By: Paddie, Hernandez, Allison, et al. H.B. No. 11
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the preparedness for extreme weather emergencies of
  facilities that provide electricity service; providing an
  administrative penalty.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter A, Chapter 35, Utilities Code, is
  amended by adding Section 35.0021 to read as follows:
         Sec. 35.0021.  WEATHER EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS. (a) In this
  section, "extreme weather emergency" means a period when:
               (1)  the previous day's highest temperature did not
  exceed 10 degrees Fahrenheit and the temperature is predicted to
  remain at or below that level for the next 24 hours according to the
  nearest National Weather Service reports; or
               (2)  the National Weather Service issues a heat
  advisory for any county in the relevant service territory, or when
  such an advisory has been issued on any one of the previous two
  calendar days.
         (b)  This section applies only to a municipally owned
  utility, electric cooperative, power generation company, or exempt
  wholesale generator that sells electric energy at wholesale in the
  ERCOT power region.
         (c)  The commission by rule shall require each entity
  described by Subsection (b) to:
               (1)  implement measures to prepare generation
  facilities to provide adequate electric generation service during
  an extreme weather emergency;
               (2)  make reasonable efforts to prevent electric
  generation service interruptions during an extreme weather
  emergency;
               (3)  reestablish service in the shortest possible time
  period after an electric generation service interruption that
  occurs due to an extreme weather emergency; and
               (4)  make reasonable efforts to manage emergencies
  caused by electric generation service interruptions during extreme
  weather emergencies, including issuing instructions to employees
  on procedures to be followed in the event of an extreme weather
  emergency.
         (d)  The rules must address electric generation service for
  all neighborhoods, rural areas, communities of fewer than 1,000
  people, and low-income areas in the ERCOT power region.
         (e)  The commission may impose an administrative penalty on
  an entity, including a municipally owned utility or an electric
  cooperative, that violates a rule adopted under this section in the
  manner provided by Chapter 15.
         (f)  Rural areas shall have the meaning assigned in Section
  12.046(a)(2), Agriculture Code.
         (g)  Low-income area shall mean a neighborhood that has at
  least 52 percent of its households at or below 80 percent of Area
  Median Family Income (AMFI).
         SECTION 2.  Subchapter A, Chapter 35, Utilities Code, is
  amended by adding Section 35.0022 to read as follows:
         Sec. 35.0022.  COMPREHENSIVE EMERGENCY OPERATIONS AND
  WEATHERIZATION PLAN. (a) Not later than January 1 of each year,
  the independent organization certified under Section 39.151 for the
  ERCOT power region shall prepare and deliver to the commission a
  comprehensive emergency operations and weatherization plan that
  includes:
               (1)  emergency operations plans currently on file with
  the organization;
               (2)  declarations of completion of weatherization
  preparations from all electric generation entities in the ERCOT
  power region; and
               (3)  relevant seasonal assessments of resource
  adequacy, including projected resource capabilities, peak demand
  forecasts, and expected unit outage forecasts.
         (b)  The commission shall analyze each emergency operations
  plan developed by the independent organization certified under
  Section 39.151 for the ERCOT power region and prepare a report on
  emergency operations and weatherization preparedness in this state
  that includes recommendations for improving the emergency
  operations plan, if any.
         (c)  The commission shall submit the report described by
  Subsection (b) to the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house
  of representatives, and the members of the legislature not later
  than September 1 of each year.
         (d)  Emergency operations plans described by Subsection
  (a)(1) are public information except for the portions of the plans
  considered confidential under Chapter 552, Government Code, or
  other state or federal law.
         SECTION 3.  Subchapter A, Chapter 35, Utilities Code, is
  amended by adding Section 35.0023 to read as follows:
         Sec. 35.0023.  IDENTIFICATION OF CRITICAL CARE CUSTOMERS
  WITH BACKUP GENERATION. The commission shall coordinate with
  electric utilities to identify critical care customers who have
  backup generation and who are capable of being curtailed in the
  event of firm load shed.
         SECTION 4.  Subchapter D, Chapter 38, Utilities Code, is
  amended by adding Section 38.074 to read as follows:
         Sec. 38.074.  WEATHER EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS. (a)  In this
  section, "extreme weather emergency" has the meaning assigned by
  Section 35.0021.
         (b)  The commission by rule shall require each electric
  cooperative, municipally owned utility, and transmission and
  distribution utility providing transmission or distribution
  service in the ERCOT power region to:
               (1)  implement measures to prepare facilities to
  maintain service quality and reliability during an extreme weather
  emergency;
               (2)  make reasonable efforts to prevent service
  interruptions during an extreme weather emergency;
               (3)  reestablish service in the shortest possible time
  period after a service interruption that occurs due to an extreme
  weather emergency; and
               (4)  make reasonable efforts to manage emergencies
  caused by service interruptions during extreme weather
  emergencies, including issuing instructions to employees on
  procedures to be followed in the event of an extreme weather
  emergency.
         (c)  The rules must address service for all neighborhoods,
  rural areas, communities of fewer than 1,000 people, and low-income
  areas in the ERCOT power region.
         (d)  The commission may impose an administrative penalty on
  an entity, including a municipally owned utility or an electric
  cooperative, that violates a rule adopted under this section in the
  manner provided by Chapter 15.
         (e)  Rural areas shall have the meaning assigned in Section
  12.046(a)(2), Agriculture Code.
         (f)  Low-income area shall mean a neighborhood that has at
  least 52 percent of its households at or below 80 percent of Area
  Median Family Income (AMFI).
         (g)  Notwithstanding any other provision of this subtitle,
  the commission shall allow a transmission and distribution utility
  to design and operate a load management program for nonresidential
  customers to be used during extreme weather where the independent
  organization certified under Section 39.151 for the ERCOT power
  region has declared an emergency. A transmission and distribution
  utility implementing a load management program under this
  subsection shall be permitted to recover the reasonable and
  necessary costs of the load management program under Chapter 36. A
  load management program operated under this subsection is not
  considered a competitive service.
         SECTION 5.  Subchapter Z, Chapter 39, Utilities Code, is
  amended by adding Section 39.918 to read as follows:
         Sec. 39.918.  COMMUNICATION DURING EXTREME WEATHER
  EMERGENCY. The commission by rule shall establish best practices
  for the commission, the independent organization certified under
  Section 39.151 for the ERCOT power region, and market participants
  to use when communicating with the public during an extreme weather
  emergency, as defined by Section 35.0021. The best practices must
  include practices for communicating in multiple languages and with
  multiple methods.
         SECTION 6.  Subchapter A, Chapter 186, Utilities Code, is
  amended by adding Section 186.008 to read as follows:
         Sec. 186.008.  EMERGENCY OPERATIONS PLAN AUDITS. (a) The
  Public Utility Commission of Texas by rule shall develop a
  procedure for auditing emergency operations plans developed by:
               (1)  electric utilities, as defined by Section 31.002;
               (2)  power generation companies, as defined by Section
  31.002;
               (3)  municipally owned utilities, as defined by Section
  11.003;
               (4)  electric cooperatives;
               (5)  retail electric providers, as defined by Section
  31.002; and
               (6)  the independent organization certified under
  Section 39.151 for the ERCOT power region.
         (b)  The procedure for auditing emergency operations plans
  must:
               (1)  require an entity described by Subsection (a) to
  file an updated emergency operations plan if the Public Utility
  Commission of Texas finds that the entity's emergency operations
  plan on file does not contain adequate information to determine
  whether the entity can provide adequate services during an
  emergency; and
               (2)  ensure that the plans will allow each generation
  facility in the plan to meet minimum reliability standards or
  guidelines adopted by the North American Electric Reliability
  Corporation in or before 2021.
         SECTION 7.  The Public Utility Commission of Texas shall
  adopt the rules required by Sections 35.0021 and 38.074, Utilities
  Code, as added by this Act, not later than November 1, 2021.
         SECTION 8.  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, 2021.