your own personal level, why not install some on your roof? To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
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The State of California is moving to ban the sale of Tesla cars amid claims that the company and its CEO, Elon Musk, have misled buyers about the self-driving capabilities of their cars. We’ve also got market-leading news out of Vietnam and a pricey, pricey lesson for one VW ID.Buzz buyer on today’s lesson-learning episode of Quick Charge!
We also ask what this might mean for the recent Uber/Lucid autonomous taxi tie-up and go through a full rundown of the fastest depreciating EVs on the market (and yes, there are four Tesla models in the top 10 … because the Cybertruck was too new to qualify).
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If you’re considering going solar, it’s always a good idea to get quotes from a few installers. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
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Sunrun is putting tens of thousands of home batteries to work in Puerto Rico as the island’s electric grid faces a summer of high temperatures and energy shortfalls.
The company says it’s now dispatching energy from over 37,000 residential batteries to help grid operator LUMA keep the lights on. That stored power is being used to prevent rolling blackouts when demand spikes and centralized power plants can’t keep up.
Sunrun’s emergency power contribution has grown more than tenfold since last summer. LUMA expects more than 75 energy shortfall events between now and October, with each dispatch sending electricity to the grid for four consecutive hours. During several recent evenings, Sunrun and other virtual power plant (VPP) operators provided enough energy to offset a 50-megawatt generation gap, LUMA said.
Sunrun CEO Mary Powell said Puerto Rico’s aging infrastructure and intense weather patterns make home battery support increasingly critical:
It’s going to be a very difficult summer, which is why Sunrun has ramped up our dispatch capabilities, using tens of thousands of home batteries to support the grid and people of Puerto Rico.
She added that distributed power plants like Sunrun’s serve the same role as natural gas peaker plants – offering fast, reliable power during high-demand moments – but with clean energy.
Sunrun customers enrolled in the VPP will get paid too. Each participating battery earns about $200 minimum for the season, and customers who allow more of their stored energy to go to the grid earn even more. Sunrun also earns revenue for operating the VPP.
Read more: The US’s largest virtual power plant now runs on 75,000 home batteries
The 30% federal solar tax credit is ending this year. If you’ve ever considered going solar, now’s the time to act. To make sure you find a trusted, reliable solar installer near you that offers competitive pricing, check out EnergySage, a free service that makes it easy for you to go solar. It has hundreds of pre-vetted solar installers competing for your business, ensuring you get high-quality solutions and save 20-30% compared to going it alone. Plus, it’s free to use, and you won’t get sales calls until you select an installer and share your phone number with them.
Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisors to help you every step of the way. Get started here.
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Volkswagen is advertising ID.4 leases starting at just $99 a month. It’s hard to find any car lease these days for under $100 a month, but for $45,000 electric SUV, it’s almost unheard of.
Volkswagen offers ID.4 leases as low as $99 a month
The Volkswagen ID.4 was the third top-selling EV in the US in January after the 2025 model year went back on sale.
Volkswagen’s electric SUV starts at $45,095 with an EPA-estimated driving range of 291 miles. It’s available in five different trims: Pro, AWD Pro, Pro S, AWD Pro S, and AWD Pro S Plus.
The base 2025 VW ID.4 Pro RWD is equipped with 282 hp from a single rear electric motor. Inside, it features a 12.9″ infotainment system with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay support, heated front seats, dual-zone climate control, and Volkswagen’s new ID.Cockpit digital instrument display.
Upgrading to the AWD version will gain a tow hitch and an additional 53 hp, for a combined maximum of 335 hp. The added power comes at the cost of some range, with an EPA-estimated range of 263 miles.
Volkswagen was already offering 2025 ID.4 leases as low as $129 a month, but some dealers are listing it for even less this month.
A California dealership, Volkswagen of Garden Grove, has the 2025 ID.4 Pro RWD listed for lease at just $99 per month. The offer is for 24 months with $2,995 down. According to the dealer, the offer includes a $5,000 cash back bonus, good on a new ID.4 purchase or lease.
We thought the 2025 Hyundai IONIQ 5 was a good deal with leases starting at just $179 per month, but for $99, now that’s a steal.
Looking for deals on the Volkswagen ID.4 near you? You can use our link to find and view offers on the 2025 Volkswagen ID.4 in your area (via a trusted affiliate link)
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