It only happens every three years, but it’s spectacular! I’m speaking of course, about bauma – one of the largest trade shows of any kind where heavy equipment manufacturers serving construction, forestry, mining, and more bring out their latest and greatest new job site innovations, and we’ve got a whole bunch of them here, on this special bauma edition of Quick Charge!

With more than two million square feet indoors and twice that outdoors, bauma hosts more than 600,000 guests from 200 countries to see 3,600 exhibitors’ hardware (and, increasingly, software). We’re only going to cover a sliver, but it’s a really cool sliver, you guys – enjoy!

Source Links

Prefer listening to your podcasts? Audio-only versions of Quick Charge are now available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, TuneIn, and our RSS feed for Overcast and other podcast players.

New episodes of Quick Charge are recorded, usually, Monday through Thursday (and sometimes Sunday). We’ll be posting bonus audio content from time to time as well, so be sure to follow and subscribe so you don’t miss a minute of Electrek’s high-voltage daily news.

Advertisement – scroll for more content

Got news? Let us know!
Drop us a line at tips@electrek.co. You can also rate us on Apple Podcasts and Spotify, or recommend us in Overcast to help more people discover the show.

Texas is No. 1 in the US for wind and solar capacity, but the Texas Senate just passed a bill that aims to kneecap clean energy with an industry-killing review process. Will the Texas House pass it, too?

The Texas Senate today passed SB 819, which creates new restrictions on the development of wind and solar energy under the guise of “protecting” wildlife. The restrictions don’t apply to any other forms of energy.

Texas uses an extraordinary amount of power, and renewables play a big part in supplying that power. The Texas Tribune reported in March that “ERCOT [the Texas grid] predicts that Texas’ energy demand will nearly double by 2030, with power supply projected to fall short of peak demand in a worst-case scenario beginning in summer 2026.” That’s because of extreme weather, population growth, and crypto-mining facilities.

As of February, Texas increased its energy supply by 35% over the last four years, and 92% of that supply came from solar, wind, and battery storage.

Advertisement – scroll for more content

Solar is the largest source of energy generating capacity that has been added to the Texas grid. That’s because it’s cost-effective and it can be deployed quickly. So if new solar projects are kneecapped, power demand will outstrip supply in the Lone Star State.

Daniel Giese, Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA)’s Texas director of state affairs, stated after the Senate’s vote, “With energy demand rising fast, Texas needs every megawatt it can generate to keep the lights on and our economy strong. We cannot afford to turn away from the pro-energy and pro-business policies that made the Lone Star State the energy capital, but that’s exactly what SB 819 does. We urge the Texas House to reject this bill.”

Less clean energy would also jack up electricity bills for Texans, and rural areas would lose billions in landowner revenue and tax payments. Every time a wind farm or solar farm is installed on rural land, it brings a lot of money to the community that surrounds it. A January report estimated that existing and planned solar, wind, and battery storage projects will contribute $20 billion in local tax revenue and $29.5 billion in landowner payments.

What’s especially baffling about this bill is that it flies in the face of a core Texas value – keeping the government out of private property decisions – yet it does precisely the opposite.

Environment Texas executive director Luke Metzger issued the following response: ‘By making it much more difficult to build wind and solar energy in Texas, this bill threatens to increase pollution, increase blackouts and increase our electric bills.​

“Under the guise of helping land and wildlife, SB 819 would create a discriminatory and capricious permitting standard that could grind renewable energy development to a halt.

“We urge the House of Representatives to reject this bill and instead support policies that promote a cleaner, more sustainable energy future for all Texans.”

It will come as no surprise to regular readers that I find this bill ludicrously masochistic. Let me know your thoughts in the comments below, and please keep it civil.

Read more: A vast 600 MW Texas solar farm just hit a major milestone [update]

To limit power outages and make your home more resilient, consider going solar with a battery storage system. In order to 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. They have 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 you share your phone number with them.

Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisers to help you every step of the way. Get started here. –trusted affiliate link*

Blink Charging’s (Nasdaq: BLNK) new partnership with Eco-Movement will make Blink’s EV chargers a lot easier to find across multiple platforms.

Eco-Movement is a global platform that collects, refines, and maintains a massive real-time database of public and semi-public EV charging locations and pricing data. That info is used by some of the biggest names in the industry. Now, Blink is tapping into Eco-Movement’s platform to make its chargers way easier to find – whether you’re searching on Google Maps, asking your voice assistant, using a charging app, or navigating from your car’s dashboard.

As new Blink chargers come online, Eco-Movement updates its database of EV charging locations in real-time, and that information is incorporated by mapping and charger-finder apps. That way, EV drivers are kept up to date.

Mike Battaglia, president and CEO at Blink, said, “The leading mapping apps trust Eco-Movement and its state-of-the-art, quality-checked, and constantly updated data. We are excited to be teaming with them to ensure drivers worldwide can easily find our chargers and receive up-to-the-minute updates on charger availability.”

Advertisement – scroll for more content

Eco-Movement’s global database includes detailed charging point info – like addresses, operators, pricing, accessibility, truck compatibility, and real-time availability – along with roaming partners, membership rates, and payment options.

“Ultimately, this data will help EV drivers all over the world to find their next charging stop, which is a mission we share with Blink,” said Roderick van den Berg, CEO of Eco-Movement.

Read more: Blink Charging will more than triple EV charger production with a new factory

To limit power outages and make your home more resilient, consider going solar with a battery storage system. In order to 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. They have 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 you share your phone number with them.

Your personalized solar quotes are easy to compare online and you’ll get access to unbiased Energy Advisers to help you every step of the way. Get started here. –trusted affiliate link*