81R1709 TRH-D
By: Davis, Wendy S.B. No. 631
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the establishment of a loan incentive program to
promote energy efficiency in apartment buildings.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 39.002, Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 39.002. APPLICABILITY. This chapter, other than
Sections 39.155, 39.157(e), 39.203, 39.903, 39.904, 39.9051,
39.9052, [and] 39.914(e), and 39.918, does not apply to a
municipally owned utility or an electric cooperative. Sections
39.157(e), 39.203, and 39.904, however, apply only to a municipally
owned utility or an electric cooperative that is offering customer
choice. If there is a conflict between the specific provisions of
this chapter and any other provisions of this title, except for
Chapters 40 and 41, the provisions of this chapter control.
SECTION 2. Subchapter Z, Chapter 39, Utilities Code, is
amended by adding Section 39.918 to read as follows:
Sec. 39.918. ENERGY EFFICIENCY IMPROVEMENT LOAN PROGRAM FOR
APARTMENT BUILDINGS. (a) The commission by rule shall develop a
no-interest loan program to promote energy efficiency improvements
in apartment buildings. The commission shall administer the
program using money appropriated expressly for the program.
(b) To be eligible for a loan under the program, an
applicant must:
(1) be an owner of an existing multi-unit apartment
building; and
(2) use the loan for installation of an appliance or
equipment designed to reduce demand for energy in the apartment
building or for a renovation or repair intended to reduce demand for
energy in the apartment building.
(c) The commission by rule shall specify:
(1) the types of appliances, equipment, renovations,
and repairs for which a loan may be made under the program; and
(2) the types of apartment buildings for which a loan
may be made under the program.
(d) Loan payments received by the commission shall be
remitted to the comptroller to be credited to the general revenue
fund. The commission by rule shall establish the manner in which
loans are repaid to the commission. The rules must provide that
each loan be repaid:
(1) over a period determined by the commission:
(A) by a surcharge on the electricity bills of
the rental units improved through loan proceeds, if the building's
rental units are separately submetered and billed directly by a
utility provider; or
(B) by a surcharge on the electricity bill of the
building's owner, if the building's rental units are not separately
submetered or billed directly by a utility provider;
(2) according to a formula:
(A) based on the difference between total monthly
energy costs after improvements are made and the estimated monthly
energy costs if the improvements had not been made;
(B) that allocates loan repayment costs in a
submetered apartment building, or an apartment building that uses
central system utilities in which the building owner prorates
utility costs among tenants, only to those rental units that are
directly improved using loan proceeds;
(C) that allows the tenant of an improved unit in
a separately submetered apartment building, or the tenant of an
improved unit in an apartment building using central system
utilities in which the building owner prorates utility costs among
tenants, to realize at least 40 percent of the energy cost savings
computed in Paragraph (A); and
(D) that allows the owner of an apartment
building using central system utilities in which the owner does not
prorate utility costs among tenants to realize at least 40 percent
of the energy cost savings computed in Paragraph (A); and
(3) by periodic assessments against the recipient of
the loan, determined according to the amount owed and the
building's property tax valuation, if, before the loan is fully
repaid, the building is sold, is no longer leased to tenants, or is
destroyed.
SECTION 3. Not later than December 1, 2009, the Public
Utility Commission of Texas shall establish the energy efficiency
improvement loan program under Section 39.918, Utilities Code, as
added by this Act, and the commission shall begin accepting
applications for loans under that program not later than January 1,
2010.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2009.