I. What Chapter 313 actually did
Chapter 313 let a local school district cap the taxable value of a new project's property for ten years, an appraised value limitation in the law's own language. The state then made the district roughly whole through the school finance formula, so the district lost little and the company paid far less school tax. For a capital-heavy project like a wind or solar farm, where most of the cost is equipment sitting on the ground, the school tax is one of the largest local bills, so the break moved the math on whether a project got built here or somewhere else.
Renewables were not the only users. Petrochemical plants and liquefied natural gas terminals along the Houston Ship Channel took the deal too. Still, at last public report a large share of Chapter 313 agreements went to wind and solar, which is why letting the program lapse hit those two hardest.
II. The new program, and the door it closes
The replacement is the Texas Jobs, Energy, Technology and Innovation Act, passed as House Bill 5 in 2023 and usually shortened to JETI. It is run by the Texas Comptroller with sign-off from the governor and the local school board, and it brought back a school tax limitation for new investment. The catch is in the eligibility list: non-dispatchable electric generation, meaning wind and solar, is excluded, and so is standalone storage that only charges and discharges.
Dispatchable means a plant you can turn up on demand, like a gas unit. Supporters argued the grid needs more of that and the incentive should follow it. Critics called it the state putting a thumb on the scale against the cheapest new power it has. Both readings can be true at once, and the statute itself is the place to settle what it says.
III. Doing the honest math on the coast
Losing the school tax limitation does not kill a solar project outright. Federal tax credits still exist, ERCOT connection and energy sales still pay, and land near Houston is still flat and sunny. What changes is the marginal project, the one that barely penciled out with the break and no longer does, and those are the ones that quietly drop off the queue rather than making news.
You can see both sides of this yourself. The Comptroller's Chapter 313 database lists which coastal projects landed the old agreements, down to the school district and the company. The JETI pages list who applies now, and you will not find a wind or solar name among the eligible. Reading them side by side shows one incentive line redrawing who gets to build next.
IV. Worth watching this month
1. Watch the Texas Comptroller's JETI application list for which Houston-area projects apply, and note that by law none of them will be wind, solar, or standalone storage.
2. Check whether the coastal Chapter 313 projects already approved are now energized and reporting, since those agreements survive even though the program itself is closed.
3. Look for ERCOT's next seasonal assessment of resource adequacy, usually posted before summer and winter, for how much solar and battery capacity the grid is counting on.
4. The Texas Legislature is scheduled to convene its next regular session in January 2027, so any bill to change JETI's eligibility would surface then, and most filed bills go nowhere.
5. Scan coastal school board agendas in Fort Bend, Brazoria, and Matagorda counties for JETI votes, which are routine paperwork until one involves a plant your district actually feels.
Questions readers ask
Did Chapter 313 only help renewables?
No. It also went to petrochemical plants, LNG terminals, and manufacturing, especially along the Ship Channel. Wind and solar were a large share of the agreements at last public report, but far from all of them.
Can a solar farm get any Texas tax break now?
Not through JETI, which is the main state school-tax program. A project can still use federal tax credits and, in some places, local tools under other parts of the tax code, but the biggest state lever is closed to it.
Why were wind and solar left out?
Lawmakers built JETI around dispatchable generation and jobs. The stated argument was that the grid needs plants it can turn on at will. Whether that is sound policy or favoritism is exactly what the public debate is about.
Does this mean no new solar near Houston?
No. Projects still get built on federal credits and power sales. The removed break mostly affects the marginal projects that only worked with the discount, so expect fewer, not none.
Sources of record
- Texas Comptroller, JETI program, The state agency that runs the new program, with its eligibility rules and current application list., comptroller.texas.gov/economy/local/jeti
- Texas Comptroller, Chapter 313 agreements, The official database of the old agreements, searchable by school district and company., comptroller.texas.gov/economy/local/ch313
- Texas Legislature Online, House Bill 5 (2023), The statute itself, so you can read the eligibility exclusions in the law's own words., capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=88R&Bill=HB5
- ERCOT, resource adequacy, The grid operator's assessments of whether supply will meet demand, including how solar and storage are counted., www.ercot.com/gridinfo/resource
- Texas Comptroller, Chapter 312 tax abatements, The separate local abatement program for cities and counties, useful context for what solar can and cannot still use., comptroller.texas.gov/economy/local/ch312