ERCOT, the state’s main electric grid operator, predicts Texas will need to provide nearly double the amount of power within six years, based in part on the growing interest of large power users in coming to Texas.Â
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Data centers, hydrogen production facilities, and oil and gas companies that are electrifying their operations will need massive amounts of power and bring the promise of new jobs and a boost to local tax bases — but could also put considerable strain on a state grid that nearly collapsed during a 2021 winter storm.
Join us at 12 p.m. Thursday, May 8 at Dallas College Cedar Valley for a conversation on how we prepare the grid and the state’s power infrastructure for this dramatic increase in demand, what the costs are and who’s going to pay.Â
Speakers include Garrett Golding, assistant vice president for energy programs at the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas; Sandra Haverlah, president of the Texas Consumer Association, and Michael E. Webber,  Sid Richardson Chair in the LBJ School of Public Affairs and the John J. McKetta Centennial Energy Chair of the mechanical engineering department at UT Austin.
The event is moderated by Kayla Guo, politics reporter for The Texas Tribune.
Doors open at 11:30 a.m. and the hourlong conversation begins at Noon.
Lunch will be provided by The Tribune.
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This in-person event will be simultaneously streamed for virtual attendees and will be available to watch on demand afterward at texastribune.org/events.
Email us at events@texastribune.org
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Saucedo-Herrera is the president and CEO of greater:SATX, a regional economic partnership charged with growing and diversifying the eight-county San Antonio-New Braunfels MSA. During her seven-year tenure at the helm of San Antonio’s economic development team, greater:SATX has secured over 23,000 jobs for the region through recruitment and expansion projects that include work with Ernst & Young, Victory Capital, Navistar and Aisin.
Kamerlander is president and CEO of the Greater San Marcos Partnership. He formerly served as director of Lockhart Economic Development, where he developed the city’s first economic development strategic plan to promote Lockhart as a destination for job creation and investment. The successful program saw the development of a LEDC-owned 75 acre-acre industrial park housing Lockhart’s most recent announcement, The Ziegenfelder Company, a frozen treat manufacturer. The project included a $46 million investment and is creating 100 new jobs.
Latson is the CEO of Opportunity Austin. Previously, he founded and served as executive director for ARMA, the Austin Regional Manufacturers Association, a business group focused on strengthening the advanced manufacturing community through advocacy, workforce development and networking. Latson is also a member of Gov. Greg Abbott’s Semiconductor Taskforce.
Packer is president and CEO of the New Braunfels Chamber, a membership organization representing more than 1,600 businesses. The chamber advocates for sound public policy, serves as the destination marketing organization for New Braunfels and manages Confluence, a public-private economic development initiative.
Cisneros is chair of the infrastructure investment firm American Triple I. He is also vice chair of the board of directors and equity owner of Shank Williams Cisneros & Co. LLC and principal of Siebert Williams Shank & Co. LLC. He was mayor of San Antonio from 1981-89 and secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development under President Bill Clinton from 1993-97.
