Texas 2009 - 81st Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB631 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	81R1709 TRH-D
2	2	By: Davis, Wendy S.B. No. 631
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the establishment of a loan incentive program to
8	8	promote energy efficiency in apartment buildings.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 39.002, Utilities Code, is amended to
11	11	read as follows:
12	12	Sec. 39.002. APPLICABILITY. This chapter, other than
13	13	Sections 39.155, 39.157(e), 39.203, 39.903, 39.904, 39.9051,
14	14	39.9052, [and] 39.914(e), and 39.918, does not apply to a
15	15	municipally owned utility or an electric cooperative. Sections
16	16	39.157(e), 39.203, and 39.904, however, apply only to a municipally
17	17	owned utility or an electric cooperative that is offering customer
18	18	choice. If there is a conflict between the specific provisions of
19	19	this chapter and any other provisions of this title, except for
20	20	Chapters 40 and 41, the provisions of this chapter control.
21	21	SECTION 2. Subchapter Z, Chapter 39, Utilities Code, is
22	22	amended by adding Section 39.918 to read as follows:
23	23	Sec. 39.918. ENERGY EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENT LOAN PROGRAM FOR
24	24	APARTMENT BUILDINGS. (a) The commission by rule shall develop a
25	25	no-interest loan program to promote energy efficiency improvements
26	26	in apartment buildings. The commission shall administer the
27	27	program using money appropriated expressly for the program.
28	28	(b) To be eligible for a loan under the program, an
29	29	applicant must:
30	30	(1) be an owner of an existing multi-unit apartment
31	31	building; and
32	32	(2) use the loan for installation of an appliance or
33	33	equipment designed to reduce demand for energy in the apartment
34	34	building or for a renovation or repair intended to reduce demand for
35	35	energy in the apartment building.
36	36	(c) The commission by rule shall specify:
37	37	(1) the types of appliances, equipment, renovations,
38	38	and repairs for which a loan may be made under the program; and
39	39	(2) the types of apartment buildings for which a loan
40	40	may be made under the program.
41	41	(d) Loan payments received by the commission shall be
42	42	remitted to the comptroller to be credited to the general revenue
43	43	fund. The commission by rule shall establish the manner in which
44	44	loans are repaid to the commission. The rules must provide that
45	45	each loan be repaid:
46	46	(1) over a period determined by the commission:
47	47	(A) by a surcharge on the electricity bills of
48	48	the rental units improved through loan proceeds, if the building's
49	49	rental units are separately submetered and billed directly by a
50	50	utility provider; or
51	51	(B) by a surcharge on the electricity bill of the
52	52	building's owner, if the building's rental units are not separately
53	53	submetered or billed directly by a utility provider;
54	54	(2) according to a formula:
55	55	(A) based on the difference between total monthly
56	56	energy costs after improvements are made and the estimated monthly
57	57	energy costs if the improvements had not been made;
58	58	(B) that allocates loan repayment costs in a
59	59	submetered apartment building, or an apartment building that uses
60	60	central system utilities in which the building owner prorates
61	61	utility costs among tenants, only to those rental units that are
62	62	directly improved using loan proceeds;
63	63	(C) that allows the tenant of an improved unit in
64	64	a separately submetered apartment building, or the tenant of an
65	65	improved unit in an apartment building using central system
66	66	utilities in which the building owner prorates utility costs among
67	67	tenants, to realize at least 40 percent of the energy cost savings
68	68	computed in Paragraph (A); and
69	69	(D) that allows the owner of an apartment
70	70	building using central system utilities in which the owner does not
71	71	prorate utility costs among tenants to realize at least 40 percent
72	72	of the energy cost savings computed in Paragraph (A); and
73	73	(3) by periodic assessments against the recipient of
74	74	the loan, determined according to the amount owed and the
75	75	building's property tax valuation, if, before the loan is fully
76	76	repaid, the building is sold, is no longer leased to tenants, or is
77	77	destroyed.
78	78	SECTION 3. Not later than December 1, 2009, the Public
79	79	Utility Commission of Texas shall establish the energy efficiency
80	80	improvement loan program under Section 39.918, Utilities Code, as
81	81	added by this Act, and the commission shall begin accepting
82	82	applications for loans under that program not later than January 1,
83	83	2010.
84	84	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
85	85	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
86	86	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
87	87	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
88	88	Act takes effect September 1, 2009.