87R3385 SLB-F
By: Reynolds H.B. No. 1534
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the funding through greenhouse gas emissions fees of
energy efficiency programs administered by certain utilities;
authorizing a fee.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 382.0621(f), Health and Safety Code, is
amended to read as follows:
(f) The commission may impose operating permit fees for
emissions of greenhouse gas only:
(1) to the extent the fees are necessary to cover the
commission's additional reasonably necessary direct costs of
implementing Section 382.05102; or
(2) as authorized under Section 382.0623.
SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 382, Health and Safety
Code, is amended by adding Section 382.0623 to read as follows:
Sec. 382.0623. GREENHOUSE GAS EMISSIONS FEE. (a) In this
section, "carbon dioxide equivalent" means the amount of carbon
dioxide by weight that would produce the same global warming impact
as a given weight of another greenhouse gas, based on the best
available science.
(b) The commission shall adopt, charge, and collect an
annual fee on each facility permitted under Section 382.05185 that
is subject to federal greenhouse gas reporting requirements.
Except as provided by Subsection (d), the fee is in the amount of $5
per ton of carbon dioxide equivalent emitted from the facility each
year.
(c) Not later than April 15 of each year, a facility
described by Subsection (b) shall submit to the commission each
annual report required by federal greenhouse gas reporting
requirements. The commission shall use a report received under
this subsection to compute the total amount of the fee to be imposed
on the reporting facility.
(d) The commission by rule may provide for an automatic
annual increase in the amount of the fee imposed under this section
in the manner provided for increasing operating permit fees by
Section 382.0621(c).
(e) The commission shall deposit fees collected under this
section to the credit of a greenhouse gas emissions fee account
established in the general revenue fund. The fees collected may be
appropriated only for the purposes of Section 39.9053, Utilities
Code.
SECTION 3. Section 39.905, Utilities Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (f) and adding Subsection (f-1) to read as
follows:
(f) Each unbundled transmission and distribution utility
shall include in its energy efficiency plan a targeted low-income
energy efficiency program, and the savings achieved by the program
shall count toward the transmission and distribution utility's
energy efficiency goal. The commission shall determine the
appropriate level of funding to be allocated to both targeted and
standard offer low-income energy efficiency programs in each
unbundled transmission and distribution utility service area. The
level of funding for low-income energy efficiency programs shall be
provided from money approved by the commission for the transmission
and distribution utility's energy efficiency programs. The
commission shall ensure that annual expenditures for the targeted
low-income energy efficiency programs of each unbundled
transmission and distribution utility are not less than 10 percent
of the transmission and distribution utility's energy efficiency
budget for the year. A grant received by an unbundled transmission
and distribution utility under Section 39.9053 may be considered as
part of the utility's energy efficiency budget. A targeted
low-income energy efficiency program must comply with the same
audit requirements that apply to federal weatherization
subrecipients. In an energy efficiency cost recovery factor
proceeding related to expenditures under this subsection, the
commission shall make findings of fact regarding whether the
utility meets requirements imposed under this subsection. The
state agency that administers the federal weatherization
assistance program shall participate in energy efficiency cost
recovery factor proceedings related to expenditures under this
subsection to ensure that targeted low-income weatherization
programs are consistent with federal weatherization programs and
adequately funded.
(f-1) For the purposes of Subsection (f), a "low-income
energy efficiency program" is a program that offers assistance to
an electric customer:
(1) whose household income is not more than 125
percent of the federal poverty guidelines; or
(2) who receives benefits under the supplemental
nutrition assistance program established under Chapter 33, Human
Resources Code.
SECTION 4. Subchapter Z, Chapter 39, Utilities Code, is
amended by adding Section 39.9053 to read as follows:
Sec. 39.9053. ENERGY EFFICIENCY FUNDING. (a) The
commission by rule shall establish a grant program through which
electric utilities, municipally owned utilities, and electric
cooperatives may receive money from the greenhouse gas emissions
fee account to assist those utilities with meeting goals
established under and implementing programs under Sections 39.905,
39.9051, and 39.9052.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), the commission
shall make grant money available to an electric utility,
municipally owned utility, or electric cooperative in proportion to
the percentage of electric energy consumed by the retail customers
in this state that are served by the electric utility, municipally
owned utility, or electric cooperative.
(c) The commission shall allocate at least 50 percent of the
money provided under Subsection (a) each year for programs
described by Section 39.905(f).
SECTION 5. The Texas Commission on Environmental Quality
may not provide for an increase in the amount of the fee established
by Section 382.0623, Health and Safety Code, as added by this Act,
to occur before August 31, 2022.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.