Did any offshore wind actually get leased in the Gulf?

Yes. One area off Lake Charles, Louisiana, went to the developer RWE for roughly 5.6 million dollars at last public report. The two areas offshore Galveston got no bids and were not leased.

Is offshore wind off Galveston dead?

Not dead, just not economic yet. If onshore power prices rise or turbine and foundation costs fall, a future sale could draw interest. For now the numbers do not work.

Why does cheap Texas onshore power matter so much?

Offshore wind has to compete with whatever is cheapest on the ERCOT grid. West Texas wind and solar are among the cheapest electricity in the country, and that sets a low price any offshore project has to beat.

Could Houston's offshore industry just build these anyway?

The Gulf's oil and gas fabrication base could build offshore wind, and that overlap was part of the original hope. But the ability to build a thing is not the same as a project that earns back its cost.

Analysis archive | Renewable Energy Houston

01

The Gulf's first offshore wind lease sale skipped Galveston

The Gulf's first federal offshore wind auction leased one tract off Louisiana and drew no bids on either area offshore Galveston.

Oct 18, 2026
02

Texas wrote new rules for giant loads, and Houston's data centers triggered them

Senate Bill 6 gives ERCOT and the PUCT new power to study, charge, and curtail loads over roughly 75 megawatts.

Oct 17, 2026
03

ERCOT now prices batteries in one calculation, and the bids changed

In December 2025 the Texas grid started solving energy and reserves together every few seconds.

Oct 16, 2026
04

Houston's biggest landfill is being replanted in solar

The capped Sunnyside dump in south Houston is set to become one of the country's largest urban solar projects.

Oct 15, 2026
05

The drill rig finds a second life underground

Two Houston companies are aiming oil-field rigs and crews at the hot rock under the Gulf Coast, chasing steady power instead of hydrocarbons.

Oct 14, 2026
06

ERCOT's ADER pilot lets a thousand home batteries bid as one

A home battery that only wakes up during an outage spends most of the year doing nothing.

Oct 13, 2026
07

The farm lease that pays more than the crop

A solar developer's yearly check can beat your best crop year.

Oct 12, 2026
08

The grid's secret weapon is a refinery that can blink

The least visible reserve near the Ship Channel is a plant that agrees, for a price, to cut its own power when ERCOT runs short.

Oct 11, 2026
09

Texas' oldest wind farms are due for new turbines

Texas built its first big wind farms more than 20 years ago.

Oct 10, 2026
10

Making ice at midnight to cool the cathedral at noon

Thermal storage lets a building make cooling at night and spend it in the afternoon.

Oct 09, 2026
11

San Antonio and Austin built municipal solar. Houston can't, and here's why.

San Antonio and Austin own their electric utilities and buy solar directly.

Oct 08, 2026
12

The hydrogen hub money landed on the Gulf Coast

Federal funding backs a Texas-centered hydrogen buildout.

Oct 07, 2026
13

A million Texas EVs would still be a rounding error. For now.

One electric car is noise against the ERCOT peak.

Oct 06, 2026
14

Why the cheap solar bid ages badly on a Houston roof

Heat, humidity, and salt air off Galveston Bay punish solar hardware.

Oct 05, 2026
15

ERCOT rebuilt the line to plug in. The queue noticed.

The old first-come queue filled with projects that were never going to get built.

Oct 04, 2026
16

Hurricane Beryl was the grid's exam. The grade was mixed.

The 2024 storm left millions in the Houston area without power.

Oct 03, 2026
17

The gas math stopped being the cheapest math in Texas

The old rule of thumb was that new power in Texas meant a new gas plant.

Oct 02, 2026
18

West Texas wind sometimes pays to produce. The wires are why.

Negative prices and curtailment in the west zone follow transmission limits, not weather.

Oct 01, 2026
19

The refinery's toughest problem is heat, not power

Process heat at the plants along the Ship Channel runs on gas for a reason.

Sep 30, 2026
20

Designing a solar roof to survive a Houston flood

Harvey moved the water-sensitive parts of a rooftop solar system off the ground floor.

Sep 29, 2026
21

Texas let you choose your power, but not community solar

Retail competition came to Houston early, but shared solar, the kind you subscribe to without owning a roof, still has no home in the competitive market.

Sep 28, 2026
22

Rig hands to solar crews: the transition Houston actually needs

Which oilfield skills cross to solar and storage crews, what retraining exists near the Ship Channel, and the pay comparison nobody puts on a recruiting flyer.

Sep 27, 2026
23

The CREZ lines: how West Texas wind reached Houston, and why other states keep citing the model

Texas built the wires first and let the turbines follow.

Sep 26, 2026
24

Texas batteries arrived faster than anyone planned

ERCOT's battery fleet went from almost nothing to several gigawatts in a few years.

Sep 25, 2026