Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas House Bill HB2687 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	87R11102 JXC-F
2	2	By: Reynolds H.B. No. 2687
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the prevention of power blackouts.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 39, Utilities Code, is
10	10	amended by adding Section 39.159 to read as follows:
11	11	Sec. 39.159. ASSURING RELIABILITY IN THE ERCOT POWER
12	12	REGION. (a) The commission by rule shall require a power
13	13	generation company operating in the ERCOT power region to:
14	14	(1) weatherize the company's generation facilities and
15	15	associated equipment on an annual basis so that the facilities and
16	16	equipment are able to operate in extreme cold and heat; and
17	17	(2) submit annual weatherization plans to the
18	18	commission and the independent organization certified under
19	19	Section 39.151 for the ERCOT power region.
20	20	(b) The rules adopted under Subsection (a) must require
21	21	weatherization sufficient to withstand the extreme weather events
22	22	in Texas in February 2011, August 2011, and February 2021.
23	23	(c) The commission shall consider standards recommended by
24	24	federal agencies for weatherization when adopting rules under
25	25	Subsection (a).
26	26	(d) The commission may:
27	27	(1) inspect the generation facilities and associated
28	28	equipment of a power generation company for compliance with the
29	29	rules adopted under Subsection (a); and
30	30	(2) require a power generation company to take an
31	31	action included in the company's annual weatherization plan.
32	32	(e) If the commission or independent organization certified
33	33	under Section 39.151 for the ERCOT power region determines that
34	34	changes in the amounts of existing ancillary service obligations
35	35	required by load serving entities are needed:
36	36	(1) the commission by rule may address the imbalance;
37	37	and
38	38	(2) the independent organization may make changes to
39	39	its ancillary service obligations through a stakeholder process to
40	40	address the imbalance.
41	41	(f) The commission by rule shall establish a process for
42	42	obtaining emergency response services in addition to ancillary
43	43	services as appropriate to prevent rolling blackout conditions
44	44	caused by shortages of supply in the ERCOT power region. The rules
45	45	must include:
46	46	(1) parameters for estimating the amount of emergency
47	47	response service capacity necessary to prevent blackout
48	48	conditions; and
49	49	(2) mechanisms for equitably sharing the costs of:
50	50	(A) contracting for reserve capacity to be
51	51	available; and
52	52	(B) power provided to prevent blackout
53	53	conditions.
54	54	(g) The commission shall ensure that the total cost for
55	55	ensuring the emergency response services does not exceed $100
56	56	million annually.
57	57	(h) In accordance with rules adopted under Subsection (f),
58	58	the independent organization certified under Section 39.151 for the
59	59	ERCOT power region shall contract with qualified loads, electric
60	60	storage companies, and power generation companies, including
61	61	aggregation of loads and generators, for a defined amount of
62	62	emergency response service capacity the organization may call on to
63	63	ensure that power shortages or demand spikes do not create a need
64	64	for rolling blackouts.
65	65	(i) Before the independent organization certified under
66	66	Section 39.151 for the ERCOT power region calls on the emergency
67	67	response service capacity to prevent rolling blackouts, the
68	68	organization shall use all market sources of power, including
69	69	electric energy storage and demand reduction, in accordance with
70	70	commission rules adopted under this section.
71	71	SECTION 2. Subchapter Z, Chapter 39, Utilities Code, is
72	72	amended by adding Section 39.9053 to read as follows:
73	73	Sec. 39.9053. DEMAND RESPONSE IN ERCOT POWER REGION. (a)
74	74	In this section:
75	75	(1) "Demand response" means changes in electric usage
76	76	by customers from their normal consumption patterns in response to:
77	77	(A) changes in the price of electricity use over
78	78	time; or
79	79	(B) incentive payments designed to induce lower
80	80	electricity use at times of high wholesale market prices or when the
81	81	system reliability is jeopardized.
82	82	(2) "Demand response provider" means a competitive
83	83	energy services provider that aggregates customer load reduction
84	84	capabilities, including reliability demand response capability,
85	85	and offers those capabilities into an electricity market or
86	86	program.
87	87	(3) "Reliability demand response" means demand
88	88	response to be dispatched by an independent system operator or a
89	89	distribution utility in response to an electric grid reliability
90	90	issue.
91	91	(b) The legislature finds that electricity markets function
92	92	most efficiently when supply side and demand side resources both
93	93	contribute to the adequacy of the electric system. The legislature
94	94	also finds that the ERCOT power region has not yet achieved its
95	95	potential for demand response, and, therefore, it is the policy of
96	96	this state to promote the development of demand response to its
97	97	maximum potential and to eliminate unnecessary barriers to demand
98	98	response participation in the ERCOT power region.
99	99	(c) The commission by rule shall:
100	100	(1) require the independent organization certified
101	101	under Section 39.151 for the ERCOT power region to provide the
102	102	commission not less frequently than December 1 of each odd-numbered
103	103	year with an analysis of the potential demand response opportunity
104	104	and penetration in the ERCOT power region;
105	105	(2) promote development of demand response
106	106	participation by customers in all customer classes;
107	107	(3) remove barriers to demand response participation
108	108	for demand response providers and for customers in all customer
109	109	classes;
110	110	(4) ensure that customers in all customer classes have
111	111	the option to contract for participation in demand response either
112	112	directly with one or more demand response providers, including
113	113	retail electric providers, with scheduling entities qualified by
114	114	the independent system operator, or with a combination of entities
115	115	consisting of the independent system operator and one or more
116	116	demand response providers;
117	117	(5) establish and encourage markets, products,
118	118	programs, or services for reliability demand response and other
119	119	forms of demand response in wholesale and retail markets; and
120	120	(6) provide opportunities for demand response
121	121	providers and customers to participate in wholesale energy markets
122	122	and ancillary services markets on a comparable basis with other
123	123	resources, while accommodating differences in operational
124	124	capabilities of various customer loads among customer classes,
125	125	including differences related to availability, dispatch
126	126	notification timelines, curtailment response times, ramp rates,
127	127	curtailment duration, and times required to return to service
128	128	following an outage.
129	129	SECTION 3. The Public Utility Commission of Texas shall
130	130	adopt rules as necessary to implement Section 39.9053, Utilities
131	131	Code, as added by this Act, not later than May 1, 2022.
132	132	SECTION 4. (a) The Public Utility Commission of Texas shall
133	133	work with the independent organization certified under Section
134	134	39.151, Utilities Code, for the ERCOT power region to:
135	135	(1) assess the structure and amounts of existing
136	136	ancillary service obligations required by load serving entities;
137	137	and
138	138	(2) consider changes that may be required to improve
139	139	reliability of the electric grid system, including reducing the
140	140	need for rolling blackouts in extreme weather.
141	141	(b) In conducting the analysis under Subsection (a) of this
142	142	section, the commission and independent organization must seek
143	143	stakeholder input and consider all generation resources, including
144	144	distributed generation, electric storage, demand response, energy
145	145	efficiency, and power generation.
146	146	SECTION 5. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
147	147	a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
148	148	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
149	149	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
150	150	Act takes effect September 1, 2021.