By: Creighton, et al. S.B. No. 865
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a power outage alert system and a study on a statewide
disaster alert system.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 411, Government Code, is amended by
adding Subchapter K-1 to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER K-1. POWER OUTAGE ALERT
Sec. 411.301. POWER OUTAGE ALERT. (a) With the cooperation
of the Texas Department of Transportation, the Texas Division of
Emergency Management, the office of the governor, and the Public
Utility Commission of Texas, the department shall develop and
implement an alert to be activated when the power supply in this
state may be inadequate to meet demand.
(b) The Public Utility Commission of Texas by rule shall
adopt criteria for the content and activation of the alert
described by Subsection (a). The criteria must provide for an alert
to be regional or statewide.
Sec. 411.302. ADMINISTRATION. (a) The director is the
statewide coordinator of the power outage alert.
(b) The director shall adopt rules and issue directives as
necessary to ensure proper implementation of the power outage
alert. The rules and directives must include the procedures to be
used by the Public Utility Commission of Texas and the independent
organization certified under Section 39.151, Utilities Code, to
communicate with the director about the power outage alert.
Sec. 411.303. DEPARTMENT TO RECRUIT PARTICIPANTS. The
department shall recruit public and commercial television and radio
broadcasters, private commercial entities, state or local
governmental entities, the public, and other appropriate persons to
assist in developing and implementing the power outage alert
system.
Sec. 411.304. STATE AGENCIES. (a) A state agency
participating in the power outage alert system shall:
(1) cooperate with the department and assist in
developing and implementing the alert system; and
(2) establish a plan for providing relevant
information to its officers, investigators, or employees, as
appropriate, once the power outage alert system has been activated.
(b) In addition to its duties as a state agency under
Subsection (a), the Texas Department of Transportation shall
establish a plan for providing relevant information to the public
through an existing system of dynamic message signs located across
this state.
Sec. 411.305. ACTIVATION OF POWER OUTAGE ALERT. (a) When
the Public Utility Commission of Texas or an independent
organization certified under Section 39.151, Utilities Code,
notifies the department that the power supply in this state or a
region of this state may be inadequate to meet demand, the
department shall confirm the accuracy of the information and, if
confirmed, immediately issue a power outage alert under this
subchapter in accordance with department rules.
(b) In issuing the power outage alert, the department shall
send the alert to designated media outlets in this state. Following
receipt of the alert, participating radio stations and television
stations and other participating media outlets may issue the alert
at designated intervals.
Sec. 411.306. CONTENT OF POWER OUTAGE ALERT. The power
outage alert must include a statement that electricity customers
may experience a power outage.
Sec. 411.307. TERMINATION OF POWER OUTAGE ALERT. The
director shall terminate any activation of the power outage alert
with respect to a particular energy emergency alert not later than
the date the department receives notice that the energy emergency
alert has been canceled.
Sec. 411.308. LIMITATION ON PARTICIPATION BY TEXAS
DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION. Notwithstanding Section 411.305(b),
the Texas Department of Transportation is not required to use any
existing system of dynamic message signs in a statewide alert
system created under this subchapter if that department receives
notice from the United States Department of Transportation Federal
Highway Administration that the use of the signs would result in the
loss of federal highway funding or other punitive actions taken
against this state due to noncompliance with federal laws,
regulations, or policies.
SECTION 2. (a) In this section:
(1) "Alert system" means the standardized statewide
disaster alert system studied under this section.
(2) "Division" means the Texas Division of Emergency
Management.
(b) The division shall conduct a study on the efficacy of
existing mass notification deployments by local governmental
entities throughout this state and the feasibility of establishing
a statewide disaster alert system. The study must:
(1) identify the costs to local governmental entities
associated with existing local disaster alert or notification
systems;
(2) examine the potential benefits to local
governmental entities of implementing an alert system in
coordination with this state, including:
(A) improving this state's ability to coordinate
state and local responses to disasters; and
(B) eliminating barriers to successful mass
notification and communication encountered by local governmental
entities during disasters;
(3) examine the importance of a local governmental
entity's discretion regarding the entity's level and manner of
participation in the alert system;
(4) examine potential costs to local governmental
entities or this state associated with implementing the alert
system; and
(5) identify any state or local governmental entity
actions necessary to implement a comprehensive alert system.
(c) Not later than March 1, 2022, the division shall prepare
and submit to the governor, the lieutenant governor, and the
legislature a report on the findings of the study conducted under
this section.
(d) This section expires September 1, 2023.
SECTION 3. 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.