Texas 2011 - 82nd Regular

Texas House Bill HB1629 Compare Versions

The same version is selected twice. Please select two different versions to compare.

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	82R21783 ALL-D
2	2	By: Anchia H.B. No. 1629
3	3	Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1629:
4	4	By: Lozano C.S.H.B. No. 1629
5	5
6	6
7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to energy efficiency goals and programs, public
10	10	information regarding energy efficiency programs, and the
11	11	participation of loads in certain energy markets.
12	12	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
13	13	SECTION 1. Section 39.905, Utilities Code, is amended by
14	14	amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsections (h), (i),
15	15	(j), and (k) to read as follows:
16	16	(a) It is the goal of the legislature that:
17	17	(1) electric utilities will administer energy
18	18	efficiency incentive programs in a market-neutral,
19	19	nondiscriminatory manner but will not offer underlying competitive
20	20	services;
21	21	(2) all customers, in all customer classes, will have
22	22	a choice of and access to energy efficiency alternatives and other
23	23	choices from the market that allow each customer to reduce energy
24	24	consumption, summer and winter peak demand, or energy costs;
25	25	(3) each electric utility annually will provide,
26	26	through market-based standard offer programs or through [limited,]
27	27	targeted[,] market-transformation programs, incentives sufficient
28	28	for retail electric providers and competitive energy service
29	29	providers to acquire additional cost-effective energy efficiency,
30	30	subject to cost ceilings established by the commission, for the
31	31	utility's residential and commercial customers equivalent to [at
32	32	least]:
33	33	(A) not less than:
34	34	(i) 30 [10] percent of the electric
35	35	utility's annual growth in demand of residential and commercial
36	36	customers by December 31 of each year beginning with the 2013
37	37	calendar year; and
38	38	(ii) the amount of energy efficiency to be
39	39	acquired for the utility's residential and commercial customers for
40	40	the most recent preceding year [, 2007]; and
41	41	(B) for an electric utility whose amount of
42	42	energy efficiency to be acquired under this subsection is
43	43	equivalent to at least four-tenths of one percent of the electric
44	44	utility's summer weather-adjusted peak demand for residential and
45	45	commercial customers in the previous calendar year, not less than:
46	46	(i) four-tenths of one percent of the
47	47	utility's summer weather-adjusted peak demand for residential and
48	48	commercial customers by December 31 of each subsequent year; and
49	49	(ii) the amount of energy efficiency to be
50	50	acquired for the utility's residential and commercial customers for
51	51	the most recent preceding year [15 percent of the electric
52	52	utility's annual growth in demand of residential and commercial
53	53	customers by December 31, 2008, provided that the electric
54	54	utility's program expenditures for 2008 funding may not be greater
55	55	than 75 percent above the utility's program budget for 2007 for
56	56	residential and commercial customers, as included in the April 1,
57	57	2006, filing; and
58	58	[(C) 20 percent of the electric utility's annual
59	59	growth in demand of residential and commercial customers by
60	60	December 31, 2009, provided that the electric utility's program
61	61	expenditures for 2009 funding may not be greater than 150 percent
62	62	above the utility's program budget for 2007 for residential and
63	63	commercial customers, as included in the April 1, 2006, filing];
64	64	(4) each electric utility in the ERCOT region shall
65	65	use its best efforts to encourage and facilitate the involvement of
66	66	the region's retail electric providers in the delivery of
67	67	efficiency programs and demand response programs under this
68	68	section, including programs for demand-side renewable energy
69	69	systems that:
70	70	(A) use distributed renewable generation, as
71	71	defined by Section 39.916; or
72	72	(B) reduce the need for energy consumption by
73	73	using a renewable energy technology, a geothermal heat pump, a
74	74	solar water heater, or another natural mechanism of the
75	75	environment;
76	76	(5) retail electric providers in the ERCOT region, and
77	77	electric utilities outside of the ERCOT region, shall provide
78	78	customers with energy efficiency educational materials; and
79	79	(6) notwithstanding Subsection (a)(3), electric
80	80	utilities shall continue to make available, at 2007 funding and
81	81	participation levels, any load management standard offer programs
82	82	developed for industrial customers and implemented prior to May 1,
83	83	2007.
84	84	(b) The commission shall provide oversight and adopt rules
85	85	and procedures to ensure that the utilities can achieve the goal of
86	86	this section, including:
87	87	(1) establishing an energy efficiency cost recovery
88	88	factor for ensuring timely and reasonable cost recovery for utility
89	89	expenditures made to satisfy the goal of this section;
90	90	(2) establishing an incentive under Section 36.204 to
91	91	reward utilities administering programs under this section that
92	92	exceed the minimum goals established by this section;
93	93	(3) providing a utility that is unable to establish an
94	94	energy efficiency cost recovery factor in a timely manner due to a
95	95	rate freeze with a mechanism to enable the utility to:
96	96	(A) defer the costs of complying with this
97	97	section; and
98	98	(B) recover the deferred costs through an energy
99	99	efficiency cost recovery factor on the expiration of the rate
100	100	freeze period;
101	101	(4) ensuring that the costs associated with programs
102	102	provided under this section and any shareholder bonus awarded are
103	103	borne by the customer classes that receive the services under the
104	104	programs; [and]
105	105	(5) ensuring the program rules encourage the value of
106	106	the incentives to be passed on to the end-use customer;
107	107	(6) ensuring that programs are evaluated, measured,
108	108	and verified using a framework established by the commission that
109	109	promotes effective program design and consistent and streamlined
110	110	reporting; and
111	111	(7) ensuring that an independent organization
112	112	certified under Section 39.151 allows load participation in all
113	113	energy markets for residential, commercial, and industrial
114	114	customer classes, either directly or through aggregators of retail
115	115	customers, to the extent that load participation by each of those
116	116	customer classes complies with reasonable requirements adopted by
117	117	the organization relating to the reliability and adequacy of the
118	118	regional electric network and in a manner that will increase market
119	119	efficiency, competition, and customer benefits.
120	120	(h) For an electric utility operating in an area not open to
121	121	competition, the utility may achieve the goal of this section by:
122	122	(1) providing rebate or incentive funds directly to
123	123	customers to promote or facilitate the success of programs
124	124	implemented under this section; or
125	125	(2) developing, subject to commission approval, new
126	126	programs other than standard offer programs and market
127	127	transformation programs, to the extent that the new programs
128	128	satisfy the same cost-effectiveness requirements as standard offer
129	129	programs and market transformation programs.
130	130	(i) For an electric utility operating in an area open to
131	131	competition, on demonstration to the commission, after a contested
132	132	case hearing, that the requirements under Subsection (a) cannot be
133	133	met in a rural area through retail electric providers or
134	134	competitive energy service providers, the utility may achieve the
135	135	goal of this section by providing rebate or incentive funds
136	136	directly to customers in the rural area to promote or facilitate the
137	137	success of programs implemented under this section.
138	138	(j) An electric utility may use energy audit programs to
139	139	achieve the goal of this section if:
140	140	(1) the programs do not constitute more than three
141	141	percent of total program costs under this section; and
142	142	(2) the addition of the programs does not cause a
143	143	utility's portfolio of programs to no longer be cost-effective.
144	144	(k) To help a residential or nongovernmental nonprofit
145	145	customer make informed decisions regarding energy efficiency, the
146	146	commission may consider program designs that ensure, to the extent
147	147	practicable, the customer is provided with information using
148	148	standardized forms and terms that allow the customer to compare
149	149	offers for varying degrees of energy efficiency attainable using a
150	150	measure the customer is considering by cost, estimated energy
151	151	savings, and payback periods.
152	152	SECTION 2. Subchapter Z, Chapter 39, Utilities Code, is
153	153	amended by adding Section 39.9054 to read as follows:
154	154	Sec. 39.9054. ENERGY EFFICIENCY PLANS AND REPORTS; PUBLIC
155	155	INFORMATION. (a) An electric utility shall submit electronically
156	156	an energy efficiency plan and report in a searchable form
157	157	prescribed by the commission on or before April 1 of each year. The
158	158	commission by rule shall adopt a form that will permit the public to
159	159	easily compare information submitted by different electric
160	160	utilities. The plan and report must:
161	161	(1) provide information on the utility's performance
162	162	in achieving energy efficiency goals for the previous five years;
163	163	(2) describe how the utility intends to achieve future
164	164	goals; and
165	165	(3) provide any other information the commission
166	166	considers relevant.
167	167	(b) On the Internet website found at
168	168	http://www.puc.state.tx.us, the commission shall publish
169	169	information on energy efficiency programs, including:
170	170	(1) an explanation of the goal for energy efficiency
171	171	in this state;
172	172	(2) a description of the types of energy efficiency
173	173	programs available to certain classes of eligible customers;
174	174	(3) a link to the plans and reports filed as prescribed
175	175	by Subsection (a); and
176	176	(4) a list of persons who install or provide energy
177	177	efficiency measures or services by area.
178	178	(c) This section does not require the commission to warrant
179	179	that the list required to be displayed under Subsection (b)
180	180	constitutes a complete or accurate list of all persons who install
181	181	energy efficiency measures or services in the marketplace.
182	182	SECTION 3. Section 39.905(b-2), Utilities Code, is
183	183	repealed.
184	184	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.