Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas House Bill HB4647 Compare Versions

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1	1	88R13514 CXP-F
2	2	By: Turner H.B. No. 4647
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to programs to provide assistance for certain electric
8	8	customers.
9	9	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
10	10	SECTION 1. Section 39.002, Utilities Code, as amended by
11	11	Chapters 908 (H.B. 4492) and 950 (S.B. 1580), Acts of the 87th
12	12	Legislature, Regular Session, 2021, is reenacted and amended to
13	13	read as follows:
14	14	Sec. 39.002. APPLICABILITY. This chapter, other than
15	15	Sections 39.151, 39.1516, 39.155, 39.157(e), 39.159, 39.160,
16	16	39.203, 39.9035, 39.9036, 39.904, 39.9051, 39.9052, and 39.914(e),
17	17	and Subchapters M and N, does not apply to a municipally owned
18	18	utility or an electric cooperative. Sections 39.157(e), 39.203,
19	19	and 39.904, however, apply only to a municipally owned utility or an
20	20	electric cooperative that is offering customer choice. If there is
21	21	a conflict between the specific provisions of this chapter and any
22	22	other provisions of this title, except for Chapters 40 and 41, the
23	23	provisions of this chapter control.
24	24	SECTION 2. Subchapter Z, Chapter 39, Utilities Code, is
25	25	amended by adding Sections 39.9035 and 39.9036 to read as follows:
26	26	Sec. 39.9035. EMERGENCY ON-SITE GENERATOR FUND. (a) In
27	27	this section, "fund" means the emergency on-site generator fund.
28	28	(b) The fund is an account in the general revenue fund.
29	29	Money in the account may be appropriated only for the program
30	30	described by Subsection (e) or as provided by other law.
31	31	(c) The fund consists of:
32	32	(1) money appropriated, credited, or transferred to
33	33	the fund by the legislature;
34	34	(2) gifts or grants contributed to the fund; and
35	35	(3) interest earned on deposits and investments of the
36	36	fund.
37	37	(d) The commission shall administer the fund.
38	38	(e) The commission shall establish a program to provide
39	39	funding to assist entities for whom electric service is considered
40	40	crucial for the protection or maintenance of public safety with
41	41	procuring emergency on-site generators or comparable emergency
42	42	on-site power sources for use during a power outage.
43	43	(f) Assistance under the fund may only be used to procure an
44	44	emergency on-site generator or comparable emergency on-site power
45	45	source that:
46	46	(1) has a capacity of less than 10 megawatts; and
47	47	(2) is not operated in parallel with the transmission
48	48	or distribution system.
49	49	(g) An entity that receives assistance under the fund to
50	50	procure an emergency on-site generator or comparable emergency
51	51	on-site power source:
52	52	(1) must use the equipment exclusively for power
53	53	consumption by the entity at the entity's facilities; and
54	54	(2) may not:
55	55	(A) sell any surplus power generated by the
56	56	equipment; or
57	57	(B) participate in a load reduction program for
58	58	compensation.
59	59	(h) The sale of an emergency on-site generator or comparable
60	60	emergency on-site power source to an entity eligible for assistance
61	61	under the fund is a competitive energy service.
62	62	(i) The commission shall adopt rules necessary to
63	63	administer this section, including rules establishing eligibility
64	64	criteria for assistance under the fund.
65	65	Sec. 39.9036. LOW-INCOME CRITICAL CARE RESIDENTIAL
66	66	CUSTOMER ASSISTANCE FUND. (a) In this section:
67	67	(1) "Critical care residential customer" has the
68	68	meaning assigned by Section 17.002.
69	69	(2) "Eligible device" means electrically powered
70	70	medical equipment that mechanically or artificially sustains life
71	71	or restores or replaces a vital physical function, including a home
72	72	dialysis machine or a home oxygen concentrator.
73	73	(3) "Fund" means the low-income critical care
74	74	residential customer assistance fund.
75	75	(4) "Low-income customer" means an electric customer
76	76	designated as a low-income customer under Section 17.007 and
77	77	commission rules.
78	78	(5) "Portable backup battery" means a back-up battery
79	79	system that is capable of being operated without being connected to
80	80	an electric service panel.
81	81	(b) The fund is an account in the general revenue fund.
82	82	Money in the account may be appropriated only for the program
83	83	described by Subsection (e) or as provided by other law.
84	84	(c) The fund consists of:
85	85	(1) money appropriated, credited, or transferred to
86	86	the fund by the legislature;
87	87	(2) gifts or grants contributed to the fund; and
88	88	(3) interest earned on deposits and investments of the
89	89	fund.
90	90	(d) The commission shall administer the fund.
91	91	(e) The commission shall establish a program to provide
92	92	funding to low-income critical care residential customers to secure
93	93	portable backup batteries to operate eligible devices in the
94	94	customers' homes during a power outage.
95	95	(f) Assistance under the fund may only be used to procure a
96	96	portable backup battery that when fully charged and operated
97	97	correctly is capable of running an eligible device for up to 48
98	98	hours.
99	99	(g) The sale or provision of a portable backup battery to a
100	100	person who receives assistance under the fund is a competitive
101	101	energy service.
102	102	(h) The commission may enable funding to be made available
103	103	to competitive energy service providers through an energy
104	104	efficiency program under Section 39.905.
105	105	(i) The commission shall adopt rules necessary to
106	106	administer this section.
107	107	SECTION 3. It is the intent of the 88th Legislature, Regular
108	108	Session, 2023, that the amendments made by this Act be harmonized
109	109	with another Act of the 88th Legislature, Regular Session, 2023,
110	110	relating to nonsubstantive additions to and corrections in enacted
111	111	codes.
112	112	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.