By: AnchÃa, Guillen, Hernandez, Geren H.B. No. 4811
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the creation of the Texas Energy Efficiency Council.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle A, Title 2, Utilities Code, is amended
by adding Chapter 18 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 18. TEXAS ENERGY EFFICIENCY COUNCIL
Sec. 18.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Council" means the Texas Energy Efficiency
Council.
(2) "Energy efficiency program" means a program
designed to:
(A) increase efficient energy use;
(B) reduce energy consumption during periods of
peak energy demand;
(C) optimize energy consumption;
(D) identify and realize the benefits of energy
efficient building design standards; or
(E) fund the implementation of energy cost
reduction measures.
(3) "Measure" means a direct measurement or modeling
of energy efficiency performance over a 12-month period.
(4) "Program administrator" includes any of the
following entities that administer an energy efficiency program:
(A) a state agency, including the commission, the
Texas Water Development Board, the State Energy Conservation
Office, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, and the
Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs;
(B) a political subdivision; or
(C) a private or public provider of electricity,
gas, or water utility service, including an electric cooperative or
municipally owned utility.
Sec. 18.002. PURPOSE. The Texas Energy Efficiency Council
is a council established in the commission to:
(1) provide a statewide collaborative approach to
promoting energy efficiency;
(2) measure, evaluate, and report on energy efficiency
performance in this state;
(3) monitor energy efficiency programs in this state;
(4) make recommendations for improving energy
efficiency programs in this state;
(5) monitor and facilitate opportunities for
coordination and leveraging of federal funding from the United
States Department of Energy, United States Department of Housing
and Urban Development, and other federal agencies that can be used
by state agencies and political subdivisions for the purposes of
enhancing energy efficiency;
(6) provide a central repository for information on
statewide energy efficiency performance and opportunities to
participate in energy efficiency programs in this state; and
(7) promote continuous improvement in energy
efficiency performance in this state.
Sec. 18.003. ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAM POLICIES. A program
administrator shall establish measurable performance criteria and
share the results with the council when creating or implementing an
energy efficiency program.
Sec. 18.004. COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP. (a) The council is
composed of the following 16 members:
(1) nine ex officio members as follows:
(A) the presiding officer of the Texas Commission
on Environmental Quality;
(B) the chief executive officer of the Electric
Reliability Council of Texas;
(C) the presiding officer of the commission;
(D) the comptroller;
(E) the director of the Texas Department of
Housing and Community Affairs;
(F) the executive director of the Texas Economic
Development and Tourism Office;
(G) the chairman of the Texas Water Development
Board;
(H) the director of the Energy Systems Laboratory
at the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station of The Texas A&M
University System; and
(I) the chief executive of the Office of Public
Utility Counsel; and
(2) seven public members appointed by the presiding
officer of the commission as follows:
(A) one member must have experience in the field
of engineering;
(B) one member must have experience in the field
of public or private finance;
(C) one member must have experience in the field
of law or business;
(D) one member must have experience in the field
of environmental stewardship;
(E) one member must have experience in the field
of electric utility operation;
(F) one member must have experience in the field
of industrial operation; and
(G) one member must have business experience in
the implementation of energy efficiency programs.
(b) An ex officio member may designate a person from the
member's agency to serve in the member's place.
(c) The presiding officer of the council may designate a
person to represent an appointed member in any meeting if the person
meets the qualifications required by Subsection (a)(2).
(d) The ex officio members and the appointed members serve
as voting members of the council.
(e) The presiding officer of the commission or the employee
designated by the presiding officer shall serve as presiding
officer of the council.
(f) The council shall meet at least two times per year at the
call of the presiding officer.
(g) Council members may not receive compensation for
services but, subject to the availability of funding, may receive
reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses incurred while
performing council business.
(h) Appointments to council positions shall be made without
regard to the race, color, disability, sex, religion, age, or
national origin of the appointees.
Sec. 18.005. TERMS; VACANCY. (a) Appointed council
members serve staggered four-year terms, with the terms of one or
two members, as applicable, expiring on February 1.
(b) A vacancy on the council in the position of an appointed
council member shall be filled in the same manner as the original
appointment. The person appointed serves for the remainder of the
unexpired term.
Sec. 18.006. GROUNDS FOR REMOVAL. (a) It is a ground for
removal from the council that a member:
(1) described by Section 18.004(a)(1) does not
maintain during service on the council the qualifications required
by that subdivision;
(2) cannot, because of illness or disability,
discharge the member's duties for a substantial part of the member's
term; or
(3) is absent from more than half of the regularly
scheduled council meetings that the member is eligible to attend
during a calendar year without an excuse approved by a majority vote
of the council.
(b) The validity of an action of the council is not affected
by the fact that it is taken when a ground for removal of a council
member exists.
(c) If the presiding officer has knowledge that a potential
ground for removal exists, the presiding officer shall notify the
appointing authority and the attorney general that a potential
ground for removal exists.
Sec. 18.007. ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT. The commission shall
provide the council with administrative support, including meeting
space and staff necessary to assist the council in carrying out the
council's duties under this chapter.
Sec. 18.008. ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAM MONITORING AND
RECOMMENDATIONS. (a) The council shall measure, evaluate, and
report on energy efficiency performance in this state.
(b) The council shall monitor energy efficiency programs in
this state.
(c) The council may submit to a program administrator
recommendations on means to encourage greater energy efficiency on
a regular basis. The council may submit to a program administrator
that administers a program described by Section 39.905
recommendations to assure better coordination between local,
state, federal, and private energy efficiency programs for the
purposes of Section 39.905.
Sec. 18.009. OFFICIAL INTERNET WEBSITE. The council shall
develop and maintain an official Internet website for the
publication of information as required by this chapter.
Sec. 18.010. LIST OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAMS. (a) The
council shall:
(1) develop a list of currently operating energy
efficiency programs in this state and publish the list on the
official Internet website maintained under Section 18.009; and
(2) work with the State Energy Conservation Office and
the commission to develop and publish on the official Internet
website maintained under Section 18.009 a user-friendly page that
allows a consumer to search by the consumer's address energy
efficiency programs available in the consumer's service area.
(b) The State Energy Conservation Office and the commission
each shall provide a link on their Internet websites to the page
described by Subsection (a)(2).
Sec. 18.011. CONFIDENTIALITY OF CERTAIN INFORMATION. (a)
Except as provided by this section, the council is not subject to
Chapter 551 or 552, Government Code.
(b) Information written, produced, collected, assembled, or
maintained under law or in connection with the transaction of
official business by the council or an officer or employee of the
council is subject to Section 552.008, Government Code, in the same
manner as public information.
Sec. 18.012. BIENNIAL PERFORMANCE REPORT. (a) The council
biennially shall prepare a report on energy efficiency performance
in this state. The council shall submit the report to the
legislature not later than January 15 of each odd-numbered year.
(b) The report must include:
(1) a comprehensive review of the energy efficiency
programs on the list required by Section 18.010, including initial
capital investment, ongoing operating expenses, and energy savings
benefits of the programs;
(2) statewide energy efficiency performance by sector
and county; and
(3) recommendations for improving energy efficiency
programs in this state.
(c) The report may include:
(1) criteria developed by the council for evaluating
and measuring energy efficiency programs in this state;
(2) opportunities for continuous improvement in
energy efficiency performance in this state; and
(3) recommendations for creating new energy
efficiency programs in this state.
(d) The council shall publish the report on the official
Internet website maintained under Section 18.009.
Sec. 18.013. APPLICABILITY OF ADVISORY COMMITTEE LAW.
Chapter 2110, Government Code, does not apply to the council.
SECTION 2. As soon as practicable after the effective date
of this Act, the presiding officer of the Public Utility Commission
of Texas shall appoint members to the Texas Energy Efficiency
Council in accordance with Section 18.004, Utilities Code, as added
by this Act.
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, 2023.