Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB600 Compare Versions

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

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1	1	By: Van de Putte S.B. No. 600
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to a solar energy technology generation incentive program
7	7	to be administered by electric utilities.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Section 39.905, Utilities Code, is amended by
10	10	amending Subsections (a), (b), (b-4), (d), and (e), and adding
11	11	Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:
12	12	(a) It is the goal of the legislature that:
13	13	(1) electric utilities will administer in a
14	14	market-neutral, nondiscriminatory manner energy efficiency
15	15	incentive programs and incentive programs for generation capacity
16	16	from solar energy technologies, [in a market-neutral,
17	17	nondiscriminatory manner] but will not offer underlying
18	18	competitive services;
19	19	(2) all customers, in all customer classes, will have
20	20	a choice of and access to energy efficiency alternatives, solar
21	21	energy technology systems, and other choices from the market that
22	22	allow each customer to reduce energy consumption, peak demand, or
23	23	energy costs;
24	24	(3) subject to Subsection (a-1), by December 31, 2011,
25	25	each electric utility will provide, through market-based standard
26	26	offer programs or limited, targeted, market-transformation
27	27	programs, incentives sufficient for retail electric providers and
28	28	competitive energy service providers to acquire additional
29	29	cost-effective energy efficiency for residential and commercial
30	30	customers equivalent to at least one percent of the electric
31	31	utility's annual gross receipts from retail sales to residential
32	32	and commercial customers, provided that the electric utility's
33	33	program expenditures for each subsequent year may not be greater
34	34	than 150 percent of the utility's program budget for residential
35	35	and commercial customers, as filed with the commission in the
36	36	electric utility's most recent filing under this section[:
37	37	[(A) 10 percent of the electric utility's annual
38	38	growth in demand of residential and commercial customers by
39	39	December 31, 2007;
40	40	[(B) 15 percent of the electric utility's annual
41	41	growth in demand of residential and commercial customers by
42	42	December 31, 2008, provided that the electric utility's program
43	43	expenditures for 2008 funding may not be greater than 75 percent
44	44	above the utility's program budget for 2007 for residential and
45	45	commercial customers, as included in the April 1, 2006, filing; and
46	46	[(C) 20 percent of the electric utility's annual
47	47	growth in demand of residential and commercial customers by
48	48	December 31, 2009, provided that the electric utility's program
49	49	expenditures for 2009 funding may not be greater than 150 percent
50	50	above the utility's program budget for 2007 for residential and
51	51	commercial customers, as included in the April 1, 2006, filing];
52	52	(4) each electric utility in the ERCOT region shall
53	53	use its best efforts to encourage and facilitate the involvement of
54	54	the region's retail electric providers in the delivery of
55	55	efficiency programs, solar energy technologies, and demand
56	56	response programs under this section;
57	57	(5) retail electric providers in the ERCOT region, and
58	58	electric utilities outside of the ERCOT region, shall provide
59	59	customers with energy efficiency educational materials and
60	60	information on available solar energy technologies; and
61	61	(6) notwithstanding Subsection (a)(3), electric
62	62	utilities shall continue to make available, at 2007 funding and
63	63	participation levels, any load management standard offer programs
64	64	developed for industrial customers and implemented prior to May 1,
65	65	2007.
66	66	(a-1) In addition to market-neutral standard offer
67	67	programs, it is the intent of the legislature that a cumulative
68	68	total of additional generating capacity from solar energy
69	69	technologies be installed in this state as follows: at least 200
70	70	megawatts by January 1, 2011, at least 500 megawatts by January 1,
71	71	2013, at least 1,500 megawatts by January 1, 2015, and at least
72	72	3,000 megawatts by January 1, 2019 by spending at least 60 percent
73	73	of the yearly balance of the money administered under the program on
74	74	solar energy technologies for residential and commercial
75	75	customers.
76	76	(b) The commission shall provide oversight and adopt rules
77	77	and procedures to ensure that the utilities can achieve the goals
78	78	[goal] of this section, including:
79	79	(1) establishing an energy efficiency cost recovery
80	80	factor for ensuring timely and reasonable cost recovery for utility
81	81	expenditures made to satisfy the goals [goal] of this section;
82	82	(2) establishing an incentive under Section 36.204 to
83	83	reward utilities administering programs under this section that
84	84	exceed the minimum goals established by this section;
85	85	(3) providing a utility that is unable to establish an
86	86	energy efficiency cost recovery factor in a timely manner due to a
87	87	rate freeze with a mechanism to enable the utility to:
88	88	(A) defer the costs of complying with this
89	89	section; and
90	90	(B) recover the deferred costs through an energy
91	91	efficiency cost recovery factor on the expiration of the rate
92	92	freeze period;
93	93	(4) ensuring that the costs associated with programs
94	94	provided under this section are borne by the customer classes that
95	95	receive the services under the programs; [and]
96	96	(5) ensuring the program rules encourage the value of
97	97	the incentives to be passed on to the end-use customer; and
98	98	(6) encouraging the deployment of solar energy
99	99	technologies.
100	100	(b-4) The commission and ERCOT shall develop a method to
101	101	account for the projected efficiency impacts under Subsection
102	102	(b-3), including any efficiencies that may be achieved through the
103	103	deployment of solar energy technologies as provided by Subsection
104	104	(a-1), in ERCOT's annual forecasts of future capacity, demand, and
105	105	reserves.
106	106	(d) The commission shall establish a procedure for
107	107	reviewing and evaluating market-transformation program options
108	108	described by this subsection and other options. In evaluating
109	109	program options, the commission may consider the ability of a
110	110	program option to reduce costs to customers through reduced demand,
111	111	energy savings, and relief of congestion. Utilities may choose to
112	112	implement any program option approved by the commission after its
113	113	evaluation in order to satisfy the goal in Subsection (a),
114	114	including:
115	115	(1) energy-smart schools;
116	116	(2) appliance retirement and recycling;
117	117	(3) air conditioning system tune-ups;
118	118	(4) the use of trees or other landscaping for energy
119	119	efficiency;
120	120	(5) customer energy management and demand response
121	121	programs;
122	122	(6) high performance residential and commercial
123	123	buildings that will achieve the levels of energy efficiency
124	124	sufficient to qualify those buildings for federal tax incentives;
125	125	(7) programs for customers who rent or lease their
126	126	residence or commercial space;
127	127	(8) programs providing energy monitoring equipment to
128	128	customers that enable a customer to better understand the amount,
129	129	price, and time of the customer's energy use;
130	130	(9) energy audit programs for owners and other
131	131	residents of single-family or multifamily residences and for small
132	132	commercial customers;
133	133	(10) net-zero energy new home programs;
134	134	(11) solar thermal programs, [or] solar electric
135	135	programs, or solar energy technologies as provided by Subsection
136	136	(a-1); and
137	137	(12) programs for using windows and other glazing
138	138	systems, glass doors, and skylights in residential and commercial
139	139	buildings that reduce solar gain by at least 30 percent from the
140	140	level established for the federal Energy Star windows program.
141	141	(e) An electric utility may use money approved by the
142	142	commission for energy efficiency programs to perform necessary
143	143	energy efficiency research and development to foster continuous
144	144	improvement and innovation in the application of energy efficiency
145	145	technology and energy efficiency program design and
146	146	implementation, including the deployment of solar energy
147	147	technologies in the grid. Money the utility uses under this
148	148	subsection may not exceed 10 percent of the greater of:
149	149	(1) the amount the commission approved for energy
150	150	efficiency programs in the utility's most recent full rate
151	151	proceeding; or
152	152	(2) the commission-approved expenditures by the utility for
153	153	energy efficiency in the previous year.
154	154	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
155	155	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
156	156	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
157	157	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
158	158	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.