| 1 | 1 | | 88R14008 DIO-D |
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| 2 | 2 | | By: Thierry H.B. No. 3047 |
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| 3 | 3 | | |
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| 4 | 4 | | |
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| 5 | 5 | | A BILL TO BE ENTITLED |
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| 6 | 6 | | AN ACT |
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| 7 | 7 | | relating to a study by the Public Utility Commission of Texas |
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| 8 | 8 | | regarding grid resilience and emergency response in electric power |
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| 9 | 9 | | generation. |
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| 10 | 10 | | BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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| 11 | 11 | | SECTION 1. DEFINITION. In this Act, "commission" means the |
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| 12 | 12 | | Public Utility Commission of Texas. |
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| 13 | 13 | | SECTION 2. GRID RESILIENCE AND EMERGENCY RESPONSE STUDY. |
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| 14 | 14 | | (a) The commission shall conduct a study on electric grid |
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| 15 | 15 | | resilience and emergency response in electric power generation. |
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| 16 | 16 | | (b) The study conducted under this section must include: |
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| 17 | 17 | | (1) an analysis of: |
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| 18 | 18 | | (A) technologies, methods, and concepts that may |
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| 19 | 19 | | improve community resilience to frequent or long-duration power |
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| 20 | 20 | | outages; |
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| 21 | 21 | | (B) upgrades and improvements to grid |
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| 22 | 22 | | infrastructure to accommodate projected changes in power demand; |
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| 23 | 23 | | and |
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| 24 | 24 | | (C) previous long-duration power outages that |
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| 25 | 25 | | occurred over a large area to identify common elements and best |
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| 26 | 26 | | practices for electricity restoration and the mitigation and |
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| 27 | 27 | | prevention of future outages; and |
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| 28 | 28 | | (2) the development of: |
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| 29 | 29 | | (A) methods to improve government and community |
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| 30 | 30 | | preparation for long-duration power outages and power outages that |
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| 31 | 31 | | occur over a large area; |
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| 32 | 32 | | (B) tools to help electric utilities ensure |
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| 33 | 33 | | continuous delivery of electricity to emergency facilities; |
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| 34 | 34 | | (C) tools to improve coordination between the |
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| 35 | 35 | | independent organization certified under Section 39.151, Utilities |
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| 36 | 36 | | Code, for the ERCOT power region, entities that distribute electric |
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| 37 | 37 | | energy, and political subdivisions; |
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| 38 | 38 | | (D) technologies and capabilities to withstand |
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| 39 | 39 | | and address the current and predicted effect of extreme weather |
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| 40 | 40 | | events and other natural disasters, including the effect of the |
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| 41 | 41 | | changing climate on electric grid infrastructure; |
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| 42 | 42 | | (E) methods to improve information sharing |
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| 43 | 43 | | between relevant federal and state agencies in the event of a mass |
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| 44 | 44 | | power outage, or a physical or cyber attack on electric |
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| 45 | 45 | | infrastructure; |
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| 46 | 46 | | (F) advance monitoring, analytics, operation, |
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| 47 | 47 | | and controls of electric grid systems to improve electric grid |
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| 48 | 48 | | resilience; |
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| 49 | 49 | | (G) methods to maintain cybersecurity during |
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| 50 | 50 | | restoration of electric grid infrastructure and operation; and |
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| 51 | 51 | | (H) methods to strengthen against or otherwise |
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| 52 | 52 | | mitigate adverse effects on electric grid infrastructure from |
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| 53 | 53 | | natural hazards. |
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| 54 | 54 | | (c) In conducting the study, the commission may collaborate |
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| 55 | 55 | | with other state agencies, institutions of higher education, |
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| 56 | 56 | | nonprofit corporations, electric utilities, and other interested |
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| 57 | 57 | | persons. |
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| 58 | 58 | | SECTION 3. REPORT. Not later than September 1, 2024, the |
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| 59 | 59 | | commission shall report the results of the study conducted under |
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| 60 | 60 | | this Act and any recommendations to the legislature. The report |
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| 61 | 61 | | must include any statutory changes necessary to implement the |
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| 62 | 62 | | recommendations made in the report. |
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| 63 | 63 | | SECTION 4. DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS. The commission may |
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| 64 | 64 | | initiate a demonstration project to prove the effectiveness of a |
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| 65 | 65 | | concept, technology, strategy, practice, or method related to any |
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| 66 | 66 | | topic of the study conducted under this Act. |
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| 67 | 67 | | SECTION 5. EXPIRATION. This Act expires December 31, 2024. |
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| 68 | 68 | | SECTION 6. EFFECTIVE DATE. This Act takes effect September |
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| 69 | 69 | | 1, 2023. |
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