Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1420 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	81R9104 JJT-D
2	2	By: Lucio S.B. No. 1420
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the sale of electric energy produced by distributed
8	8	renewable generation owners.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 31.002(6), Utilities Code, is amended to
11	11	read as follows:
12	12	(6) "Electric utility" means a person or river
13	13	authority that owns or operates for compensation in this state
14	14	equipment or facilities to produce, generate, transmit,
15	15	distribute, sell, or furnish electricity in this state. The term
16	16	includes a lessee, trustee, or receiver of an electric utility and a
17	17	recreational vehicle park owner who does not comply with Subchapter
18	18	C, Chapter 184, with regard to the metered sale of electricity at
19	19	the recreational vehicle park. The term does not include:
20	20	(A) a municipal corporation;
21	21	(B) a qualifying facility;
22	22	(C) a power generation company;
23	23	(D) an exempt wholesale generator;
24	24	(E) a power marketer;
25	25	(F) a corporation described by Section 32.053 to
26	26	the extent the corporation sells electricity exclusively at
27	27	wholesale and not to the ultimate consumer;
28	28	(G) an electric cooperative;
29	29	(H) a retail electric provider;
30	30	(I) this state or an agency of this state; or
31	31	(J) a person not otherwise an electric utility
32	32	who:
33	33	(i) furnishes an electric service or
34	34	commodity only to itself, its employees, or its tenants as an
35	35	incident of employment or tenancy, if that service or commodity is
36	36	not resold to or used by others;
37	37	(ii) owns or operates in this state
38	38	equipment or facilities to produce, generate, transmit,
39	39	distribute, sell, or furnish electric energy to an electric
40	40	utility, if the equipment or facilities are used primarily to
41	41	produce and generate electric energy for consumption by that
42	42	person; [or]
43	43	(iii) owns or operates in this state a
44	44	recreational vehicle park that provides metered electric service in
45	45	accordance with Subchapter C, Chapter 184; or
46	46	(iv) is a distributed renewable generation
47	47	owner as defined by Section 39.916.
48	48	SECTION 2. Section 39.914(a), Utilities Code, is amended to
49	49	read as follows:
50	50	(a) After December 1, 2009, on the request of an independent
51	51	school district, an [An] electric utility or retail electric
52	52	provider shall provide for net metering and contract with the [an
53	53	independent school] district so that under the contract:
54	54	(1) surplus electricity produced by a school
55	55	building's solar electric generation panels is made available for
56	56	sale to the electric transmission grid and distribution system; and
57	57	(2) the retail [net] value of that surplus electricity
58	58	is credited to the district.
59	59	SECTION 3. Section 39.916(a)(1), Utilities Code, is amended
60	60	to read as follows:
61	61	(1) "Distributed renewable generation" means electric
62	62	generation with a capacity of not more than 2,000 kilowatts
63	63	provided by a renewable energy technology, as defined by Section
64	64	39.904, that is installed on a retail electric customer's side of
65	65	the meter, including electric generation by solar generating
66	66	equipment connected to the customer's side of the meter but that is
67	67	located elsewhere on the same property or is located on contiguous
68	68	property or on property separated by an easement, a public road, or
69	69	a right-of-way for transportation or utility purposes.
70	70	SECTION 4. Section 39.916, Utilities Code, is amended by
71	71	adding Subsection (k) to read as follows:
72	72	(k) The commission by rule shall require a retail electric
73	73	provider that offers to purchase excess electricity produced by
74	74	distributed renewable generation to include line items on each bill
75	75	of a customer who is a distributed renewable generation owner that
76	76	inform the customer of:
77	77	(1) the capacity of the customer's distributed
78	78	renewable generation system;
79	79	(2) the amount of excess electricity produced by the
80	80	customer's distributed renewable generation system purchased by
81	81	the retail electric provider, in terms of kilowatt hours; and
82	82	(3) the average price the retail electric utility paid
83	83	for each kilowatt hour of the excess electricity produced by the
84	84	customer's distributed renewable generation system.
85	85	SECTION 5. Subchapter Z, Chapter 39, Utilities Code, is
86	86	amended by adding Sections 39.926 and 39.927 to read as follows:
87	87	Sec. 39.926. INFORMATION ON INTERNET REGARDING PURCHASE OF
88	88	EXCESS ELECTRICITY PRODUCED BY DISTRIBUTED RENEWABLE GENERATION.
89	89	(a) On the Internet website found at http://www.powertochoose.org,
90	90	the commission shall provide for access to easily comparable
91	91	information regarding retail electric providers' offers to
92	92	distributed renewable generation owners for their surplus
93	93	electricity, including information regarding contract terms and
94	94	whether the retail electric provider makes no offer for surplus
95	95	electricity.
96	96	(b) On the Internet website found at
97	97	http://www.powertochoose.org, the commission shall provide for
98	98	access to easily comparable information regarding offers of
99	99	renewable energy credit marketers to distributed renewable
100	100	generation owners.
101	101	(c) The commission by rule shall require transmission and
102	102	distribution utilities and retail electric providers to provide on
103	103	publicly accessible Internet websites information on purchase
104	104	price offers per kilowatt hour for excess electricity produced by
105	105	distributed renewable generation and information instructing
106	106	customers with distributed renewable generation on how to request
107	107	and obtain the purchase rates offered.
108	108	Sec. 39.927. VIABILITY OF MARKET FOR DISTRIBUTED RENEWABLE
109	109	GENERATION EXCESS ENERGY. (a) In this section:
110	110	(1) "Distributed renewable generation" has the
111	111	meaning assigned by Section 39.916.
112	112	(2) "Excess energy" means electric energy produced by
113	113	a customer's distributed renewable generation installed on the
114	114	customer's side of the meter and made available for sale to the
115	115	electric transmission grid and distribution system.
116	116	(b) On or before December 1, 2010, the commission by rule
117	117	shall establish criteria for determining whether there is a viable
118	118	market in ERCOT for the sale of excess energy. To be considered
119	119	viable, the market must provide for:
120	120	(1) each customer in ERCOT to have available at least
121	121	one offer for excess energy at a rate equal to at least 80 percent of
122	122	the retail price for energy; and
123	123	(2) each customer in ERCOT to have available at least
124	124	two different offers for excess energy in addition to an offer
125	125	described by Subdivision (1).
126	126	(c) The commission shall require the independent
127	127	organization certified under Section 39.151 to monitor the
128	128	development and implementation of a competitive market in ERCOT for
129	129	the sale of excess energy. The rules must provide a mechanism for
130	130	the organization to monitor retail electric providers' offers to
131	131	purchase excess energy and rates of customers' sales of excess
132	132	energy.
133	133	(d) Not later than September 1, 2010, the organization shall
134	134	publish and provide to the commission a report that identifies the
135	135	rates of excess energy market participation by retail electric
136	136	providers and customers with distributed renewable generation in
137	137	ERCOT. The report must include:
138	138	(1) the organization's assessment of the development
139	139	of the market in ERCOT for the sale of excess energy and whether
140	140	that market is viable according to the criteria adopted under
141	141	Subsection (b);
142	142	(2) the rate of adoption by customers in ERCOT of
143	143	distributed renewable generation by solar energy technologies; and
144	144	(3) the following information regarding each retail
145	145	electric provider in ERCOT:
146	146	(A) whether the provider offers to purchase
147	147	excess energy;
148	148	(B) for a provider that offers to purchase excess
149	149	energy, the provider's:
150	150	(i) average ratio of retail prices to
151	151	excess energy purchase prices for kilowatt hour units;
152	152	(ii) average monthly purchases; and
153	153	(iii) average purchases for the year for
154	154	each customer class; and
155	155	(C) the percentage and number of the provider's
156	156	customers who have adopted distributed renewable generation by
157	157	solar energy technologies.
158	158	(e) If the independent organization's report under
159	159	Subsection (d) concludes that the market for the sale of excess
160	160	energy is not viable according to the criteria adopted under
161	161	Subsection (b), not later than December 1, 2010, the commission by
162	162	rule shall require all retail electric providers to offer net
163	163	metering services and advanced meter information networks to all
164	164	customers in all customer classes.
165	165	(f) Subsections (a)-(d) and this subsection expire
166	166	September 2, 2011.
167	167	SECTION 6. Section 39.351, Utilities Code, is amended by
168	168	adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
169	169	(d) Notwithstanding Subsection (a), a distributed renewable
170	170	generation owner as defined by Section 39.916 may generate
171	171	electricity without registering as a power generation company.
172	172	SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.