Nuclear power plants could be on their way out of the Lone Star State. As the San Antonio Express-News notes,Texas’ nuclear fleet is confronting some of the same issues that have led to plant closings in other states.
The main reason? The success of wind power, combined with oil market oversaturation due to fracking technology.
America currently gets about 20 percent of its electricity from nuclear power plants. Texas has four relatively new nuclear plants, and those four facilities alone supply about 6 percent of the state’s power needs.
Nationwide, the U.S. has 99 generators in operation. But six plants have been shut down since 2013 across the U.S., and another nine are scheduled to shut down soon.
Furthermore, potential incoming Energy secretary Rick Perry has long been an advocate of wind energy. During Perry's tenure as governor, Texas emerged as the leading producer of wind power in the U.S.