Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas House Bill HB4098 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	By: Eiland H.B. No. 4098
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to distributed solar generation of electric power.
7	7	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
8	8	SECTION 1. Section 39.914, Utilities Code, is amended as
9	9	follows:
10	10	(a) An electric utility or retail electric provider shall
11	11	provide for net metering and contract with an independent school
12	12	district or other customer who owns or operates a qualifying
13	13	distributed solar generation facility so that[:
14	14	[(1)] surplus electricity produced by [a school
15	15	building's] the customer's qualifying solar electric generation
16	16	facility [panels] is made available for [sale] delivery to the
17	17	electric transmission grid [and distribution system; and
18	18	[(2) the net value of that surplus electricity is
19	19	credited to the district].
20	20	(b) [For areas of this state in which customer choice has
21	21	not been introduced, the commission by rule shall require that
22	22	credits for electricity produced by a school building's solar
23	23	electric generation panels reflect the value of the electricity
24	24	that is made available for sale to the electric utility in
25	25	accordance with federal regulations.] In an area of this state in
26	26	which customer choice has not been introduced, a customer may sell
27	27	to the electric utility any surplus electricity produced from its
28	28	qualifying distributed solar generation facility that is delivered
29	29	to the grid, at a price that reflects the utility's cost of
30	30	producing or buying energy, by date and time, or at the retail price
31	31	of electricity delivered to the customer.
32	32	(c) [For independent school districts in areas in which
33	33	customer choice has been introduced, the district must sell the
34	34	school buildings' surplus electricity produced to the retail
35	35	electric provider that serves the school district's load at a value
36	36	agreed to between the district and the provider that serves the
37	37	district's load. The agreed value may be based on the clearing
38	38	price of energy at the time of day that the electricity is made
39	39	available to the grid. The independent organization identified in
40	40	Section 39.151 shall develop procedures so that the amount of
41	41	electricity purchased from a district under this section is
42	42	accounted for in settling the total load served by the provider that
43	43	serves the district's load. A district requesting net metering
44	44	services for purposes of this section must have metering devices
45	45	capable of providing measurements consistent with the independent
46	46	organization's settlement requirements.] In an area of this state
47	47	in which customer choice has been introduced a customer may sell to
48	48	the retail electric provider any surplus electricity produced from
49	49	its qualifying distributed solar generation facility that is
50	50	delivered to the grid, at a price that reflects the price in the
51	51	wholesale market at the date and time the electricity is delivered
52	52	or at the retail price of electricity delivered to the customer.
53	53	(d) [A transmission and distribution utility shall make
54	54	available to an independent school district for purposes of this
55	55	section metering required for services provided under this section,
56	56	including separate meters that measure the load and generator
57	57	output or a single meter capable of measuring separately in-flow
58	58	and out-flow at the point of common coupling meter point. The] A
59	59	customer may sell energy to an electric utility or a retail provider
60	60	at a rate that varies by date and time of day only if the customer
61	61	elects to be equipped with an advanced meter capable of measuring
62	62	and recording energy deliveries by date and time or if an
63	63	independent organization has developed profiles for production of
64	64	electricity from solar generation. A [district] customer electing
65	65	to be equipped with an advanced meter must pay the differential cost
66	66	of the metering unless the advanced meters are provided at no
67	67	additional cost. Except as provided by this section, Section
68	68	39.107 applies to metering under this section.
69	69	(e) A municipally owned utility or electric cooperative
70	70	shall consider and complete the determinations regarding net
71	71	metering service as provided by the federal Public Utility
72	72	Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. Section 2601 et seq., as
73	73	amended by the federal Energy Policy Act of 2005 (Pub. L. No.
74	74	109-58)) after proceedings conducted in accordance with that law.
75	75	A municipally owned utility or electric cooperative shall report
76	76	the determinations made under this subsection to the State Energy
77	77	Conservation Office and include in that report information
78	78	regarding metering electricity generated by solar panels on public
79	79	school building rooftops.
80	80	(f) This section applies to all electric utilities and
81	81	retail electric providers, notwithstanding any provision of
82	82	subchapter I or J of this chapter or any provision of section 39.916
83	83	that is in conflict with this section.
84	84	(g) The commission may adopt rules to implement this
85	85	section.
86	86	(h) In this section, "qualifying distributed solar
87	87	generation facility" means a facility for the generation of
88	88	electricity using energy derived from the sun that is installed on
89	89	the customer's side of the meter and, in the case of such a facility
90	90	that is not owned or operated by an independent school district, has
91	91	a capacity of not more than 2,000 kilowatts.
92	92	SECTION 2. This Act is effective September 1, 2009.