Texas also should expose real time variations in rates to all consumers.

More than this?

https://www.ercot.com/mktinfo/prices

edit: As I post it, there is a prime example of how people wave away transmission issues when talking about green energy. The wind farms on the coast near MX have a negative price (-11 to -33) while most of the state is sitting at ~90, and there is a problem in the west/central part of the state where its $180.

I believe retail customers are not being exposed to those spikes. Correct me if I'm wrong?

Solar can be placed almost anywhere in Texas, and in particular can be placed near where demand is expected. Transmission costs for it should be less than for large central power plants.

You wouldn't build a solar farm particularly close to any of the major TX cities which sprawl for long distances because the land is worth more than the solar panels.

A 10MW+ solar installation costs > $100,000/acre. You can find land within 200 miles of the major cities of Texas for far less than that (and probably much closer than 200 miles). Or you can go far to the west to get land at maybe $1000/acre, but then transmission cost goes up.

If land cost ever were a serious constraint on solar, solar would have become so cheap that it would already have destroyed all the competition.