By: Slawson H.B. No. 4952
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the security of the electricity supply chain.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 38.077, Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 38.077. RELIABILITY [LOAD SHEDDING] EXERCISES. (a)
In this section, "critical facility" means a transmission
substation and any associated control centers that, if rendered
inoperable or damaged because of a physical attack, could cause
widespread instability, uncontrolled separation, or cascading
outages within an interconnection.
(b) The commission and the independent organization
certified for the ERCOT power region shall conduct simulated or
tabletop load shedding exercises with providers of electric
generation service and transmission and distribution service in the
ERCOT power region.
[(b)] The commission shall ensure that each year at least
one simulated or tabletop exercise is conducted during a summer
month and one simulated or tabletop exercise is conducted during a
winter month.
(c) The commission and the independent organization
certified for the ERCOT power region shall conduct simulated or
tabletop load shedding exercises with providers of electric
generation service and transmission and distribution service in the
ERCOT power region to mitigate and prepare for a threat of an attack
or an actual physical attack on a critical facility. The exercises
required by this subsection are in addition to the exercises
required by Subsection (b) and any requirements of the North
American Electric Reliability Corporation Critical Infrastructure
Protection plan standards. The commission and the independent
organization shall conduct the exercises under this subsection at
least once every two years.
(d) A simulated or tabletop load shedding exercise
conducted under Subsection (c) must identify the roles and
responsibilities of the following in the event of a threat of an
attack or an actual physical attack on a critical facility:
(1) transmission and distribution service providers;
(2) law enforcement;
(3) the independent organization certified for the
ERCOT power region; and
(4) the commission.
(e) A transmission and distribution service provider is not
required to disclose the specific location of the provider's
critical substations to the commission or the independent
organization certified for the ERCOT power region for the purposes
of a simulated or tabletop load shedding exercise conducted under
Subsection (c).
SECTION 2. Subchapter F, Chapter 38, Utilities Code, is
amended by adding Section 38.205 to read as follows:
Sec. 38.205. PHYSICAL SECURITY OF CRITICAL FACILITIES. (a)
In this section, "critical facility" means a transmission
substation and any associated control center the inoperability of
which could result in widespread instability, uncontrolled
separation, or cascading outages within an interconnection.
(b) The commission shall require each electric utility,
electric cooperative, municipally owned utility, river authority
that owns electric transmission assets, and transmission and
distribution utility to provide to the chair of the committee the
following information:
(1) the location of any critical facility owned or
operated by the utility, cooperative, or authority;
(2) security measures in place to protect each
critical facility against physical attack; and
(3) contact information for the applicable utility,
cooperative, or authority.
(c) The chair of the committee may share information
provided to the chair under Subsection (b) related to a physical
attack or a threat of a physical attack on a critical facility with
a law enforcement agency that has jurisdiction over the critical
facility.
(d) The chair of the committee shall provide the Department
of Public Safety with access to the information provided to the
chair of the committee under Subsection (b).
(e) Information provided to the chair of the committee or
the Department of Public Safety under this section is confidential
under Section 418.181, Government Code, and not subject to
disclosure under Chapter 552, Government Code.
SECTION 3. Not later than December 31, 2024, the commission
and the independent organization certified under Section 39.151,
Utilities Code, for the ERCOT power region shall conduct a
simulated or tabletop load shedding exercise with each provider of
electric generation service and of transmission and distribution
service as required by Section 38.077(c), Utilities Code, as added
by this Act.
SECTION 4. 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.