83R6198 JJT-F
By: Rodriguez S.B. No. 1239
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to compensation for excess electricity generated by a
retail electric customer's on-site generation.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 31.002(6), Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(6) "Electric utility" means a person or river
authority that owns or operates for compensation in this state
equipment or facilities to produce, generate, transmit,
distribute, sell, or furnish electricity in this state. The term
includes a lessee, trustee, or receiver of an electric utility and a
recreational vehicle park owner who does not comply with Subchapter
C, Chapter 184, with regard to the metered sale of electricity at
the recreational vehicle park. The term does not include:
(A) a municipal corporation;
(B) a qualifying facility;
(C) a power generation company;
(D) an exempt wholesale generator;
(E) a power marketer;
(F) a corporation described by Section 32.053 to
the extent the corporation sells electricity exclusively at
wholesale and not to the ultimate consumer;
(G) an electric cooperative;
(H) a retail electric provider;
(I) this state or an agency of this state; [or]
(J) a person not otherwise an electric utility
who:
(i) furnishes an electric service or
commodity only to itself, its employees, or its tenants as an
incident of employment or tenancy, if that service or commodity is
not resold to or used by others;
(ii) owns or operates in this state
equipment or facilities to produce, generate, transmit,
distribute, sell, or furnish electric energy to an electric
utility, if the equipment or facilities are used primarily to
produce and generate electric energy for consumption by that
person; or
(iii) owns or operates in this state a
recreational vehicle park that provides metered electric service in
accordance with Subchapter C, Chapter 184; or
(K) a distributed renewable generation owner, as
defined by Section 39.916.
SECTION 2. Section 39.002, Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 39.002. APPLICABILITY. Except as provided by this
section, this [This] chapter, other than Sections 39.155,
39.157(e), 39.203, 39.903, 39.904, 39.9051, 39.9052, and
39.914(e), does not apply to a municipally owned utility or to 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. Section 39.916
applies to an electric cooperative. Section 39.9161 applies to a
municipally owned utility. 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 3. The heading to Section 39.916, Utilities Code,
is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 39.916. [INTERCONNECTION OF] DISTRIBUTED RENEWABLE
GENERATION.
SECTION 4. Section 39.916(a), Utilities Code, is amended by
adding Subdivision (4) to read as follows:
(4) "Surplus electricity" means electricity generated
by distributed renewable generation that is not consumed at the
place the distributed renewable generation is installed and that
flows onto the electric distribution system.
SECTION 5. Section 39.916, Utilities Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (b), (c), (e), (f), and (j) and adding
Subsections (d-1), (l), (m), (n), (o), and (p) to read as follows:
(b) A transmission and distribution utility, electric
cooperative, or electric utility shall allow interconnection if:
(1) the distributed renewable generation to be
interconnected has a five-year warranty against breakdown or undue
degradation; and
(2) the rated capacity of the distributed renewable
generation does not exceed the transmission and distribution
utility, electric cooperative, or electric utility service
capacity.
(c) A customer may request interconnection by filing an
application for interconnection with the transmission and
distribution utility, electric cooperative, or electric
utility. Procedures of a transmission and distribution utility,
electric cooperative, or electric utility for the submission and
processing of a customer's application for interconnection shall be
consistent with rules adopted by the commission regarding
interconnection.
(d-1) The sale, rental, lease, or maintenance of
distributed renewable generation equipment, or the sale of electric
energy produced by distributed renewable generation to the customer
on whose side of the meter the distributed renewable generation is
installed, does not constitute provision of retail electric
service.
(e) A transmission and distribution utility, electric
cooperative, electric utility, or retail electric provider may not
require a distributed renewable generation owner whose distributed
renewable generation meets the standards established by rule under
Subsection (d) to purchase an amount, type, or classification of
liability insurance the distributed renewable generation owner
would not have in the absence of the distributed renewable
generation.
(f) A transmission and distribution utility, electric
cooperative, or electric utility shall make available to a
distributed renewable generation owner for purposes of this section
metering required for services provided under this section,
including separate meters that measure the load and generator
output or a single meter capable of measuring in-flow and out-flow
at the point of common coupling meter point. The distributed
renewable generation owner must pay the differential cost of the
metering unless the meters are provided at no additional cost.
Except as provided by this section, Section 39.107 applies to
metering under this section.
(j) A [For] distributed renewable generation owner who
chooses to sell the owner's surplus electricity in an area [owners
in areas] in which customer choice has been introduced[, the
distributed renewable generation owner] must sell the owner's
surplus electricity produced to the retail electric provider that
serves the [distributed renewable generation] owner's load. A
distributed renewable generation owner who chooses to sell the
owner's surplus electricity in an area in which customer choice has
not been introduced must sell the owner's surplus electricity to
the electric utility or electric cooperative that serves the
owner's load [at a value agreed to between the distributed
renewable generation owner and the provider that serves the owner's
load which may include, but is not limited to, an agreed value based
on the clearing price of energy at the time of day that the
electricity is made available to the grid or it may be a credit
applied to an account during a billing period that may be carried
over to subsequent billing periods until the credit has been
redeemed]. The independent organization identified in Section
39.151 shall develop procedures so that the amount of electricity
purchased from a distributed renewable generation owner under this
section is accounted for in settling the total load served by the
provider that serves that owner's load [by January 1, 2009]. A
distributed renewable generation owner requesting [net] metering
services for purposes of this section must have metering devices
capable of providing measurements consistent with the independent
organization's settlement requirements.
(l) In areas in which customer choice has been introduced, a
retail electric provider shall purchase surplus electricity at a
fair market value determined using a price that provides a periodic
proxy, using a period of a month or longer, for the load zone
real-time market clearing price, unless the provider chooses to use
a fair market value by an alternative method authorized by this
subsection. A retail electric provider may choose to determine the
fair market value for purchasing surplus electricity by the load
zone real-time market clearing price at the time of day the surplus
electricity is made available to the grid or by the simple average,
during the period for which the surplus electricity being purchased
was generated, of the load zone real-time market clearing price for
energy at the time of day specified in the ERCOT protocols for the
applicable type of distributed renewable generation for load
reduction at locations without interval data meters. A retail
electric provider must use the same method of determining fair
market value for all distributed renewable generation owners
eligible to be compensated for purchased surplus electricity. A
retail electric provider that chooses to determine the fair market
value by an alternative method at any time may not after that date
use the periodic proxy method described by this subsection. A
distributed renewable generation owner may file a written complaint
with the commission for a violation of this subsection or
Subsection (m).
(m) A retail electric provider that purchases surplus
electricity from a distributed renewable generation owner under
Subsection (l) must compensate the distributed renewable
generation owner by making a payment not less frequently than once
each quarter or by applying a credit to an account the credit
balance of which may be carried forward until the credit has been
redeemed. The retail electric provider shall inform the
distributed renewable generation owner of the amount of surplus
electricity purchased, measured in kilowatt hours, and the price
paid for the surplus electricity purchased.
(n) In areas in which customer choice has not been
introduced, an electric utility or electric cooperative shall
purchase surplus electricity at a value that is at least equal to
the avoided cost of the electric utility or electric cooperative,
as applicable. A distributed renewable generation owner may file a
written complaint with the commission for a violation of this
subsection or Subsection (o).
(o) An electric utility or electric cooperative that
purchases surplus electricity from a distributed renewable
generation owner under Subsection (n) must compensate the
distributed renewable generation owner by making a payment made not
less frequently than once each quarter or by applying a credit to an
account the credit balance of which may be carried forward until the
credit has been redeemed. The electric utility or electric
cooperative shall inform the distributed renewable generation
owner of the amount of surplus electricity purchased, measured in
kilowatt hours, and the price paid for the surplus electricity
purchased.
(p) The commission by rule may establish standards
distributed renewable generation must meet to be eligible for
compensation under this section, including interconnection
standards and standards for the generating equipment. The
standards must be designed so that small-scale distributed
renewable generation at residential addresses is eligible for
compensation. A distributed renewable generation owner is
qualified to be compensated for surplus electricity purchased under
this section only if:
(1) the distributed renewable generation is:
(A) rated to produce an amount of electricity
that is less than or equal to the amount of electricity the retail
electric customer for whom the distributed renewable generation is
installed is reasonably expected to consume; and
(B) installed on the customer's side of the meter
for a residential retail electric customer or a retail electric
customer that is a public school or a facility owned by a religious
organization and used primarily as a place of religious worship,
such as a church, synagogue, or mosque; and
(2) the generating capacity of the distributed
renewable generation does not exceed:
(A) 10 kilowatts for a residential retail
electric customer;
(B) 150 kilowatts for a retail electric customer
at a facility owned by a religious organization and used primarily
as a place of religious worship, such as a church, synagogue, or
mosque; or
(C) 250 kilowatts for a retail electric customer
that is a public school.
SECTION 6. Subchapter Z, Chapter 39, Utilities Code, is
amended by adding Section 39.9161 to read as follows:
Sec. 39.9161. DISTRIBUTED RENEWABLE GENERATION WITH
MUNICIPALLY OWNED UTILITIES. (a) In this section, "distributed
renewable generation," "distributed renewable generation owner,"
and "interconnection" have the meanings assigned by Section 39.916.
(b) A municipally owned utility shall:
(1) allow interconnection and metering to account for
electricity produced by distributed renewable generation owners;
and
(2) provide the utility's customers access to
interconnection and metering of distributed renewable generation.
(c) The governing body of a municipally owned utility shall
provide oversight and adopt rates, rules, and procedures to allow
interconnection and provide metering consistent with the goals
established by Section 39.916. This subsection does not prevent the
governing body of a municipally owned utility from adopting rates,
rules, and procedures for interconnection and metering that are
more favorable to a distributed renewable generation owner than
those established by any other law or rule of the commission.
(d) If a municipally owned utility implements customer
choice under Chapter 40, the commission:
(1) has jurisdiction over the municipally owned
utility's distributed renewable generation interconnection and
metering; and
(2) by rule shall establish minimum standards and
procedures for interconnection and metering by the municipally
owned utility.
(e) A municipally owned utility that had retail sales of
500,000 megawatt hours or more in 2012 shall file the utility's
interconnection and metering rates, rules, and procedures with the
State Energy Conservation Office not later than January 1, 2014.
The municipally owned utility shall make timely updates to the
utility's filed rates, rules, and procedures.
(f) A municipally owned utility that has adopted rules and
procedures related to interconnection and metering shall make
available, on a publicly accessible Internet website or at the
customary location for publicly posted notices:
(1) information on the purchase price offered per
kilowatt hour for surplus electricity produced by distributed
renewable generation; and
(2) information instructing customers with
distributed renewable generation how to request and obtain the
purchase rates offered.
(g) The governing body of a municipally owned utility that
had retail sales of less than 500,000 megawatt hours in 2012 shall
provide oversight and adopt rules and procedures related to
interconnection and metering of distributed renewable generation
systems with a generating capacity considered appropriate by the
municipally owned utility on or before the 120th day after the date
the governing body receives a bona fide request for
interconnection.
SECTION 7. Subchapter Z, Chapter 39, Utilities Code, is
amended by adding Section 39.926 to read as follows:
Sec. 39.926. INFORMATION ON INTERNET REGARDING PURCHASE OF
SURPLUS ELECTRICITY PRODUCED BY DISTRIBUTED RENEWABLE GENERATION.
On the Internet website found at http://www.powertochoose.org, the
commission shall provide for access to easily comparable
information regarding retail electric providers' offers to
residential distributed renewable generation owners for their
surplus electricity, including information regarding their
contract terms, for each retail electric provider using that
website.
SECTION 8. Section 39.916(h), Utilities Code, is repealed.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect January 1, 2014.