Generation doesn't have to be near consumption. If weather is bad in the PNW power can be move to it from other parts of the country. Texas does this with massive transmission lines that where built crisscrossing the state in the late 90's and 00's. These transmission lines allowed for a massive expansion in wind and solar without large subsidies because the electricity could be moved to wear it was needed and sold on the open market (the state operates an real time auction market to balance to help balance supply and demand). Today the state has more wind and solar than coal. Something like 30-40% of the states electricity comes from renewables.
* As long as the generation and consumption both take place under the same government and the transmission infrastructure is safe from disruption.
So many plans about theoretical continental grids in Europe (with the extra mile of them being powered by solar in Africa) ignore the political reality that no government is going to give up significant chunks of the energy security of their country to something ouside their control.
West Texas has a lot of empty desert or near-desert land, not a lot of people, and not a lot of industry. But it does have a lot of wind.
Houston is a big city. Its metro population is about 7 million. And Houston has a lot of industry, probably the most industrial of the major Texas cities.
Texas is big, and depending on what part of West Texas you're talking about, Houston is pretty far away from it. For example, it's a 350 mile (~550km) drive between Abilene and Houston, and it's a 600 mile (~950km) drive between Amarillo and Houston.
After lots of wind generation got built in West Texas, they had to add more power lines to bring the power to the more populated part of the state. And they did, and it worked.
Refining oil takes power... and if you use (cheap) clean power to convert the rough hydrocarbons into refined gas fuel or other higher end hydrocarbons... you're making it pollute less (viewed from the lifecycle) and cheaper. So in a way, you're storing excess solar power in the gas, via reducing the need to burn gas to make more gas.
