Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4002 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	88R13770 TYPED
2	2	By: Goldman H.B. No. 4002
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to water control and improvement district customers of
8	8	certain electric cooperatives.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. It is the intent of the legislature that this Act
11	11	ensure cost-effective and reliable siting of critical water
12	12	infrastructure operated by a water control and improvement
13	13	district.
14	14	SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 37, Utilities Code, is
15	15	amended by adding Section 37.062 to read as follows:
16	16	Sec. 37.062. SERVICE AREA EXCEPTION REQUESTED BY CERTAIN
17	17	WATER CONTROL AND IMPROVEMENT DISTRICTS. (a) In this section:
18	18	(1) "Consenting entity" means an electric utility that
19	19	consents to providing a district with retail electric service;
20	20	(2) "District" means a water control and improvement
21	21	district;
22	22	(3) "District facility" means a power-consuming
23	23	facility owned by a district that takes retail electric service at
24	24	transmission voltage;
25	25	(4) "ERCOT" has the meaning assigned by Section
26	26	31.002;
27	27	(5) "Requesting district" means a water control and
28	28	improvement district that has requested to receive retail electric
29	29	service provided at transmission voltage from a consenting entity
30	30	other than the electric cooperative certificated to provide the
31	31	district with such service.
32	32	(b) This section applies only to a water control and
33	33	improvement district that:
34	34	(1) receives retail electric service in ERCOT from an
35	35	electric cooperative on the date this Act takes effect;
36	36	(2) has the authority to impose an ad valorem tax; and
37	37	(3) only provides wholesale water service.
38	38	(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, on
39	39	the request of a water control and improvement district described
40	40	by Subsection (b) of this section, a consenting utility may request
41	41	a service area exception from the commission to provide retail
42	42	electric service to the requesting district at:
43	43	(1) the location of a designated district facility
44	44	where the requesting district is currently receiving retail
45	45	electric service from an electric cooperative on the date the
46	46	request for service area exception is filed with the commission; or
47	47	(2) the site of a future district facility that will be
48	48	located in the certificated area of the electric cooperative.
49	49	(d) A consenting entity may request a service area exception
50	50	under Subsection (c) of this section if the consenting entity:
51	51	(1) has an existing certificated area on the date the
52	52	request is filed that is contiguous to the certificated area of the
53	53	electric cooperative from which the district facility is receiving
54	54	service or the site where a future district facility will receive
55	55	service; and
56	56	(2) has an existing certificated area within 10 miles
57	57	or less of the applicable district facility.
58	58	(e) Section 37.056(c) does not apply to a request filed
59	59	under Subsection (c) of this section.
60	60	(f) Notwithstanding any other provision in 16 T.A.C.
61	61	Chapter 25, an electric cooperative may not contest and need not
62	62	consent to an application filed under Subsection (c) of this
63	63	section.
64	64	(g) The commission shall grant an application received
65	65	under Subsection (c) of this section within 45 days of the filing of
66	66	a complete application, and in accordance with the application
67	67	shall either:
68	68	(1) amend the consenting entity's certificate to
69	69	include the locations of each water control and improvement
70	70	district facility identified in the application; and amend the
71	71	certificate of the electric cooperative that was previously
72	72	certificated, on the date the application was filed, to remove the
73	73	locations of each water control and improvement district facility
74	74	identified in the application; or
75	75	(2) notwithstanding Section 37.060 or any other
76	76	provision of this chapter, amend the consenting entity's
77	77	certificate to include the locations of each water control and
78	78	improvement district facility identified in the application.
79	79	(h) Following approval of an application under this
80	80	section, a requesting district shall be responsible for paying
81	81	associated costs as follows:
82	82	(1) construction costs of any new transmission
83	83	facilities required to interconnect the district facilities
84	84	identified in the application to the consenting entity's
85	85	transmission system, to the extent that such costs are not
86	86	otherwise recoverable in the consenting utility's wholesale
87	87	transmission rates;
88	88	(2) any nonbypassable charges and other amounts that
89	89	the district is contractually obligated to pay to the electric
90	90	cooperative that was providing retail transmission service to the
91	91	requesting district on the date the application was filed; and
92	92	(3) other than the costs described in Subsection
93	93	(h)(2) of this section, the requesting district is not required to
94	94	pay additional stranded costs or penalties to the electric
95	95	cooperative as a result of the service area exception.
96	96	(i) The commission may only approve one application per
97	97	district facility from each water control and improvement district
98	98	under this section.
99	99	SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.