By: Talarico H.B. No. 4090
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a grant and loan program to promote the installation of
on-site solar energy and energy storage for resilience.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 2305, Government Code, is
amended by adding Section 2305.040 to read as follows:
Sec. 2305.040. SOLAR ENERGY AND ENERGY STORAGE RESILIENCE
GRANT AND LOAN PROGRAM. (a) In this section, "solar energy device"
means a system or series of mechanisms designed primarily to
provide heating or cooling or to produce electrical or mechanical
power by collecting and transferring solar-generated energy.
(b) In this section, "energy storage device" means a
mechanical or chemical device that has the ability to store
solar-generated energy for use in heating or cooling or in the
production of power.
(c) In this section, "essential community services" means
those providing the public with free water, food, shelter, medical
services, emergency response operations, and other services that
the local county deems essential.
(d) The energy office is the supervising state agency of the
solar energy and energy storage resilience grant and loan program.
The program is established to encourage the installation of solar
energy and energy storage devices to enable locations that provide
essential community services during emergencies to continue
operating autonomously when electricity from the grid is not
available.
(e) The energy office shall award grants or make or
guarantee loans for the the solar energy and energy storage
resilience grant and loan program.
(f) Grants shall be made available for government
facilities. The energy office shall distribute grants in a manner
that ensures an equitable geographic distribution.
(g) The energy office shall determine the terms under which
a loan may be made under this section and shall set the interest
rate for a loan at a low rate that the energy office determines is
sufficient to recover the cost of administering the loan program.
(h) Before awarding a grant or making a loan under this
section, the energy office shall enter into a written agreement
with the entity to which the grant is to be awarded or the loan is to
be made. The agreement may specify that if, as of a date specified
by the agreement, the entity has not used the grant or loan for the
purposes for which the grant or loan was intended, the entity shall
repay the amount of the grant or the amount of the loan and any
accrued interest, as applicable, under terms specified by the
agreement.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.