Bill Text: TX HB145 | 2025-2026 | 89th Legislature | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Relating to risk mitigation planning and associated liability for providers of electric service; providing an administrative penalty.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Republican 3)

Status: (Passed) 2025-06-20 - Effective immediately [HB145 Detail]

Download: Texas-2025-HB145-Enrolled.html

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H.B. No. 145

AN ACT
relating to risk mitigation planning and associated liability for
providers of electric service; providing an administrative
penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 36.064, Utilities Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsections (c-1) and
(h) to read as follows:
(a) An electric utility may self-insure all or part of:
(1) the utility's potential liability or catastrophic
property loss, including windstorm, fire, wildfire, and explosion
losses, that could not have been reasonably anticipated and
included under operating and maintenance expenses; and
(2) potential damages the utility may be liable for
resulting from personal injury or property damage caused by a
wildfire.
(b) The commission shall approve a self-insurance plan
under this section if the commission finds [that]:
(1) the coverage is in the public interest;
(2) one of the following:
(A) the plan, considering all costs, is a lower
cost alternative to purchasing commercial insurance;
(B) commercial insurance alone is insufficient
to cover potential liability, damages, or catastrophic property
loss; or
(C) the electric utility cannot obtain
commercial insurance for a reasonable premium; and
(3) ratepayers will receive the benefits of the
savings.
(c-1) In approving a self-insurance plan under this
section, the commission shall prioritize the consideration of the
presence and potential extent of wildfire losses, including:
(1) historical data;
(2) actuarial studies and analyses; and
(3) the risk of the electric utility's exposure to
losses from multiple types of disasters occurring within the
utility's service territory.
(h) Subsection (a)(2) does not authorize an electric
utility to self-insure under this section for damages from a
wildfire event the utility caused intentionally, recklessly, or
with gross negligence.
SECTION 2. Subchapter D, Chapter 38, Utilities Code, is
amended by adding Sections 38.080 and 38.081 to read as follows:
Sec. 38.080. WILDFIRE MITIGATION PLAN. (a) In this
section:
(1) "Division" means the Texas Division of Emergency
Management.
(2) "First responder" has the meaning assigned by
Section 418.251, Government Code.
(3) "Plan" means a wildfire mitigation plan described
by Subsection (b).
(4) "Wildfire risk area" means an area determined by
the division or an electric utility, municipally owned utility, or
electric cooperative to be at an elevated risk for wildfire.
(b) An electric utility, municipally owned utility, or
electric cooperative that owns a transmission or distribution
facility in a wildfire risk area shall file with the commission a
wildfire mitigation plan that includes the following:
(1) a description of each area to which the utility or
cooperative provides transmission or distribution service that is
in a wildfire risk area and the utility's or cooperative's process
for periodically inspecting the utility's or cooperative's
transmission and distribution facilities in those areas;
(2) a detailed plan for vegetation management in the
wildfire risk area;
(3) a detailed operations plan for reducing the
likelihood of wildfire ignition from the utility's or cooperative's
facilities and for responding to a wildfire;
(4) a description of the procedures the utility or
cooperative intends to use to restore the utility's or
cooperative's system during and after a wildfire event, including
contact information for the utility or cooperative that may be used
for coordination with the division and first responders;
(5) the utility's or cooperative's community outreach
and public awareness plan regarding wildfire risks and actual
wildfires affecting the utility's or cooperative's service
territory or system, including a specific communications plan for
responding to a wildfire event;
(6) any infrastructure report, maintenance report, or
transmission or distribution pole maintenance plan required by the
commission;
(7) an analysis of the wildfire mitigation plan
prepared by an independent expert in fire risk mitigation;
(8) a description of procedures for de-energizing
power lines and disabling reclosers to mitigate potential wildfires
or implement a public safety power shut-off plan;
(9) a description of the procedures and standards that
the utility or cooperative will use to inspect and operate the
utility's or cooperative's infrastructure to mitigate the risk of
wildfires;
(10) a description of how the utility or cooperative
will monitor compliance with the wildfire mitigation plan; and
(11) any other information the commission may require.
(c) The commission shall issue an order not later than the
180th day after a plan is filed with the commission that:
(1) approves the plan if the commission finds that
approval is in the public interest; or
(2) modifies or rejects the plan as necessary to be
consistent with the public interest.
(d) An electric utility, municipally owned utility, or
electric cooperative that does not implement a plan approved under
this section is subject to an administrative penalty as provided by
Chapter 15.
(e) The commission may accept in place of the information
required under Subsection (b) any information required under other
law that is substantially similar to the information required under
that subsection.
Sec. 38.081. EVIDENCE IN ACTIONS FOR DAMAGES CAUSED BY
WILDFIRE. (a) An electric utility, municipally owned utility, or
electric cooperative that submits and obtains commission approval
for a wildfire mitigation plan under Section 38.080 may use the plan
as evidence in an action brought against the utility or cooperative
for damages resulting from a wildfire ignited or propagated by the
utility's or cooperative's facility.
(b) Subject to any applicable tariff provision, in an action
for damages resulting from a wildfire ignited or propagated by an
electric utility's, municipally owned utility's, or electric
cooperative's facility, the utility or cooperative is not liable
for damages resulting from the wildfire if the trier of fact in the
action finds that the utility or cooperative:
(1) submitted, obtained commission approval for, and
implemented a wildfire mitigation plan under Section 38.080;
(2) was in compliance with relevant measures of the
utility's or cooperative's wildfire mitigation plan with respect to
the specific equipment found to have ignited or propagated the
wildfire; and
(3) did not cause the wildfire intentionally,
recklessly, or with negligence.
(c) Subsections (a) and (b) do not apply to an electric
utility, municipally owned utility, or electric cooperative that:
(1) does not file a wildfire mitigation plan under
Section 38.080; or
(2) files a plan that is rejected by the commission.
(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section,
this section does not affect an express contractual right of a
person or entity involving a communications facility or the shared
use of an electric facility or pole attachment.
SECTION 3. (a) The Public Utility Commission of Texas
shall adopt any rules necessary to implement Section 36.064,
Utilities Code, as amended by this Act, and Section 38.080,
Utilities Code, as added by this Act, not later than the 180th day
after the effective date of this Act.
(b) An electric utility, municipally owned utility, or
electric cooperative shall file a wildfire mitigation plan, as
authorized by Section 38.080, Utilities Code, as added by this Act,
as soon as practicable after the date the Public Utility Commission
of Texas adopts rules described by Subsection (a) of this section.
SECTION 4. Section 38.081, Utilities Code, as added by this
Act, applies only to a cause of action that accrues on or after the
effective date of this Act.
SECTION 5. 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, 2025.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 145 was passed by the House on April
25, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 131, Nays 8, 1 present, not
voting; that the House refused to concur in Senate amendments to
H.B. No. 145 on May 28, 2025, and requested the appointment of a
conference committee to consider the differences between the two
houses; and that the House adopted the conference committee report
on H.B. No. 145 on May 31, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 103,
Nays 21, 2 present, not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 145 was passed by the Senate, with
amendments, on May 26, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays
0; at the request of the House, the Senate appointed a conference
committee to consider the differences between the two houses; and
that the Senate adopted the conference committee report on H.B. No.
145 on June 1, 2025, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: __________________
Date
__________________
Governor