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I. Introduction
Modern society would not exist without electricity, but surprisingly little attention is paid to electric power generation, that magical phenomenon that makes your laptop, iPhone, and air conditioning possible. Of the energy sources in the world, oil receives by far the most attention, but oil is a transportation fuel and not a major source of electric power generation in the developed world.1
Electric power is mostly generated from coal, natural gas, hydroelectric plants, nuclear power plants, and, to a far smaller but growing extent, renewable energy sources such as wind and solar energy.2 While one cannot see into the future, it seems as if the push towards renewable sources of power is continuing to gain momentum (however slowly) in the United States. This push is driven by, for better or worse, environmental concerns about carbonemitting fossil-fuel power sources, and the movement that is already well under way in much of Europe.3
As that movement progresses, the practical challenges involved in developing an electric industry with large-scale renewable power generation will move to the forefront, and government actors will have to craftlegislative solutions to overcome those challenges. In fact, states are already beginning to address the hurdles that have emerged. This Note will explore one of those hurdles and one state's efforts to overcome it: renewable power transmission in the State of Texas. Specifically, this Note will explore how Texas should proceed in following up what has been lauded by many as a very successful approach to solving the problem of renewable power transmission.
As any movie fan knows, sequels can be risky endeavors. For every Godfather II, there are an annoyingly large number of Halloween IIs or Jawses: The Revenge.4 Unfortunately, when it comes to legislation, policy makers do not really have the option of quitting while ahead and never legislating in an area again after a success (as this author at least wishes Hollywood had done after Halloween and Jaws). Time passes and frequently legislatures must revisit issues they have already addressed in the past.5
In 2005, the Texas Senate passed a piece of legislation that, while perhaps not the legislative equivalent of the original Godfather,6 turned out to be a very successful law: Senate Bill 20.7 This bill started the Competitive...