This is the highest total in Texas history – shattering last year’s record by nearly $1 billion.

What the industry paid in one year, $27.3 billion, is more than what 34 states received in total tax revenues.

It translates to $74.8 million paid every day for a range of public services, including toward Texas’ public schools, universities, roads, first responders and other essential services.

“Remarkably, 2024 was yet another record-breaking year as the Texas oil and natural gas industry does its part to help reach Governor Abbott’s goal for our state’s economy to surpass France as the 7th largest economy in the world,” TXOGA president Todd Staples said. “From tax revenues and production to pipelines, storage, processing, refining, and exports, Texas’ oil and natural gas industry has achieved record-breaking performance across every sector.”

Staples said the industry has been so successful because “Texas leaders embrace policies that recognize oil and natural gas as an asset, not a liability. They view businesses as a partner, not an adversary. For its part, the industry has persevered through hostile federal policies of the outgoing Administration, global unrest and market volatility – including negative prices for natural gas – to shatter its own records, all while protecting and improving the environment.”

The industry primarily funds three major state funds: the Economic Stabilization Fund (Rainy Day Fund), Permanent School Fund and Permanent University Fund.

Since the Texas legislature created the Rainy Day Fund in 1987, it’s received more than $33.9 billion from Texas oil and natural gas production taxes.

The industry is a major funder of Texas public education. In fiscal 2024, 99% of Texas oil and natural gas royalties were deposited into the Permanent School Fund and the Permanent University Fund, $1.5 billion and $1.9 billion, respectively.

By the end of fiscal 2024, the value of the funds totaled $57.3 billion and $31.7 billion, respectively.

“The Texas Permanent School Fund is larger than Harvard’s endowment and is the largest education endowment in the nation,” Staples notes. “The oil and natural gas industry is the only significant contributor of fresh investment capital to these critical Texas education funds.”

In addition to these funds, in fiscal 2024, Texas school districts directly received $2.92 billion in property taxes from mineral properties producing oil and natural gas, pipelines, and gas utilities. Counties directly received $1.03 billion in industry property taxes.

According to TXOGA data of ISDs, the districts that received the most oil and natural gas industry property taxes are in west Texas in the Permian Basin. In these and many districts, the industry represents the majority of the tax base.

Pecos-Barstow-Toyah ISD received the most of $304.4 million, with industry taxes representing 83% of the tax base.

Midland ISD received the next greatest amount of $217.5 million, representing 50.7% of the tax base. Wink-Loving ISD received $184 million, representing 92.4% of the tax base. Rankin ISA received $130 million, representing 92.4% of the tax base.

According to TXOGA data of counties, the top counties receiving the most oil and natural gas property taxes are in West Texas in the Permian Basin.

Reeves County received the most of $110.1 million with industry taxes representing 85% of the tax base. Martin County received the next greatest amount of $54.9 million, with industry taxes representing 94.5% of the tax base; Loving County received 53.6% million, with industry taxes representing 94.7% of the tax base.

In counties where the industry paid significantly less property taxes, it still represented a majority share of the county’s tax base. In Andrews County. for example, the industry paid $23.2 million in property taxes but represented 80.5% of the tax base; it paid $13.2 million in Crockett County representing 83% of the county’s tax base.

The Texas oil and natural gas industry has paid more than $257.6 billion in state and local taxes and state royalties since TXOGA began compiling the data in 2007. The total excludes hundreds of billions of dollars in payroll for some of the highest paying jobs in the state. It also excludes taxes paid on office buildings and personal property, as well as other service jobs that depend on the industry and taxes paid by other sectors benefitting from the industry, TXOGA notes.

(Natural News)—In the race to embrace renewable energy, the UK has found itself in a costly predicament. Wind energy, once hailed as the silver bullet for our energy woes, is now proving to be a significant financial burden. The UK has spent more than £1 billion this year alone to turn off wind farms and start up gas plants in a stark reminder that hasty decisions without proper planning can lead to disastrous consequences.

It’s not surprising that wind energy is failing to live up to its promises. Governments, driven by the fervor of achieving net-zero targets, have blindly pushed for alternative energy without fully considering the drawbacks. The UK’s energy grid, designed for a different era, is struggling to cope with the surge in wind power. The result? A record amount of wind power is being wasted, and consumers are footing the bill.

The UK has boosted its offshore wind fleet by 50% in the past five years and plans to double it over the next five years. However, the grid infrastructure has not expanded at the same pace. This mismatch has led to the operator paying wind farms to turn off, particularly those in Scotland, to prevent grid overload. The irony is palpable: while the UK pays Scottish wind farms to shut down during windy conditions, it simultaneously pays for gas-powered plants in the south to fire up. This absurd scenario highlights the flawed logic of rushing into renewable energy without considering the big picture.

The problem is exacerbated by the UK’s energy system rules, which are outdated and ill-equipped to handle the complexities of balancing supply and demand in real time. To keep the lights on, the operator is forced to shut down far-flung wind farms and start up gas-fed plants closer to demand centers. This not only undermines their misguided decarbonization goals but also increases energy bills, making it harder for consumers to benefit from the touted advantages of renewable energy.

Clem Cowton, director of external affairs at Octopus Energy Group, rightly criticizes the “outdated rules” of the energy system. However, the blame should not be solely on the rules but also the lack of foresight and planning. The mad rush to achieve net-zero targets has resulted in bad planning, with little to no consideration for the practicalities of integrating large-scale wind energy into the existing grid.

A cautionary tale

This situation should serve as a cautionary tale for other countries considering similar energy transitions. Wind power, like electric vehicles, is often portrayed as a panacea for our environmental woes. However, the reality is far more complex. Wind energy is expensive, environmentally harmful, and, as the UK is discovering, often inefficient. Consumers are not only paying for the construction of these wind farms but also for their failings. The question remains: who will bear the cost of deconstructing these wind farms when the climate change crisis, much like the COVID-19 pandemic, loses its urgency?

The looming return of President-elect Donald Trump to the White House has just planted a bomb under Labour’s Net Zero obsession. With a Trump-led America pulling in the opposite direction, the UK’s ambitious decarbonization plans may face even greater political peril.

The UK’s experience with wind energy is a costly lesson in the dangers of hasty green policies. Governments must approach renewable energy with caution, ensuring that infrastructure and regulations are in place to support the transition and that it truly is a better alternative, which isn’t the case with wind power. Blindly pushing for alternative energy without considering the drawbacks is not only financially irresponsible but also undermines the very goals it seeks to achieve. The UK’s £1 billion wind energy fiasco should serve as a wake-up call for policymakers worldwide.

Sources for this article include:

Expose-News.com

Bloomberg.com

GBNews.com