Bill Text: TX SB2112 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Comm Sub
NOTE: There are more recent revisions of this legislation. Read Latest Draft
Bill Title: Relating to resources used to ensure the continuous provision of power.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2023-05-15 - Left pending in committee [SB2112 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-SB2112-Comm_Sub.html
Bill Title: Relating to resources used to ensure the continuous provision of power.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)
Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2023-05-15 - Left pending in committee [SB2112 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-SB2112-Comm_Sub.html
By: Johnson | S.B. No. 2112 | |
(In the Senate - Filed March 9, 2023; March 21, 2023, read | ||
first time and referred to Committee on Business & Commerce; | ||
April 18, 2023, reported adversely, with favorable Committee | ||
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 10, Nays 0; April 18, 2023, | ||
sent to printer.) | ||
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 2112 | By: Johnson |
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relating to resources used to ensure the continuous provision of | ||
power. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 382, Health and Safety | ||
Code, is amended by adding Section 382.069 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 382.069. TEXAS BACKUP POWER PACKAGE. (a) In this | ||
section, "Texas backup power package" has the meaning assigned by | ||
Section 418.401, Government Code. | ||
(b) The commission by rule shall adopt a process to expedite | ||
the permitting of a Texas backup power package for which a permit is | ||
required under this chapter. | ||
SECTION 2. Chapter 418, Government Code, is amended by | ||
adding Subchapter K to read as follows: | ||
SUBCHAPTER K. TEXAS POWER PROMISE | ||
Sec. 418.401. DEFINITIONS. In this subchapter: | ||
(1) "Fund" means the Texas power resiliency fund | ||
established by Section 49-q, Article III, Texas Constitution. | ||
(2) "Texas backup power package" means a stand-alone, | ||
behind-the-meter, multiday backup power source that can be used for | ||
islanding. | ||
(3) "Trust company" means the Texas Treasury | ||
Safekeeping Trust Company. | ||
Sec. 418.402. PURPOSE. The purpose of this subchapter is to | ||
facilitate and provide funding for: | ||
(1) the design, procurement, installation, and use of | ||
Texas backup power packages for facilities on which communities | ||
rely for health, safety, and well-being; and | ||
(2) the procurement and use of mobile sources of | ||
backup power to ensure the health, safety, and well-being of | ||
communities. | ||
Sec. 418.403. DIVISION DUTIES. (a) The division shall | ||
convene an advisory committee in the manner provided by Chapter | ||
2110, Government Code. | ||
(b) The advisory committee shall recommend criteria for the | ||
division to employ in making a grant or loan under this subchapter. | ||
(c) The division shall contract with a research entity that | ||
has experience in microgrid design to analyze critical facility | ||
characteristics and requirements in this state and develop for | ||
Texas backup power packages: | ||
(1) sets of specifications for standard backup power | ||
packages of various sizes that can serve most critical facilities | ||
in this state; and | ||
(2) specifications for standard interconnection, | ||
communications, and controls for Texas backup power packages. | ||
Sec. 418.404. TEXAS BACKUP POWER PACKAGES. (a) A grant or | ||
loan made under this subchapter may be provided only for the | ||
operation of a Texas backup power package that: | ||
(1) is engineered to minimize operation costs; | ||
(2) uses interconnection technology and controls that | ||
enable immediate islanding from the power grid and stand-alone | ||
operation for the host facility; | ||
(3) is capable of operating for at least 48 continuous | ||
hours without refueling or connecting to a separate power source; | ||
(4) is designed so that one or more Texas backup power | ||
packages can be aggregated on-site to serve not more than 2.5 | ||
megawatts of load at the host facility; | ||
(5) provides power sourced from: | ||
(A) a combination of natural gas or propane with | ||
photovoltaic panels and battery storage; or | ||
(B) battery storage on an electric school bus; | ||
and | ||
(6) is not used by the owner or host facility for the | ||
sale of energy or ancillary services. | ||
(b) Texas backup power packages may be aggregated and | ||
operated to support the power grid under emergency conditions if | ||
the operation does not compromise a Texas backup power package's | ||
capability to provide power to its host facility for at least 24 | ||
hours of operation without refueling or connecting to a separate | ||
power source. | ||
Sec. 418.405. GRANTS AND LOANS. (a) The division may | ||
provide grants and loans under this subchapter. | ||
(b) The division by rule may establish procedures for: | ||
(1) the application for and award of a grant or loan | ||
under this subchapter; and | ||
(2) the administration of the fund. | ||
(c) The amount of a grant provided under this subchapter may | ||
not exceed $500 per kilowatt of capacity. | ||
(d) The division may provide a loan under this subchapter | ||
for procurement and operating costs. | ||
(e) The division shall maintain and publish a list of | ||
approved vendors eligible to assist with the sale, installation, | ||
operation, and ongoing maintenance of Texas backup power packages. | ||
(f) The division may not provide a grant or loan under this | ||
subchapter for: | ||
(1) a commercial energy system, a private school, or a | ||
for-profit entity that does not directly serve public safety and | ||
human health; or | ||
(2) a source of backup power that does not follow the | ||
design and use standards of a Texas backup power package. | ||
Sec. 418.406. MOBILE BACKUP POWER FLEET. The division may | ||
use money from the fund to procure and deploy mobile sources of | ||
backup power to ensure the health, safety, and well-being of | ||
communities. | ||
Sec. 418.407. FUND. (a) The Texas power resiliency fund is | ||
a special fund in the state treasury outside the general revenue | ||
fund to be administered and used, without further appropriation, by | ||
the division. | ||
(b) The fund and the fund's accounts are kept and held by the | ||
trust company for and in the name of the division. | ||
(c) Money deposited to the credit of the fund may be used | ||
only as provided by this subchapter. | ||
(d) The fund consists of: | ||
(1) money credited, appropriated, or transferred to | ||
the fund by the legislature; | ||
(2) revenue that the legislature dedicates for deposit | ||
to the credit of the fund; | ||
(3) the returns received from the investment of money | ||
in the fund; and | ||
(4) gifts, grants, and donations contributed to the | ||
fund. | ||
Sec. 418.408. MANAGEMENT AND INVESTMENT OF FUND. (a) The | ||
trust company shall hold and invest the fund, taking into account | ||
the purposes for which money in the fund may be used. The fund may | ||
be invested with the state treasury pool or pooled with other state | ||
assets for purposes of investment. | ||
(b) The overall objective for the investment of the fund is | ||
to maintain sufficient liquidity to meet the needs of the fund while | ||
striving to preserve the purchasing power of the fund over a full | ||
economic cycle. | ||
(c) In managing the assets of the fund, the trust company | ||
may acquire, exchange, sell, supervise, manage, or retain any kind | ||
of investment that a prudent investor, exercising reasonable care, | ||
skill, and caution, would acquire or retain in light of the | ||
purposes, terms, distribution requirements, and other | ||
circumstances of the fund then prevailing, taking into | ||
consideration the investment of all the assets of the fund rather | ||
than a single investment. | ||
(d) The reasonable expenses of managing the fund shall be | ||
paid from the fund. | ||
(e) The trust company annually shall provide a written | ||
report to the division with respect to the investment of the fund. | ||
(f) The trust company shall adopt a written investment | ||
policy that is appropriate for the fund. The trust company shall | ||
present the investment policy to the investment advisory board | ||
established under Section 404.028. The investment advisory board | ||
shall submit to the trust company recommendations regarding the | ||
policy. | ||
(g) The division annually shall provide to the trust company | ||
a forecast of the cash flows into and out of the fund. The division | ||
shall provide updates to the forecasts as appropriate to ensure | ||
that the trust company is able to achieve the objective specified by | ||
Subsection (b). | ||
(h) The trust company shall disburse money from the fund as | ||
directed by the division. | ||
SECTION 3. Section 38.076, Utilities Code, is amended by | ||
adding Subsection (c-1) to read as follows: | ||
(c-1) The commission shall require transmission and | ||
distribution utilities to use good faith efforts to ensure that no | ||
distribution feeder is subject to load shedding for more than four | ||
consecutive hours in a six-hour period. | ||
SECTION 4. Subchapter D, Chapter 38, Utilities Code, is | ||
amended by adding Section 38.078 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 38.078. CIRCUIT SEGMENTATION STUDY AND COST RECOVERY. | ||
(a) Not later than September 15, 2023, the commission shall direct | ||
each transmission and distribution utility to perform a circuit | ||
segmentation study. | ||
(b) A circuit segmentation study must: | ||
(1) use an engineering analysis to examine whether and | ||
how the transmission and distribution utility's transmission and | ||
distribution systems can be segmented and sectionalized to manage | ||
and rotate outages more evenly across all customers and circuits, | ||
while maintaining the protections offered to critical facilities; | ||
(2) include an engineering analysis of the feasibility | ||
of using sectionalization, automated reclosers, and other | ||
technology to break up the circuits that host significant numbers | ||
of critical facilities into smaller segments for outage management | ||
purposes to enable more granular and flexible outage management; | ||
(3) identify feeders with extensive numbers of | ||
critical facilities that, if equipped with facility-specific | ||
backup power systems and segmentation, can enhance the utility's | ||
outage management flexibility; and | ||
(4) include an estimate of the time, capital cost, and | ||
expected improvements to load-shed management associated with the | ||
circuit segmentation study. | ||
(c) Each transmission and distribution utility shall submit | ||
a report of the conclusions of the utility's study to the commission | ||
not later than September 1, 2024. | ||
(d) The commission shall review each circuit segmentation | ||
study not later than March 15, 2025. | ||
(e) If the commission determines that the implementation of | ||
circuit segmentation engineering and investments as provided by a | ||
transmission and distribution utility's circuit segmentation study | ||
report would facilitate better outage management in the ERCOT power | ||
region, investments made by the utility for such purposes shall be | ||
presumed just, reasonable, and appropriate for rate-based cost | ||
recovery. | ||
SECTION 5. Subchapter Z, Chapter 39, Utilities Code, is | ||
amended by adding Section 39.919 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 39.919. TEXAS BACKUP POWER PACKAGES. (a) In this | ||
section, "Texas backup power package" has the meaning assigned by | ||
Section 418.401, Government Code. | ||
(b) The commission by rule shall adopt procedures to | ||
expedite electric cooperative, municipally owned utility, and | ||
electric utility interconnection requests for Texas backup power | ||
packages. | ||
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect on the date on which the | ||
constitutional amendment proposed by the 88th Legislature, Regular | ||
Session, 2023, providing for the creation of the Texas power | ||
resiliency fund to finance backup power sources takes effect. If | ||
that amendment is not approved by the voters, this Act has no | ||
effect. | ||
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