Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB3375 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	81R4398 JJT-D
2	2	By: Deshotel H.B. No. 3375
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to energy efficiency measures and technologies.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Chapter 447, Government Code, is amended by
10	10	adding Section 447.015 to read as follows:
11	11	Sec. 447.015. GOAL FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY RESOURCES. (a) It
12	12	is the goal of the legislature that by January 1, 2025, through
13	13	investments in energy efficiency resources the per capita electric
14	14	energy consumption and natural gas consumption in this state will
15	15	each be reduced by 25 percent as compared to per capita consumption
16	16	in 2006.
17	17	(b) To achieve the goal established by Subsection (a), the
18	18	state energy conservation office shall establish an energy
19	19	efficiency resources credit program. The program must be designed
20	20	to provide an incentive for the implementation or installation of
21	21	energy efficiency measures and technologies by electric and natural
22	22	gas utility customers to reduce the consumption of electric and
23	23	natural gas energy resources. The office may establish interim per
24	24	capita reduction goals to monitor the progress of the program in
25	25	meeting the goal established by Subsection (a).
26	26	(c) Each retail electric provider, investor-owned electric
27	27	utility, municipally owned utility, electric cooperative, or gas
28	28	utility shall earn or purchase energy efficiency resources credits
29	29	under the program. The program must provide that:
30	30	(1) an implemented or installed eligible energy
31	31	efficiency measure or technology earns one credit for:
32	32	(A) each megawatt-hour of electricity saved; and
33	33	(B) each unit of natural gas saved that is the
34	34	equivalent of one megawatt-hour of electricity;
35	35	(2) the earned credits are tradable in a market
36	36	established and monitored by the office;
37	37	(3) the earned credits expire annually; and
38	38	(4) the credits may be earned by:
39	39	(A) residential and commercial customers who
40	40	implement or install energy efficiency measures or technologies;
41	41	and
42	42	(B) electric or natural gas utilities for
43	43	implementing or installing energy efficiency measures or
44	44	technologies in the utility systems or for utility customers.
45	45	(d) The state energy conservation office by rule shall
46	46	identify energy efficiency measures and technologies eligible for
47	47	earning credits under the program for energy savings that result
48	48	from their implementation or installation. The office shall ensure
49	49	that measures implemented and technologies installed that are also
50	50	eligible for credits in other energy efficiency credit programs are
51	51	not eligible for credits in both programs simultaneously. The
52	52	office shall make publicly available a list of eligible measures
53	53	and technologies that includes an indication of the expected useful
54	54	life for each. The office must include as eligible measures and
55	55	technologies:
56	56	(1) conventional passive energy efficiency
57	57	technologies;
58	58	(2) customer-sited distributed renewable generation
59	59	technologies;
60	60	(3) thermal solar heating technologies;
61	61	(4) solar hot water heating technologies;
62	62	(5) combined heat and power technologies;
63	63	(6) use of water system energy;
64	64	(7) efficient operations of natural gas pipelines and
65	65	distribution systems;
66	66	(8) efficient operations of electric utility systems;
67	67	and
68	68	(9) insulation, weather sealants, or similar
69	69	measures.
70	70	(e) To promote the implementation and installation of
71	71	energy efficiency measures and technologies, the state energy
72	72	conservation office shall initiate and supervise an outreach
73	73	program to inform consumers, industry, and the public regarding
74	74	energy efficiency measures and technologies and their economic and
75	75	environmental benefits. The program must be designed to facilitate
76	76	market development by focusing on the needs of those who may adopt
77	77	energy efficiency measures or technologies. The office shall
78	78	consult with or contract with the Clean Energy Applications Center
79	79	at the Houston Advanced Research Center or an entity engaged in
80	80	similar research and outreach projects.
81	81	(f) The state energy conservation office shall establish a
82	82	continuing study of the effectiveness of measures and technologies
83	83	for which credits may be earned under the program. The office shall
84	84	estimate, measure, and verify energy savings resulting from the
85	85	program.
86	86	(g) The state energy conservation office by rule shall
87	87	establish an administrative penalty and procedure for collecting
88	88	administrative penalties for a violation of the program established
89	89	under this section. The rules must provide for graduated penalties
90	90	according to the severity of the violation and the economic benefit
91	91	to the violator as a result of the violation. A penalty for a single
92	92	violation may not exceed $10,000. A penalty collected for a
93	93	violation of this section shall be deposited in the general revenue
94	94	fund and may be appropriated only to the state energy conservation
95	95	office for purposes of implementing or enforcing this section.
96	96	SECTION 2. Sections 39.905(a) and (b), Utilities Code, are
97	97	amended to read as follows:
98	98	(a) It is the goal of the legislature that by January 1,
99	99	2025, statewide per capita electric energy consumption in this
100	100	state will be reduced by 25 percent, as compared to per capita
101	101	consumption in 2006, by the implementation of programs to ensure
102	102	that:
103	103	(1) electric utilities will administer energy
104	104	efficiency incentive programs in a market-neutral,
105	105	nondiscriminatory manner but will not offer underlying competitive
106	106	services;
107	107	(2) all customers, in all customer classes, will have
108	108	a choice of and access to energy efficiency alternatives and other
109	109	choices from the market that allow each customer to reduce energy
110	110	consumption, peak demand, or energy costs;
111	111	(3) each electric utility will provide, through
112	112	market-based standard offer programs or limited, targeted,
113	113	market-transformation programs, incentives sufficient for retail
114	114	electric providers and competitive energy service providers to
115	115	acquire additional cost-effective energy efficiency for
116	116	residential and commercial customers [equivalent to at least:
117	117	[(A) 10 percent of the electric utility's annual
118	118	growth in demand of residential and commercial customers by
119	119	December 31, 2007;
120	120	[(B) 15 percent of the electric utility's annual
121	121	growth in demand of residential and commercial customers by
122	122	December 31, 2008, provided that the electric utility's program
123	123	expenditures for 2008 funding may not be greater than 75 percent
124	124	above the utility's program budget for 2007 for residential and
125	125	commercial customers, as included in the April 1, 2006, filing; and
126	126	[(C) 20 percent of the electric utility's annual
127	127	growth in demand of residential and commercial customers by
128	128	December 31, 2009, provided that the electric utility's program
129	129	expenditures for 2009 funding may not be greater than 150 percent
130	130	above the utility's program budget for 2007 for residential and
131	131	commercial customers, as included in the April 1, 2006, filing];
132	132	(4) each electric utility in the ERCOT region shall
133	133	use its best efforts to encourage and facilitate the involvement of
134	134	the region's retail electric providers in the delivery of
135	135	efficiency programs and demand response programs under this
136	136	section;
137	137	(5) retail electric providers in the ERCOT region, and
138	138	electric utilities outside of the ERCOT region, shall provide
139	139	customers with energy efficiency educational materials; and
140	140	(6) notwithstanding Subsection (a)(3), electric
141	141	utilities shall continue to make available, at 2007 funding and
142	142	participation levels, any load management standard offer programs
143	143	developed for industrial customers and implemented prior to May 1,
144	144	2007.
145	145	(b) The commission shall provide oversight and adopt rules
146	146	and procedures to ensure that the utilities can achieve the goal of
147	147	this section, including:
148	148	(1) establishing a program that requires each electric
149	149	utility to provide, through market-based standard offer programs or
150	150	limited, targeted, market-transformation programs, incentives
151	151	sufficient for retail electric providers and competitive energy
152	152	service providers to acquire additional cost-effective energy
153	153	efficiency for residential and commercial customers equivalent to a
154	154	fixed percentage of statewide electric energy sales as the
155	155	commission determines will result in a per capita reduction
156	156	sufficient to meet the goal of this section;
157	157	(1-a) establishing an energy efficiency cost recovery
158	158	factor for ensuring timely and reasonable cost recovery for utility
159	159	expenditures made to satisfy the goal of this section;
160	160	(2) establishing an incentive under Section 36.204 to
161	161	reward utilities administering programs under this section that
162	162	exceed the minimum goals established by this section;
163	163	(3) providing a utility that is unable to establish an
164	164	energy efficiency cost recovery factor in a timely manner due to a
165	165	rate freeze with a mechanism to enable the utility to:
166	166	(A) defer the costs of complying with this
167	167	section; and
168	168	(B) recover the deferred costs through an energy
169	169	efficiency cost recovery factor on the expiration of the rate
170	170	freeze period;
171	171	(4) ensuring that the costs associated with programs
172	172	provided under this section are borne by the customer classes that
173	173	receive the services under the programs; and
174	174	(5) ensuring the program rules encourage the value of
175	175	the incentives to be passed on to the end-use customer.
176	176	SECTION 3. Section 31.005, Utilities Code, is amended by
177	177	adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
178	178	(c) The commission by rule shall provide for a distributed
179	179	energy generation technology program described by Subsection (b) to
180	180	allow interconnection at a point of common coupling of an electric
181	181	generating facility with a capacity of 25 megawatts that consists
182	182	of distributed renewable generation as defined by Section 39.916 or
183	183	a combined heating and power unit.
184	184	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.