For the first time, solar power supplied more electricity in 2025 to the state’s main power grid than coal-fired power plants, the Houston Chronicle reported.
Solar farms provided 67,800 gigawatt-hours of electricity last year, according to the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, which is the power-grid operator for most of the state. Power plants burning coal supplied 63,000 gigawatt-hours of power to ERCOT last year.
The Chronicle report notes that in 2019 solar supplied so little power to the ERCOT grid that it wasn’t even included as a separate category in its annual pie chart of where the grid’s power comes from.
It is now the third-largest supplier to ERCOT, behind second-place wind and first-place natural gas. Coal has dropped to number four.
“It’s a remarkable milestone,” said Daniel Cohan, a Rice University professor who studies the state’s energy transition. “I don’t think anyone 10 years ago would have thought that solar would have surpassed coal this quickly.”
Deadline to register for March primary nears
The last day to register to vote for the March 3 primary is Feb. 2, according to the Texas Secretary of State’s Office. Early voting runs from Feb. 17 through Feb. 27, with Feb. 20 being the deadline for applying for a mail ballot.
Prospective voters can visit the votetexas.gov website to find out if they are registered, discern their polling places, learn what is on the ballot and find other information.
More than 18 statewide elected officials are up for election, with the governor’s race and a U.S. Senate race topping the ballot. All Texas members of the U.S. House of Representatives are up for election, along with state lawmakers, district judges and local elected officials.
Some Texans will have to vote in new congressional districts after the Legislature redrew the map last summer.
New poll has Talarico leading; Cornyn shown tied with Paxton
A new poll of the state’s U.S. Senate primaries shows state Rep. James Talarico, D-Round Rock, leading U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Dallas, by 9 percentage points, 47% to 38%, among likely Democratic voters, The Texas Tribune reported.
The Emerson College poll indicates a significant shift since a Texas Southern University poll in December showed Crockett with a similar-sized lead.
In both polls, Talarico leads among white and Latino voters, while Crockett has a commanding lead among Black voters.
On the GOP side, the latest polls show U.S. Sen. John Cornyn and state Attorney General Ken Paxton deadlocked, with Paxton at 27% and Cornyn at 26%. U.S. Rep. Wesley Hunt, R-Houston, trailed with 16%. If those margins hold, that race would head to a runoff.
The survey also found Gov. Greg Abbott with a sizable lead over his main Democratic challenger, state Rep. Gina Hinojosa, 50% to 42%.
Texas readies ban on smokeable cannabis
Smokable cannabis products currently sold legally in Texas could disappear by Jan. 25 under new rules proposed by the Texas Department of State Health Services.
According to the Texas Standard, DSHS has drafted new regulations for the hemp industry, “including child-resistant packaging, stronger warning labels, expanded testing, recall procedures and fee increases of roughly 10,000% for manufacturers and retailers.”
Annual fees for hemp manufacturers would rise from $250 to $25,000 per facility, while retailers would see their registration fees jump from $150 to $20,000.
The proposed regulations would effectively outlaw most smokable hemp products.
DSHS last week heard from dozens of small-hemp business owners and cannabis users, many of whom said they support stricter packaging rules and age limits but oppose the ban on smokable products and the steep hike in licensing and registration fees.
“These proposed fees don’t regulate small businesses, they eliminate them,” Estella Castro, owner of Austinite Cannabis Co., told commissioners. “This proposal would force me to close, despite doing everything right.”
DSHS expanding anti-rabies program into El Paso area
The Texas Department of State Health Services is expanding its 32nd annual Oral Rabies Vaccination Program to the El Paso area while continuing its aerial bait distribution along the Texas-Mexico border.
The rabies vaccine baits will be distributed by hand in targeted areas around El Paso.
“Our mission is to vaccinate wildlife along the borders of Texas to maintain herd immunity against rabies and keep new or previously eliminated rabies variants from becoming established in any part of Texas,” said Kathy Parker, ORVP Director.
“However, we continue to monitor all the counties of Texas for outbreaks and/or potential areas of rabies interest,” Parker added.
The baits do not pose threats to livestock, wildlife or pets. The project costs $2 million annually and is funded by both state and federal agencies. Since the program began, no human cases of rabies attributable to the rabies variants found along the border have been confirmed in Texas.
The program covers 19 Texas counties: El Paso, Hudspeth, Culberson, Jeff Davis, Presidio, Brewster, Pecos, Terrell, Val Verde, Kinney, Maverick, Zavala, Dimmit, Webb, Zapata, Starr, Hidalgo, Cameron and Willacy.
Texas most popular state to move to
Texas is back on top of U-Haul’s list of “growth states,” according to the Austin American-Statesman. The company determines each state’s net gain or loss by recording how many customers used one-way equipment in 2025.
This is the fourth time the state has topped U-Haul’s rankings in five years. In 2024, South Carolina topped the list but fell to No. 5 last year. In second place is Florida, followed by North Carolina and Tennessee.
Coming in dead last in U-Haul’s ranking was California.
Correction: An item in the Jan. 4 Capital Highlights reported the Texas business inventory tax exemption has been raised to $125,000. That exemption applies to all business personal property accounts, not just inventory.
Borders is a veteran award-winning Texas journalist. He published a number of community newspapers in Texas during a 30-year span, including in Longview, Fort Stockton, Nacogdoches, Lufkin and Cedar Park. Email: [email protected].
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