By: Ogden S.B. No. 2349
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to distributed generation of electric power.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 31.002, Utilities Code, is amended by
adding paragraph (4-1) and amending paragraph (10) to read as
follows:
(4-1) "Distributed generation facility" means a facility
for the generation of electricity with a capacity of not more than
5,000 kilowatts that is installed on the customer's side of the
meter.
(10) "Power generation company" means a person,
including a person who owns or operates a distributed generation
facility, that:
(A) generates electricity that is intended to be
sold at wholesale;
(B) does not own a transmission or distribution
facility in this state other than an essential interconnecting
facility, a facility not dedicated to public use, or a facility
otherwise excluded from the definition of "electric utility" under
this section; and
(C) does not have a certificated service area,
although its affiliated electric utility or transmission and
distribution utility may have a certificated service area.
SECTION 2. The title of Subchapter B of Chapter 35,
Utilities Code, is amended to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER B. EXEMPT WHOLESALE GENERATORS, DISTRIBUTED
GENERATION FACILITIES, AND POWER MARKETERS
SECTION 3. Subchapter A of Chapter 35, Utilities Code, is
amended by adding Section 35.009, to read as follows:
Sec. 35.009. DISTRIBUTED GENERATION FACILITIES.
A person who owns or operates a distributed generation
facility may sell electric energy at wholesale. The electric
utility or retail electric provider providing retail service to the
facility shall purchase energy tendered to it by the distributed
generation facility owner or operator at a price that is consistent
with rules adopted by the commission. The rules adopted by the
commission shall provide for a reasonable price for the energy,
based on factors that the commission determines are relevant,
including the electric utility's or retail electric provider's
avoided cost of energy and the market value of energy.
SECTION 4. Section 39.351(c), Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) A power generation company may register any time after
September 1, 2000. The commission may establish simplified filing
requirements for distributed generation facilities.
SECTION 5. Section 40.004(1), Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Except as specifically otherwise provided in this chapter,
the commission has jurisdiction over municipally owned utilities
only for the following purposes:
(1) to regulate wholesale transmission rates and
service, including terms of access, and the pricing of energy
supplied by distributed generation facility to a municipal utility,
to the extent provided by Subchapter A, Chapter 35;
SECTION 6. Section 41.004(1), Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Except as specifically otherwise provided in this chapter,
the commission has jurisdiction over electric cooperatives only for
the following purposes:
(1) to regulate wholesale transmission rates and
service, including terms of access, and the pricing of energy
supplied by a distributed generation facility to an electric
cooperative, to the extent provided by Subchapter A, Chapter 35;
SECTION 7. This Act is effective September 1, 2009.