Texas Lawmakers Back New Power Plants to Boost Grid Reliability

Texas is on its way to bolstering gas power plants to augment the state’s independent electric grid.

A measure (S.B. 2627) expected to be signed by Gov. Greg Abbott (R) would create a new low-interest loan program to encourage the construction of power plants and add to the state’s electricity supply. The bill is among several proposals changing Texas’s deregulated electricity market that lawmakers passed in the final days of the legislative session, which ended Monday.

The measures follow months of debate over how to increase reliability after Winter Storm Uri led to power outages, deaths, and damage ...