By: Hancock S.B. No. 1749
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the eligibility and designation of certain gas entities
and gas facilities as critical during an energy emergency.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter D, Chapter 38, Utilities Code, is
amended by adding Section 38.074 to read as follows:
Sec. 38.074. CRITICAL GAS ENTITIES AND FACILITIES DURING AN
ENERGY EMERGENCY. (a) The commission shall work with the Railroad
Commission of Texas and adopt rules to designate certain gas
entities and facilities as critical during an energy emergency.
(b) At a minimum, the commission's rules shall:
(1) ensure that transmission and distribution
utilities, municipally owned utilities, electric cooperatives, and
ERCOT are provided with the designations as required by Section
81.073, Natural Resources Code;
(2) provide for a prioritization for load-shed
purposes of the entities and facilities designated under Subsection
(a) during an energy emergency; and
(3) provide discretion to transmission and
distribution utilities, municipally owned utilities, and electric
cooperatives to prioritize power delivery and power restoration
among the customers on their respective systems, as circumstances
require.
SECTION 2. Chapter 81, Natural Resources Code, is amended
by adding Section 81.073 to read as follows:
Sec. 81.073. CRITICAL GAS ENTITIES AND FACILITIES DURING AN
ENERGY EMERGENCY. (a) The commission shall work with the Public
Utility Commission of Texas to designate certain gas entities and
facilities as critical during an energy emergency.
(b) At a minimum, the commission's rules shall:
(1) determine eligibility and designation
requirements for persons owning, operating, or engaging in the
activities set forth in Section 81.051 to provide critical customer
designation and critical gas supply information, as defined by the
commission, to transmission and distribution utilities,
municipally owned utilities, electric cooperatives, and ERCOT, as
those terms are defined by Section 31.002, Utilities Code; and
(2) consider essential operational elements when
defining critical customer designations and critical gas supply
information, including natural gas production, processing,
transportation, and the delivery of natural gas to generators.
SECTION 3. (a) The Public Utility Commission of Texas and
Railroad Commission of Texas shall adopt rules, as added by this
Act, not later than September 1, 2021.
(b) The Public Utility Commission of Texas shall provide a
report to the legislature regarding its implementation of the
designation and prioritization requirements, as added by the Act,
not later than January 1, 2022.
SECTION 4. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act takes effect
immediately if it receives a vote of two-thirds of all the members
elected to each house, as provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas
Constitution. If this Act does not receive the vote necessary for
immediate effect, this Act takes effect September 1, 2021.