By: Chisum, Strama (Senate Sponsor - Carona) H.B. No. 3595
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 12, 2011;
May 12, 2011, read first time and referred to Committee on Business
and Commerce; May 20, 2011, reported adversely, with favorable
Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 3;
May 20, 2011, sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 3595 By: Carona
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to energy efficiency goals and energy efficiency programs.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle E, Title 4, Government Code, is amended
by adding Chapter 470 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 470. ENERGY EFFICIENCY COUNCIL
Sec. 470.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Council" means the energy efficiency council.
(2) "Energy efficiency program" means a program that
uses state or federal funding to:
(A) reduce inefficient energy use;
(B) reduce peak energy demand;
(C) reduce energy consumption;
(D) promote compliance with energy efficient
building design standards; or
(E) pay for the implementation of energy cost
reduction measures.
(3) "Program administrator" includes any of the
following entities that administer an energy efficiency program:
(A) a state agency, including the Public Utility
Commission of Texas, the Railroad Commission of Texas, the State
Energy Conservation Office, and the Texas Department of Housing and
Community Affairs;
(B) a political subdivision of this state;
(C) a private or public utility service provider
other than a retail electric provider, including an electric
cooperative or municipally owned utility;
(D) a school district; or
(E) an institution of higher education.
Sec. 470.002. PURPOSE. The energy efficiency council is a
council established in the comptroller's office to:
(1) monitor energy efficiency programs in this state;
(2) make recommendations for improving energy
efficiency programs in this state; and
(3) provide a central repository for information on
energy efficiency programs in this state.
Sec. 470.003. ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAM POLICIES. A
program administrator shall consider any applicable
recommendations of the council when creating or implementing the
energy efficiency program.
Sec. 470.004. COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP. (a) The council is
composed of the following 16 members:
(1) 12 ex officio members as follows:
(A) the presiding officer of the Texas Commission
on Environmental Quality;
(B) the chief executive officer of the Electric
Reliability Council of Texas;
(C) the presiding officer of the Public Utility
Commission of Texas;
(D) the presiding officer of the Railroad
Commission of Texas;
(E) the comptroller or an employee of the State
Energy Conservation Office designated by the comptroller;
(F) the director of the Texas Department of
Housing and Community Affairs;
(G) the executive director of the Texas
Facilities Commission;
(H) the executive administrator of the Texas
Water Development Board;
(I) the presiding officer of the Water
Conservation Advisory Council;
(J) the executive director of the Texas
Department of Rural Affairs;
(K) the director of the Energy Systems Laboratory
at the Texas Engineering Experiment Station of The Texas A&M
University System; and
(L) the chief executive of the Office of Public
Utility Counsel; and
(2) four public members appointed by the governor as
follows:
(A) one member to represent low-income
ratepayers;
(B) one member to represent commercial or
industrial ratepayers;
(C) one member to represent an environmental
organization; and
(D) one member to represent the taxpayers of this
state.
(b) The four public members must be appointed with the
advice and consent of the senate.
(c) The ex officio members and the appointed members serve
as voting members of the council.
(d) The comptroller or the employee designated under
Subsection (a)(1)(E) shall serve as presiding officer of the
council.
(e) The council shall meet at least two times per year at the
call of the presiding officer.
(f) Council members may not receive compensation for
services but, subject to the availability of funding, may receive
reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses incurred while
performing council business.
(g) Appointments to council positions shall be made without
regard to the race, color, disability, sex, religion, age, or
national origin of the appointees.
Sec. 470.005. TERMS; VACANCY. (a) Appointed council
members serve staggered two-year terms, with the terms of one or two
members, as applicable, expiring on February 1.
(b) A vacancy on the council in the position of an appointed
council member shall be filled in the same manner as the original
appointment. The person appointed serves for the remainder of the
unexpired term.
Sec. 470.006. GROUNDS FOR REMOVAL. (a) It is a ground for
removal from the council that a member:
(1) does not maintain during service on the council
the qualifications required by Section 470.004(a)(1);
(2) cannot, because of illness or disability,
discharge the member's duties for a substantial part of the member's
term; or
(3) is absent from more than half of the regularly
scheduled council meetings that the member is eligible to attend
during a calendar year without an excuse approved by a majority vote
of the council.
(b) The validity of an action of the council is not affected
by the fact that it is taken when a ground for removal of a council
member exists.
(c) If the presiding officer has knowledge that a potential
ground for removal exists, the presiding officer shall notify the
appointing authority and the attorney general that a potential
ground for removal exists.
Sec. 470.007. ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT. To the extent
resources are available, the State Energy Conservation Office shall
provide the council with administrative support, including meeting
space and staff necessary to assist the council in carrying out the
council's duties under this chapter.
Sec. 470.008. ACCEPTANCE OF GIFTS, GRANTS, OR DONATIONS.
The council may solicit and the comptroller may accept for the
council gifts, grants, and donations from any public or private
source for the purposes of this chapter.
Sec. 470.009. ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAM MONITORING AND
RECOMMENDATIONS. (a) The council shall monitor energy efficiency
programs in this state.
(b) The council may submit to a program administrator
recommendations on means to encourage greater energy efficiency on
a regular basis.
Sec. 470.010. OFFICIAL INTERNET WEBSITES. The council
shall use the following official Internet websites for the
publication of information as required by this chapter:
(1) the Internet website of the State Energy
Conservation Office; and
(2) the Internet website of the Public Utility
Commission of Texas.
Sec. 470.011. LIST OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAMS. (a) The
council shall:
(1) develop a list of currently operating energy
efficiency programs in this state and publish the list on the
official Internet websites under Section 470.010; and
(2) work with the State Energy Conservation Office and
the Public Utility Commission of Texas to develop and publish on the
official Internet websites under Section 470.010 a user-friendly
page that allows a consumer to search by the consumer's address
energy efficiency programs available in the consumer's service
area.
(b) The State Energy Conservation Office and the Public
Utility Commission of Texas shall each provide a link on their
Internet websites to the page described by Subsection (a)(2).
Sec. 470.012. BIENNIAL PROGRAMS REPORT. (a) The council
biennially shall prepare a report on energy efficiency programs in
this state. The council shall submit the report to the legislature
not later than October 1 of each even-numbered year.
(b) The report must include:
(1) a comprehensive review of the energy efficiency
programs on the list required by Section 470.011, including
information on the goals, costs, and benefits of the programs, the
results of each program, the energy savings and emissions
reductions that each program achieves, and the jobs that each
program creates;
(2) a study comparing energy efficiency programs in
this state to similar programs in:
(A) California;
(B) Florida;
(C) New York; and
(D) each other state the council determines to
have programs appropriate for the comparisons; and
(3) recommendations for improving energy efficiency
programs in this state.
(c) The report may include recommendations for creating new
energy efficiency programs in this state.
(d) The council shall publish the report on the official
Internet websites under Section 470.010.
Sec. 470.013. APPLICABILITY OF ADVISORY COMMITTEE LAW.
Chapter 2110 does not apply to the council.
SECTION 2. Section 39.905, Utilities Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (d) and adding Subsection (h) to read as
follows:
(d) The commission shall establish a procedure for
reviewing and evaluating market-transformation program options
described by this subsection and other options. In evaluating
program options, the commission may consider the ability of a
program option to reduce costs to customers through reduced demand,
energy savings, and relief of congestion. Utilities may choose to
implement any program option approved by the commission after its
evaluation in order to satisfy the goal in Subsection (a),
including:
(1) energy-smart schools;
(2) appliance retirement and recycling;
(3) air conditioning system tune-ups;
(4) the installation of variable speed motors and
drives;
(5) the use of trees or other landscaping for energy
efficiency;
(6) [(5)] customer energy management and demand
response programs;
(7) [(6)] high performance residential and commercial
buildings that will achieve the levels of energy efficiency
sufficient to qualify those buildings for federal tax incentives;
(8) commissioning services for commercial and
institutional buildings that result in operational and maintenance
practices that reduce the buildings' energy consumption;
(9) [(7)] programs for customers who rent or lease
their residence or commercial space;
(10) [(8)] programs providing energy monitoring
equipment to customers that enable a customer to better understand
the amount, price, and time of the customer's energy use;
(11) [(9)] energy audit programs for owners and other
residents of single-family or multifamily residences and for small
commercial customers;
(12) [(10)] net-zero energy new home programs;
(13) [(11)] solar thermal or solar electric programs;
[and]
(14) [(12)] programs for using windows and other
glazing systems, glass doors, and skylights in residential and
commercial buildings that reduce solar gain by at least 30 percent
from the level established for the federal Energy Star windows
program;
(15) data center efficiency programs; and
(16) energy use and education programs with measurable
and verifiable results that reduce energy consumption through
behavioral changes that lead to efficient use patterns and
practices.
(h) An entity that conducts an energy efficiency audit for a
residential, commercial, or nongovernmental nonprofit customer and
provides a report of the audit shall include in the audit report:
(1) a list of any energy efficiency products or
alternate energy service providers the entity is recommending that
the customer use; and
(2) a written disclosure of any financial benefit the
entity receives from recommending the use of each particular energy
efficiency product or particular alternate energy service
provider.
SECTION 3. As soon as practicable after the effective date
of this Act, the governor shall appoint members to the energy
efficiency council in accordance with Section 470.004, Government
Code, as added by this Act.
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, 2011.
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