Austin just marked a major milestone in its fight against climate change. Last week, our city’s electric utility (Austin Energy) announced that it had begun receiving energy from the East Pecos Solar Facility, a new 120 megawatt solar plant in West Texas. Austin Energy has agreed to purchase all of the power it produces for the next 15 years. At full capacity, the plant will produce enough energy to power 24,000 homes.

So what does all of this mean for Austin?
This new solar power plant is only one of four of major solar deals approved by Austin Energy since 2014.

Combined, these will allow Austin to easily surpass its goal of receiving 35 percent of its energy from renewables by 2020 and puts the city on the path to generating 55 percent of its energy from renewables by 2025 (which is its next goal). Already, Austin Energy alone is responsible for 39 percent of all of the utility-scale solar operating throughout the entire state of Texas! More info>>