Texas 2021 - 87th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4567 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Anchia H.B. No. 4567
2	2
3	3
4	4	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
5	5	AN ACT
6	6	relating to money used in and the continuation of the system benefit
7	7	fund
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Sec. 39.903. SYSTEM BENEFIT FUND.
10	10	(a) The system benefit fund is an account in the general
11	11	revenue fund. Money in the account may be appropriated only for the
12	12	purposes provided by this section or other law. Interest earned on
13	13	the system benefit fund shall be credited to the fund. Section
14	14	403.095, Government Code, does not apply to the system benefit
15	15	fund.
16	16	(b) The system benefit fund is financed by a nonbypassable
17	17	fee set by the commission in an amount not to exceed 65 cents per
18	18	megawatt hour and by appropriated funds. The system benefit fund
19	19	fee is allocated to customers based on the amount of kilowatt hours
20	20	used.
21	21	(c) The nonbypassable fee may not be imposed on the retail
22	22	electric customers of a municipally owned utility or electric
23	23	cooperative before the sixth month preceding the date on which the
24	24	utility or cooperative implements customer choice. Money
25	25	distributed from the system benefit fund to a municipally owned
26	26	utility or an electric cooperative shall be proportional to the
27	27	nonbypassable fee paid by the municipally owned utility or the
28	28	electric cooperative, subject to the reimbursement provided by
29	29	Subsection (i). On request by a municipally owned utility or
30	30	electric cooperative, the commission shall reduce the
31	31	nonbypassable fee imposed on retail electric customers served by
32	32	the municipally owned utility or electric cooperative by an amount
33	33	equal to the amount provided by the municipally owned utility or
34	34	electric cooperative or its ratepayers for local low-income
35	35	programs and local programs that educate customers about the retail
36	36	electric market in a neutral and nonpromotional manner.
37	37	(d) The commission shall annually review and approve system
38	38	benefit fund accounts, projected revenue requirements, and
39	39	proposed nonbypassable fees.
40	40	(e) Money in the system benefit fund may be appropriated to
41	41	provide funding solely for the following regulatory purposes, in
42	42	the following order of priority:
43	43	(1) programs to:
44	44	(A) provide bill payment assistance to
45	45	low-income electric customers who during the time of a declared
46	46	disaster that occurred in year 2021 or after and had an indexed
47	47	plan, or a variable rate plan, and have been impacted by high energy
48	48	bills as a result of the declared natural disaster; and
49	49	[(A)] (B) assist low-income electric customers
50	50	by providing the 10 percent reduced rate prescribed by Subsection
51	51	(h); and
52	52	[(B)] (C) provide one-time bill payment
53	53	assistance to electric customers who are or who have in their
54	54	households one or more seriously ill or disabled low-income persons
55	55	and who have been threatened with disconnection for nonpayment;
56	56	(2) customer education programs, administrative
57	57	expenses incurred by the commission in implementing and
58	58	administering this chapter, and expenses incurred by the office
59	59	under this chapter;
60	60	(3) programs to assist low-income electric customers
61	61	by providing the targeted energy efficiency programs described by
62	62	Subsection (f)(2);
63	63	(4) programs to assist low-income electric customers
64	64	by providing the 20 percent reduced rate prescribed by Subsection
65	65	(h); and
66	66	(5) reimbursement to the commission and the Health and
67	67	Human Services Commission for expenses incurred in the
68	68	implementation and administration of an integrated eligibility
69	69	process created under Section 17.007 for customer service discounts
70	70	relating to retail electric service, including outreach expenses
71	71	the commission determines are reasonable and necessary.
72	72	(f) Notwithstanding Section 39.106(b), the commission shall
73	73	adopt rules regarding programs to assist low-income electric
74	74	customers on the introduction of customer choice. The programs may
75	75	not be targeted to areas served by municipally owned utilities or
76	76	electric cooperatives that have not adopted customer choice. The
77	77	programs shall include:
78	78	(1) reduced electric rates as provided by Subsections
79	79	(h)-(l); and
80	80	(2) targeted energy efficiency programs to be
81	81	administered by the Texas Department of Housing and Community
82	82	Affairs in coordination with existing weatherization programs.
83	83	(g) Until customer choice is introduced in a power region,
84	84	an electric utility may not reduce, in any manner, programs already
85	85	offered to assist low-income electric customers.
86	86	(h) The commission shall adopt rules for a retail electric
87	87	provider to determine a reduced rate for eligible customers to be
88	88	discounted off the standard retail service package as approved by
89	89	the commission under Section 39.106, or the price to beat
90	90	established by Section 39.202, whichever is lower. Municipally
91	91	owned utilities and electric cooperatives shall establish a reduced
92	92	rate for eligible customers to be discounted off the standard
93	93	retail service package established under Section 40.053 or 41.053,
94	94	as appropriate. The reduced rate for a retail electric provider
95	95	shall result in a total charge that is at least 10 percent and, if
96	96	sufficient money in the system benefit fund is available, up to 20
97	97	percent, lower than the amount the customer would otherwise be
98	98	charged. To the extent the system benefit fund is insufficient to
99	99	fund the initial 10 percent rate reduction, the commission may
100	100	increase the fee to an amount not more than 65 cents per megawatt
101	101	hour, as provided by Subsection (b). If the fee is set at 65 cents
102	102	per megawatt hour or if the commission determines that
103	103	appropriations are insufficient to fund the 10 percent rate
104	104	reduction, the commission may reduce the rate reduction to less
105	105	than 10 percent. For a municipally owned utility or electric
106	106	cooperative, the reduced rate shall be equal to an amount that can
107	107	be fully funded by that portion of the nonbypassable fee proceeds
108	108	paid by the municipally owned utility or electric cooperative that
109	109	is allocated to the utility or cooperative by the commission under
110	110	Subsection (e) for programs for low-income customers of the utility
111	111	or cooperative. The reduced rate for municipally owned utilities
112	112	and electric cooperatives under this section is in addition to any
113	113	rate reduction that may result from local programs for low-income
114	114	customers of the municipally owned utilities or electric
115	115	cooperatives.
116	116	(i) A retail electric provider, municipally owned utility,
117	117	or electric cooperative seeking reimbursement from the system
118	118	benefit fund may not charge an eligible low-income customer a rate
119	119	higher than the appropriate rate determined under Subsection (h). A
120	120	retail electric provider not subject to the price to beat, or a
121	121	municipally owned utility or electric cooperative subject to the
122	122	nonbypassable fee under Subsection (c), shall be reimbursed from
123	123	the system benefit fund for the difference between the reduced rate
124	124	and the rate established under Section 39.106 or, as appropriate,
125	125	the rate established under Section 40.053 or 41.053. A retail
126	126	electric provider who is subject to the price to beat shall be
127	127	reimbursed from the system benefit fund for the difference between
128	128	the reduced rate and the price to beat. The commission shall adopt
129	129	rules providing for the reimbursement.
130	130	(j) The commission shall adopt rules providing for methods
131	131	of enrolling customers eligible to receive reduced rates under
132	132	Subsection (h). The rules must provide for automatic enrollment as
133	133	one enrollment option. The Texas Department of Human Services, on
134	134	request of the commission, shall assist in the adoption and
135	135	implementation of these rules. The commission and the Texas
136	136	Department of Human Services shall enter into a memorandum of
137	137	understanding establishing the respective duties of the commission
138	138	and the department in relation to the automatic enrollment.
139	139	(j-1) The commission shall adopt rules governing the bill
140	140	payment assistance program provided under Subsection (e)(1)(B).
141	141	The rules must provide that a customer is eligible to receive the
142	142	assistance only if the assistance is necessary to prevent the
143	143	disconnection of service for nonpayment of bills and the electric
144	144	customer is or has in the customer's household one or more seriously
145	145	ill or disabled low-income persons whose health or safety may be
146	146	injured by the disconnection. The commission may prescribe the
147	147	documentation necessary to demonstrate eligibility for the
148	148	assistance and may establish additional eligibility criteria. The
149	149	Health and Human Services Commission, on request of the commission,
150	150	shall assist in the adoption and implementation of these rules.
151	151	(k) A retail electric provider is prohibited from charging
152	152	the customer a fee for participation in the reduced rate program.
153	153	(l) For the purposes of this section, a "low-income electric
154	154	customer" is an electric customer:
155	155	(1) whose household income is not more than 125
156	156	percent of the federal poverty guidelines; or
157	157	(2) who receives food stamps from the Texas Department
158	158	of Human Services or medical assistance from a state agency
159	159	administering a part of the medical assistance program.
160	160	(m) This section expires September 1, 2024 [2017].