Texas A&M at Nazareth

Aggie Peace Campus marks first American university branch in Israel

For the first time in history, an American university will build a campus in Israel. On October 23, Gov. Rick Perry announced the creation of Texas A&M University at Nazareth. The Aggie "Peace Campus" hopes to draw from Arab, Jewish and international populations.

The project is near and dear to Perry as well as Texas A&M chancellor John Sharp. The men, both evangelical Christians, were also roommates at A&M and have been Israel advocates for decades.

"Texas A&M and Israel make a good fit, as communities built upon the values of family, commitment and tradition," said Gov. Rick Perry in a statement.

Sharp told the New York Times that he began planning an Aggie campus in Israel almost immediately after being installed as A&M's chancellor in 2011.

"Texas A&M and Israel make a good fit, as communities built upon the values of family, commitment and tradition," Perry said in a statement. "We want to see the Nazareth branch as a means to preserve peace and build understanding between cultures."

Perry announced the official plans while in Israel at a meeting in the home President Shimon Peres. Chancellor Sharp and Israel's minister of education, Shai Piron, were also present.

"Today is a day of celebration," Piron said in a statement. "Our joy is even greater, knowing that we are establishing a campus of peace located in the city of Nazareth, in the Galilee.

In accordance with state law, none of Texas A&M's public dollars can be invested in an international branch. The university has said funding for the development and construction of the Nazareth campus will come from private donors across the globe.

A&M expects the student body to reach 5,000 and plans to eventually offer undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees.

Texas A&M's home campus in College Station.

TAMUNews.TAMU.edu

Texas A&M's home campus in College Station.

unspecified

Under the Sun

Solar power poised to surpass coal for the first time in Texas

Photo by Bill Mead on Unsplash

Utility-scale solar generation has been increasing steadily in Texas.

Solar power promises to shine even brighter in Texas this year. A new forecast from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) indicates that for the first time, annual power generation from utility-scale solar will surpass annual power generation from coal across the territory covered by the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT).

Solar generation is expected to reach 78 billion kilowatt-hours in 2026 in the ERCOT grid, compared with 60 billion kilowatt-hours for coal, the EIA forecast says. The ERCOT grid supplies power to about 90 percent of Texas.

“Utility-scale solar generation has been increasing steadily in ERCOT as solar capacity additions help meet rapid electricity demand growth,” the forecast says.

Although natural gas remains the dominant source of electricity generation in ERCOT, accounting for an average 44 percent of electricity generation from 2021 to 2025, solar’s share of the generation mix rose from 4 percent to 12 percent. During the same period, coal’s share dropped from 19 percent to 13 percent.

EIA predicts about 40 percent of U.S. solar capacity, or 14 billion kilowatt-hours, added in 2026 will come from Texas.

Although EIA expects annual solar generation to exceed annual coal generation in 2026, solar surpassed coal in ERCOT on a monthly basis for the first time in March 2025, when solar generation totaled 4.33 billion kilowatt-hours and coal’s totaled 4.16 billion kilowatt-hours. Solar generation continued to exceed that of coal until August of that year.

“In 2026, we estimate that solar exceeded coal for the first time in March, and we forecast generation from solar installations in ERCOT will continue to exceed that from coal until December, when coal generation exceeds solar,” says EIA. “We expect solar generation to exceed that of coal for every month in 2027 except January and December.”

For 2027, EIA forecasts annual solar generation of 99 billion kilowatt-hours in the ERCOT grid, compared with 66 billion kilowatt-hours of annual coal generation.

In April, ERCOT projected almost 368 billion kilowatt-hours of demand in ERCOT’s territory by 2032. ERCOT’s all-time peak demand hit 85.5 billion kilowatt-hours in August 2023.

“Texas is experiencing exceptional growth and development, which is reshaping how large load demand is identified, verified, and incorporated into long-term planning,” ERCOT President and CEO Pablo Vegas said. “As a result of a changing landscape, we believe this forecast to be higher than expected … load growth.”

---

This article first appeared on our sister site, EnergyCapitalHTX.

solar energy sustainability energy ercot