Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas House Bill HB2786 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	87R10993 JXC-D
2	2	By: Vasut H.B. No. 2786
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to load shedding participation for certain customers
8	8	during a rolling blackout.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 38, Utilities Code, is
11	11	amended by adding Section 38.074 to read as follows:
12	12	Sec. 38.074. EXCLUSION OF CRITICAL CUSTOMERS FROM ROLLING
13	13	BLACKOUTS. (a) In this section:
14	14	(1) "Assisted living facility" has the meaning
15	15	assigned by Section 247.002, Health and Safety Code.
16	16	(2) "Critical customer" means a customer for whom
17	17	electric service is considered crucial for the protection or
18	18	maintenance of public safety, including a:
19	19	(A) hospital facility licensed under Chapter
20	20	241, Health and Safety Code;
21	21	(B) nursing facility, assisted living facility,
22	22	or facility that provides hospice services;
23	23	(C) police or fire station; or
24	24	(D) critical water and wastewater facility.
25	25	(3) "Critical industrial or residential customer"
26	26	means:
27	27	(A) an industrial customer for whom an
28	28	interruption or suspension of electric service would create a
29	29	dangerous or life-threatening condition on the customer's
30	30	premises; or
31	31	(B) a residential customer who has a person
32	32	permanently residing in the customer's home who has been diagnosed
33	33	by a physician as:
34	34	(i) having a serious medical condition that
35	35	requires an electric-powered medical device or electric heating or
36	36	cooling to prevent the impairment of a major life function through a
37	37	significant deterioration or exacerbation of the person's medical
38	38	condition; or
39	39	(ii) being dependent upon an
40	40	electric-powered medical device to sustain life.
41	41	(4) "Hospice services" has the meaning assigned by
42	42	Section 142.001, Health and Safety Code.
43	43	(5) "Nursing facility" has the meaning assigned by
44	44	Section 242.301, Health and Safety Code.
45	45	(b) Except as provided by Subsections (c) and (d), the
46	46	commission by rule shall require each electric utility, municipally
47	47	owned utility, and electric cooperative that is subject to a
48	48	rolling blackout initiated by an independent organization
49	49	certified under Section 39.151 to:
50	50	(1) exclude any parts of the utility's or
51	51	cooperative's distribution system that provide power to a critical
52	52	customer from participation in the utility's or cooperative's
53	53	attempt to shed load; and
54	54	(2) rotate curtailment of all other parts of the
55	55	distribution system so that no customer is subject to an outage of
56	56	more than:
57	57	(A) 24 hours; or
58	58	(B) 12 hours during an extreme weather emergency,
59	59	as defined by Section 39.101.
60	60	(c) The commission may allow an electric utility,
61	61	municipally owned utility, or electric cooperative to maintain an
62	62	outage for more than 24 hours for a part of the distribution system
63	63	if necessary to supply critical customers.
64	64	(d) The commission may require that an electric utility,
65	65	municipally owned utility, or electric cooperative exclude a
66	66	critical industrial or residential customer from load shedding
67	67	under Subsection (b)(1).
68	68	SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.