By: Hernandez, Hunter, Thompson, Darby, H.B. No. 1359
Moody, et al.
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a program to provide assistance for certain retail
electric customers.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 17.007, Utilities Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (e) to read as
follows:
(a) The Health and Human Services Commission, on request of
the commission, shall assist in:
(1) developing an automatic process for identifying
low-income customers to retail electric providers, electric
utilities that issue bills directly to customers, and certificated
telecommunications utilities to enable those providers and
utilities to offer customer service, discounts, bill payment
assistance, or other methods of assistance; and
(2) implementing Section 39.9035.
(e) Subsection (d) does not apply in a state fiscal biennium
in which money is available under Section 39.9035 for the process
established by this section.
SECTION 2. Section 39.002, Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 39.002. APPLICABILITY. This chapter, other than
Sections 39.151, 39.1516, 39.155, 39.157(e), 39.161, 39.162,
39.163, 39.203, 39.9035, 39.9051, 39.9052, and 39.914(e), and
Subchapters M and N, does not apply to a municipally owned utility
or an electric cooperative. Sections 39.157(e) and 39.203 apply
only to a municipally owned utility or an electric cooperative that
is offering customer choice. If there is a conflict between the
specific provisions of this chapter and any other provisions of
this title, except for Chapters 40 and 41, the provisions of this
chapter control.
SECTION 3. Section 39.402(a), Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) Until the date on which an electric utility subject to
this subchapter is authorized by the commission to implement
customer choice, the rates of the utility shall be regulated under
traditional cost of service regulation and the utility is subject
to all applicable regulatory authority prescribed by this subtitle
and Subtitle A, including Chapters 14, 32, 33, 36, and 37. Until
the date on which an electric utility subject to this subchapter
implements customer choice, the provisions of this chapter, other
than this subchapter, Sections 39.1516, 39.9035, and 39.905, and
the provisions relating to the duty to obtain a permit from the
Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for an electric
generating facility and to reduce emissions from an electric
generating facility, shall not apply to that utility. That portion
of any commission order entered before September 1, 2001, to comply
with this subchapter shall be null and void.
SECTION 4. Section 39.452(d), Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(d) Until the date on which an electric utility subject to
this subchapter implements customer choice:
(1) the provisions of this chapter do not apply to that
electric utility, other than this subchapter, Sections 39.1516,
39.9035, and 39.905, the provisions relating to the duty to obtain a
permit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for an
electric generating facility and to reduce emissions from an
electric generating facility, and the provisions of Subchapter G
that pertain to the recovery and securitization of hurricane
reconstruction costs authorized by Sections 39.458-39.463; and
(2) the electric utility is not subject to a rate
freeze and, subject to the limitation provided by Subsection (b),
may file for rate changes under Chapter 36 and for approval of one
or more of the rate rider mechanisms authorized by Sections 39.454
and 39.455.
SECTION 5. Section 39.502(b), Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) Until the date on which an electric utility subject to
this subchapter implements customer choice, the provisions of this
chapter, other than this subchapter and Sections 39.1516, 39.9035,
and 39.905, do not apply to that utility.
SECTION 6. Section 39.552(b), Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(b) Until the date on which an electric utility subject to
this subchapter implements customer choice, the provisions of this
chapter, other than this subchapter and Sections 39.1516, 39.9035,
and 39.905, do not apply to that utility.
SECTION 7. Subchapter Z, Chapter 39, Utilities Code, is
amended by adding Section 39.9035 to read as follows:
Sec. 39.9035. INCOME-BASED ASSISTANCE FUND. (a) In this
section:
(1) "Electric utility" means an electric utility that
issues a bill directly to a retail customer.
(2) "Extreme weather emergency" has the meaning
assigned by Section 39.101.
(3) "Fund" means the income-based assistance fund.
(b) The income-based assistance fund is an account in the
general revenue fund. Money in the account may be appropriated only
for the purposes provided by this section or other law.
(c) The fund consists of:
(1) money appropriated, credited, transferred, or
deposited to the credit of the fund by the legislature;
(2) gifts, grants, or donations made to the fund; and
(3) interest or other earnings attributable to the
investment of money in the fund.
(d) Money in the fund may be appropriated to the commission
and used to provide funding only for the following purposes, in the
following order of priority:
(1) programs to:
(A) assist low-income electric customers by
making available the bill payment assistance described by
Subsection (f); and
(B) provide one-time bill payment assistance as
described by Subsection (k) to critical care residential customers,
as defined by Section 17.002, who have received notice of an
impending service disconnection for nonpayment;
(2) customer education that provides information on
other assistance programs;
(3) administrative expenses incurred by the
commission in implementing and administering this chapter and
expenses incurred by the office under this chapter; and
(4) reimbursement to the commission and the Health and
Human Services Commission for expenses incurred in the
implementation and administration of the automatic identification
process established under Section 17.007 for customer service
discounts relating to retail electric service, including outreach
expenses the commission determines are reasonable and necessary.
(e) The commission shall adopt rules regarding programs to
assist low-income electric customers.
(f) Programs adopted under Subsection (e) must include a
retail electric service bill payment assistance program for
low-income electric customers for bills due during an extreme
weather emergency that the commission implements periodically as
money is made available in the fund for the purpose of making the
reimbursements authorized under Subsection (g).
(g) Using money from the fund, the commission shall provide
reimbursement for an electric cooperative, a municipally owned
utility, an electric utility, or a retail electric provider that
provides bill payment assistance under Subsection (f) for the
amount of bill payment assistance provided to eligible customers.
The commission shall adopt rules providing for the reimbursement.
(h) The commission by rule shall adopt eligibility criteria
for the bill payment assistance program required under Subsection
(f). The criteria must provide that a customer is eligible for bill
payment assistance if the customer:
(1) is identified by the Health and Human Services
Commission as a low-income customer under Section 17.007; and
(2) resides in a county affected by an extreme weather
emergency during the billing period for which the assistance is
sought.
(i) The commission by rule shall prescribe methods of
enrolling customers eligible to receive bill payment assistance for
bills due during an extreme weather emergency under Subsection (f)
that:
(1) are compatible with the automatic identification
process established under Section 17.007; and
(2) provide for automatic enrollment as one enrollment
option for customers that have been identified as low-income
customers under Section 17.007.
(j) A retail electric provider, electric cooperative,
municipally owned utility, or electric utility may not charge the
customer a fee for receiving bill payment assistance under this
section.
(k) Programs adopted under Subsection (e) must include a
bill payment assistance program as described by Subsection
(d)(1)(B) that the commission implements periodically as money is
made available in the fund for the purpose of making the
reimbursements authorized under this subsection. The commission
may prescribe the documentation necessary to demonstrate
eligibility for the assistance and may establish additional
eligibility criteria. The Health and Human Services Commission, on
request of the commission, shall assist in the adoption and
implementation of these rules. The commission shall provide
reimbursement from the fund for each electric cooperative,
municipally owned utility, electric utility, or retail electric
provider that provides bill payment assistance under this
subsection for the amount of the bill payment assistance provided
to eligible customers. The commission shall adopt rules providing
for the reimbursement.
SECTION 8. Section 40.001(a), Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, except
Sections 39.155, 39.157(e), [and] 39.203, and 39.9035, this chapter
governs the transition to and the establishment of a fully
competitive electric power industry for municipally owned
utilities. With respect to the regulation of municipally owned
utilities, this chapter controls over any other provision of this
title, except for sections in which the term "municipally owned
utility" is specifically used.
SECTION 9. Section 41.001, Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 41.001. APPLICABLE LAW. Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, except Sections 39.155, 39.157(e), [and] 39.203,
and 39.9035, this chapter governs the transition to and the
establishment of a fully competitive electric power industry for
electric cooperatives. Regarding the regulation of electric
cooperatives, this chapter shall control over any other provision
of this title, except for sections in which the term "electric
cooperative" is specifically used.
SECTION 10. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.