H.B. No. 971
AN ACT
relating to electric transmission facilities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 37.053, Utilities Code, is amended by
adding Subsections (c) and (d) to read as follows:
(c) The commission may not require the applicant to
designate a preferred route for a proposed transmission line
facility.
(d) For transmission facilities ordered or approved by the
commission under Chapter 37 or 39, the rights extended to an
electric corporation under Section 181.004 include all public land,
except land owned by the state, on which the commission has approved
the construction of the line. This subsection does not limit a
municipality's rights or an electric utility's obligations under
Chapter 33. Nothing in this subsection shall be interpreted to
prevent a public entity from expressing a route preference in a
proceeding under this chapter.
SECTION 2. (a) Section 37.056, Utilities Code, is amended
by adding Subsection (d) to read as follows:
(d) The commission by rule shall establish criteria, in
addition to the criteria described by Subsection (c), for granting
a certificate for a transmission project that serves the ERCOT
power region, that is not necessary to meet state or federal
reliability standards, and that does not serve a competitive
renewable energy zone. The criteria must include a comparison of
the estimated cost of the transmission project and the estimated
cost savings that may result from the transmission project. The
commission shall include with its decision on an application for a
certificate to which this subsection applies findings on the
criteria.
(b) The change in law made by this section applies only to a
certificate application filed with the Public Utility Commission of
Texas on or after the effective date of this Act and to a
certificate application pending on the effective date of this Act.
A certificate application filed with the Public Utility Commission
of Texas before the effective date of this Act and not pending on
the effective date of this Act is subject to the law in effect on the
date the application is filed, and that law is continued in effect
for that purpose.
SECTION 3. The Public Utility Commission of Texas shall
adopt or revise rules under Section 37.053, Utilities Code, as
amended by this Act, before June 1, 2012.
SECTION 4. The change in law made by this Act to Section
37.053(c), Utilities Code, applies only to an application for a
certificate of convenience and necessity that is filed with the
Public Utility Commission of Texas on or after the effective date of
this Act. An application for a certificate of convenience and
necessity that was filed with the commission before the effective
date of this Act is governed by the law in effect on the date the
application was filed, and that law is continued in effect for that
purpose.
SECTION 5. 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.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 971 was passed by the House on May 5,
2011, by the following vote: Yeas 146, Nays 0, 1 present, not
voting; and that the House concurred in Senate amendments to H.B.
No. 971 on May 27, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 138, Nays 0, 3
present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 971 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 24, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays
0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor