By: Slawson (Senate Sponsor - Paxton) H.B. No. 4952
(In the Senate - Received from the House May 15, 2023;
May 15, 2023, read first time and referred to Committee on Business &
Commerce; May 22, 2023, reported adversely, with favorable
Committee Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 10, Nays 0;
May 22, 2023, sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR H.B. No. 4952 By: Campbell
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the reliability 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 under Section 39.151 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 load shedding exercise is conducted
during a summer month and one simulated or tabletop load shedding
exercise is conducted during a winter month.
(c) The commission and the independent organization
certified for the ERCOT power region under Section 39.151 shall
conduct simulated or tabletop 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 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) providers of electric generation service;
(3) law enforcement;
(4) the independent organization certified for the
ERCOT power region under Section 39.151; and
(5) 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 under Section
39.151 for the purposes of a simulated or tabletop exercise
conducted under Subsection (c).
(f) Each provider of electric generation service and of
transmission and distribution service that participates in a
simulated or tabletop exercise conducted under Subsection (c) shall
provide to the independent organization certified for the ERCOT
power region under Section 39.151 a written attestation that the
provider has coordinated with law enforcement when identifying
roles and responsibilities under Subsection (d).
SECTION 2. Not later than December 31, 2024, the Public
Utility Commission of Texas and the independent organization
certified under Section 39.151, Utilities Code, for the ERCOT power
region shall conduct a simulated or tabletop 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 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.
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