Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB1697 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	81R8679 TRH-F
2	2	By: Martinez H.B. No. 1697
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to a solar energy technology generation incentive program
8	8	to be administered by electric utilities.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 39.905, Utilities Code, is amended by
11	11	amending Subsections (a), (b), (b-4), (d), and (e) and adding
12	12	Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:
13	13	(a) It is the goal of the legislature that:
14	14	(1) electric utilities will administer in a
15	15	market-neutral, nondiscriminatory manner energy efficiency
16	16	incentive programs and incentive programs for generation capacity
17	17	from solar energy technologies [in a market-neutral,
18	18	nondiscriminatory manner] but will not offer underlying
19	19	competitive services;
20	20	(2) all customers, in all customer classes, will have
21	21	a choice of and access to energy efficiency alternatives, solar
22	22	energy technology systems, and other choices from the market that
23	23	allow each customer to reduce energy consumption, peak demand, or
24	24	energy costs;
25	25	(3) subject to Subsection (a-1), by December 31, 2011,
26	26	each electric utility will provide, through market-based standard
27	27	offer programs or limited, targeted, market-transformation
28	28	programs, incentives sufficient for retail electric providers and
29	29	competitive energy service providers to acquire additional
30	30	cost-effective energy efficiency for residential and commercial
31	31	customers equivalent to at least one[:
32	32	[(A) 10] percent of the electric utility's annual
33	33	gross receipts from retail sales to [growth in demand of
34	34	residential and commercial customers by December 31, 2007;
35	35	[(B) 15 percent of the electric utility's annual
36	36	growth in demand of residential and commercial customers by
37	37	December 31, 2008, provided that the electric utility's program
38	38	expenditures for 2008 funding may not be greater than 75 percent
39	39	above the utility's program budget for 2007 for] residential and
40	40	commercial customers, [as included in the April 1, 2006, filing;
41	41	and
42	42	[(C) 20 percent of the electric utility's annual
43	43	growth in demand of residential and commercial customers by
44	44	December 31, 2009,] provided that the electric utility's program
45	45	expenditures for each subsequent year [2009 funding] may not be
46	46	greater than 150 percent of the [above the] utility's program
47	47	budget for [2007 for] residential and commercial customers, as
48	48	filed with the commission in the electric utility's most recent
49	49	[included in the April 1, 2006,] filing under this section;
50	50	(4) each electric utility in the ERCOT region shall
51	51	use its best efforts to encourage and facilitate the involvement of
52	52	the region's retail electric providers in the delivery of
53	53	efficiency programs, solar energy technologies, and demand
54	54	response programs under this section;
55	55	(5) retail electric providers in the ERCOT region, and
56	56	electric utilities outside of the ERCOT region, shall provide
57	57	customers with energy efficiency educational materials and
58	58	information on available solar energy technologies; and
59	59	(6) notwithstanding Subsection (a)(3), electric
60	60	utilities shall continue to make available, at 2007 funding and
61	61	participation levels, any load management standard offer programs
62	62	developed for industrial customers and implemented prior to May 1,
63	63	2007.
64	64	(a-1) In addition to market-neutral standard offer
65	65	programs, it is the intent of the legislature that additional
66	66	generating capacity from solar energy technologies be installed in
67	67	this state by the expenditure of at least 60 percent of the yearly
68	68	balance of the money administered under the program on solar energy
69	69	technologies for residential and commercial customers. It is the
70	70	intent of the legislature that the total cumulative amount of
71	71	additional generating capacity from solar energy technologies be
72	72	installed as follows:
73	73	(1) at least 200 megawatts by January 1, 2011;
74	74	(2) at least 500 megawatts by January 1, 2013;
75	75	(3) at least 1,500 megawatts by January 1, 2015; and
76	76	(4) at least 3,000 megawatts by January 1, 2019.
77	77	(b) The commission shall provide oversight and adopt rules
78	78	and procedures to ensure that the utilities can achieve the goals
79	79	[goal] of this section, including:
80	80	(1) establishing an energy efficiency cost recovery
81	81	factor for ensuring timely and reasonable cost recovery for utility
82	82	expenditures made to satisfy the goals [goal] of this section;
83	83	(2) establishing an incentive under Section 36.204 to
84	84	reward utilities administering programs under this section that
85	85	exceed the minimum goals established by this section;
86	86	(3) providing a utility that is unable to establish an
87	87	energy efficiency cost recovery factor in a timely manner due to a
88	88	rate freeze with a mechanism to enable the utility to:
89	89	(A) defer the costs of complying with this
90	90	section; and
91	91	(B) recover the deferred costs through an energy
92	92	efficiency cost recovery factor on the expiration of the rate
93	93	freeze period;
94	94	(4) ensuring that the costs associated with programs
95	95	provided under this section are borne by the customer classes that
96	96	receive the services under the programs; [and]
97	97	(5) ensuring the program rules encourage the value of
98	98	the incentives to be passed on to the end-use customer; and
99	99	(6) encouraging the deployment of solar energy
100	100	technologies.
101	101	(b-4) The commission and ERCOT shall develop a method to
102	102	account for the projected efficiency impacts under Subsection
103	103	(b-3), including any efficiencies that may be achieved through the
104	104	deployment of solar energy technologies as provided by Subsection
105	105	(a-1), in ERCOT's annual forecasts of future capacity, demand, and
106	106	reserves.
107	107	(d) The commission shall establish a procedure for
108	108	reviewing and evaluating market-transformation program options
109	109	described by this subsection and other options. In evaluating
110	110	program options, the commission may consider the ability of a
111	111	program option to reduce costs to customers through reduced demand,
112	112	energy savings, and relief of congestion. Utilities may choose to
113	113	implement any program option approved by the commission after its
114	114	evaluation in order to satisfy the goal in Subsection (a),
115	115	including:
116	116	(1) energy-smart schools;
117	117	(2) appliance retirement and recycling;
118	118	(3) air conditioning system tune-ups;
119	119	(4) the use of trees or other landscaping for energy
120	120	efficiency;
121	121	(5) customer energy management and demand response
122	122	programs;
123	123	(6) high performance residential and commercial
124	124	buildings that will achieve the levels of energy efficiency
125	125	sufficient to qualify those buildings for federal tax incentives;
126	126	(7) programs for customers who rent or lease their
127	127	residence or commercial space;
128	128	(8) programs providing energy monitoring equipment to
129	129	customers that enable a customer to better understand the amount,
130	130	price, and time of the customer's energy use;
131	131	(9) energy audit programs for owners and other
132	132	residents of single-family or multifamily residences and for small
133	133	commercial customers;
134	134	(10) net-zero energy new home programs;
135	135	(11) solar thermal programs, [or] solar electric
136	136	programs, or solar energy technologies as provided by Subsection
137	137	(a-1); and
138	138	(12) programs for using windows and other glazing
139	139	systems, glass doors, and skylights in residential and commercial
140	140	buildings that reduce solar gain by at least 30 percent from the
141	141	level established for the federal Energy Star windows program.
142	142	(e) An electric utility may use money approved by the
143	143	commission for energy efficiency programs to perform necessary
144	144	energy efficiency research and development to foster continuous
145	145	improvement and innovation in the application of energy efficiency
146	146	technology and energy efficiency program design and
147	147	implementation, including the deployment of solar energy
148	148	technologies in the grid. Money the utility uses under this
149	149	subsection may not exceed 10 percent of the greater of:
150	150	(1) the amount the commission approved for energy
151	151	efficiency programs in the utility's most recent full rate
152	152	proceeding; or
153	153	(2) the commission-approved expenditures by the
154	154	utility for energy efficiency in the previous year.
155	155	SECTION 2. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
156	156	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
157	157	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
158	158	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
159	159	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.