Bill Text: TX HB2961 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to the creation of a program for the development of solar energy industry in this state.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-04-06 - Left pending in committee [HB2961 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-HB2961-Introduced.html

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82R13299 T
By: Darby H.B. No. 2961

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the creation of a program for the development of solar
energy industry in this state.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 39.002, Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 39.002. APPLICABILITY. This chapter, other than
Sections 39.155, 39.157(e), 39.203, 39.903, 39.904, 39.9051,
39.9052, [and] 39.914(e), and 39.9156, does not apply to a
municipally owned utility or an electric cooperative. Sections
39.157(e), 39.203, and 39.904, however, 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 2. Subchapter Z, Chapter 39, Utilities Code, is
amended by adding Section 39.9155 to read as follows:
Sec. 39.9155. SOLAR GENERATION INCENTIVE PROGRAM. (a) In
this section:
(1) "Distributed solar generation" means distributed
renewable generation as defined by Section 39.916 that uses an
energy source derived directly from the sun.
(2) "Low-income electric customer" has the meaning
assigned by Section 39.903(l).
(3) "Rated watts" means the output of a solar energy
device as specified by the manufacturer of the device expressed in
watts of direct current.
(4) "Small commercial customer" means a non
residential customer as classified by the appropriate electric
utility or transmission and distribution utility tariff whose
electricity consumption averages less than 2500 kilowatt hours per
month over the 12 month period ending on the last full calendar
month before the effective date of this section.
(5) "Solar energy device" has the meaning assigned by
Section 185.001.
(6) "Wholesale solar generation" means a solar
generation system that:
(A) regardless of the system's generation
capacity, is installed on the utility's side of the meter; or
(B) has a generation capacity of two megawatts or
more and is installed on a retail customer's side of the meter.
(b) The program developed under this section applies only to
an electric utility operating inside or outside of ERCOT.
(c) The commission shall develop and implement a program as
provided by this section to facilitate the development of a solar
energy market and solar energy industry in this state by increasing
the amount of wholesale and distributed solar generation installed
in this state. The program shall be transparent, cost effective,
limited in scope and duration, apply statewide, and that
residential and small commercial customers may choose to
participate at a higher level than that prescribed by this section
or may choose not to participate in the program. The commission
shall act as the program administrator to oversee and administer
the implementation of the program or may designate a third party as
the program administrator in accordance with an agreement with the
designated party.
(d) The commission shall establish a goal of achieving
through the program the installation of at least 1,000 megawatts of
solar generation over the duration of the program.
(e) The solar generation rebate fund is established as a
special trust fund held by the comptroller outside of the state
treasury and administered by the program administrator for the
payment of the incentives authorized by this section, without the
necessity of an appropriation. Money in the fund may be used only
for the purposes of the program as provided by this section. Not
more than 2.5 percent of the fund may be spent annually for costs of
administering the fund and the program. The fund consists of:
(1) fees imposed under this section and remitted to
the comptroller for deposit to the credit of the fund;
(2) gifts or grants awarded for the purposes of the
program and deposited to the credit of the fund; and
(3) interest and other income from investment of the
money deposited to the credit of the fund.
(f) Money collected under the program may be spent only for
program purposes. Except for spending authorized by Subsections
(e), (o), and (p), 50 percent of all money spent under the program
must be used for incentives for wholesale solar generation projects
and the remaining money spent under the program must be used for
incentives for distributed solar generation projects. The money
spent for distributed solar generation projects must be divided
proportionately between residential and nonresidential market
segments in accordance with the relative percentage of money
contributed under the program from those market segments. A
portion of the money allocated for the residential market segment,
as determined by the commission, must be reserved to be spent only
for incentives for distributed solar generation projects in new
residential construction.
(g) The commission by rule shall provide for the assessment
and collection of nonbypassable fees by electric utilities and
transmission and distribution utilities. An electric utility or
transmission and distribution utility shall remit all fees
collected to the comptroller for deposit to the credit of the solar
generation rebate fund. The fees assessed under this subsection
must be in the following amounts:
(1) $1 each month for each residential meter which, if
applicable, must be included in nonbypassable delivery charges paid
by the customer's retail electric provider;
(2) $5 each month for each commercial meter; and
(3) $50 each month for each industrial meter, except
that the total of nonbypassable fees assessed against a retail
electric provider for a single industrial account may not exceed
$250 in a single month.
(h) The commission by rule shall establish a mechanism to
ensure that fees collected under this section and remitted for
deposit to the solar generation rebate fund are made continuously
available as necessary to provide for payment of incentives in the
form of rebate payments as provided by this section to defray the
cost of installing solar generation.
(i) the commission shall establish a method by which
residential and small commercial customers may request to increase
the amount of the nonbypassable fee assessed to them under this
section by $1 per month, or by which residential and small
commercial customers may waive the assessment of the nonbypassable
fee assessed to them under this section by:
(A) submitting a written request after receiving
an initial notification of the implementation of this program,
which notice shall be issued by an electric utility or a
transmission and distribution utility to its residential and small
commercial customers within 60 days after the commission adopts
rules implementing this program; or
(B) making a request when establishing service
with a retail electric provider or an electric utility;
(j) Customers who request a waiver under subsection (i) will
not be eligible for rebates under the program.
(k) When a customer requests a waiver under subsection (i),
the commission shall ensure that the retail electric provider is
not responsible for the fees that normally would be collected for
that customer account.
(l) The commission shall establish a schedule of rebate
amounts for installed solar generation that vary according to the
rated watts of, or the kilowatt-hours produced by, the solar
generation equipment and that decrease in proportion to the
capacity of solar generation installed. The commission shall
ensure that the schedule:
(1) is publicly available;
(2) provides for reducing rebate amounts per unit of
solar generation capacity by not less than 12 percent for each year
of the program;
(3) does not obligate payment of rebates in amounts
that would cause the rebate program payments to exceed the amount
budgeted for rebate payments over the duration of the program; and
(4) provides for rebates to be paid directly to
customers, qualified installers, homebuilders, remodelers, or
third-party owners of installed solar generation in a simple,
uniform, and reliable administrative manner that:
(A) ensures the timely payment of rebates; and
(B) allows for the assignment of the rebate to
another person at the direction of the qualified recipient.
(m) The commission shall establish as the initial rebate
amounts:
(1) $2 per rated watt for installed distributed solar
generation with a capacity of not more than 10 kilowatts, or an
equivalent amount per kilowatt-hour produced;
(2) $1.40 per rated watt for installed distributed
solar generation with a capacity of more than 10 but not more than
2,000 kilowatts, or an equivalent amount per kilowatt-hour
produced; and
(3) $1 per rated watt for installed wholesale solar
generation, or an equivalent amount per kilowatt-hour produced.
(n) The fees authorized by this section may not be assessed
after the fifth anniversary of the date the program is established
under commission rules, and the program ends when all money in the
solar generation rebate fund that is available for paying
incentives under the program is exhausted.
(o) Using available money from the solar generation rebate
fund, the commission, in consultation with an independent
organization certified under Section 39.151, shall identify and
report to the 83rd Legislature before January 1, 2013, the
geographic areas of this state where wholesale solar generation can
be located with minimal additional transmission facilities.
(p) The commission by rule shall provide a method by which
the program administrator shall use money from the solar generation
rebate fund to pay for a credit to the electric service bill of each
low-income electric customer for an amount equal to the amount of
the fee assessed in the customer's bill.
(q) This section may not be construed as mandating
distributed solar generation or any design, construction, or
installation of solar-ready products to be installed by
homebuilders.
SECTION 3. Subchapter Z, Chapter 39, Utilities Code, is
amended by adding Sections 39.9156 and 39.9157 to read as follows:
Sec. 39.9156. SOLAR GENERATION PROGRAMS. (a) This section
applies only to an electric cooperative or municipally owned
utility with retail sales of more than 500,000 megawatt hours in
2009.
(b) It is the goal of the legislature that:
(1) electric cooperatives and municipally owned
utilities administer incentive programs to facilitate the
development of a solar energy market and solar energy industry in
this state by increasing the amount of wholesale and distributed
solar generation installed in this state;
(2) customers of electric cooperatives and
municipally owned utilities will have access to incentives for the
installation of distributed solar generation; and
(3) electric cooperatives and municipally owned
utilities spend money to increase the amount of solar generation to
a funding level consistent with the requirements for electric
utilities in this state under Section 39.9155.
(c) Beginning not later than March 1, 2012, an electric
cooperative or municipally owned utility annually, in a form and
manner determined by the program administrator, shall report to the
program administrator designated under Section 39.9155,
information regarding the efforts of the municipally owned utility
or electric cooperative related to this section.
(d) This section does not prevent the governing body of an
electric cooperative or municipally owned utility from adopting
rules, programs, and incentives to encourage or provide for the
installation of more solar generation capacity beyond the goals
established by Section 39.9155, or rules adopted under that
section.
(e) An electric cooperative or municipally owned utility
may recover the costs required by this section through a
nonbypassable fee consistent with the nonbypassable fees
authorized by the commission for electric utilities under Section
39.9155(g), or another cost recovery mechanism as determined by the
governing body of the electric cooperative or municipally owned
utility.
Sec. 39.9157. OWNERSHIP OF DISTRIBUTED SOLAR GENERATION.
Notwithstanding any other provision of this title:
(1) any person may own distributed solar generation
and enter into a contract with the retail customer on whose property
the solar generation capacity is located to lease the solar
generation equipment or sell the generated output to the retail
customer or to that customer's retail electric provider;
(2) an owner of the distributed solar generation is
not an electric utility and is not required to register with the
commission as a power generation company or self-generator; and
(3) the commission may establish appropriate
reporting and other requirements for an owner of distributed solar
generation to be eligible to earn renewable energy credits.
SECTION 4. Section 151.318(c), Tax Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(c) The exemption does not include:
(1) intraplant transportation equipment, including
intraplant transportation equipment used to move a product or raw
material in connection with the manufacturing process and
specifically including all piping and conveyor systems, provided
that the following remain eligible for the exemption:
(A) piping or conveyor systems that are a
component part of a single item of manufacturing equipment or
pollution control equipment eligible for the exemption under
Subsection (a)(2), (a)(4), or (a)(5);
(B) piping through which the product or an
intermediate or preliminary product that will become an ingredient
or component part of the product is recycled or circulated in a loop
between the single item of manufacturing equipment and the
ancillary equipment that supports only that single item of
manufacturing equipment if the single item of manufacturing
equipment and the ancillary equipment operate together to perform a
specific step in the manufacturing process; and
(C) piping through which the product or an
intermediate or preliminary product that will become an ingredient
or component part of the product is recycled back to another single
item of manufacturing equipment and its ancillary equipment in the
same manufacturing process;
(2) hand tools;
(3) maintenance supplies not otherwise exempted under
this section, maintenance equipment, janitorial supplies or
equipment, office equipment or supplies, equipment or supplies used
in sales or distribution activities, research or development of new
products, or transportation activities;
(4) machinery and equipment or supplies to the extent
not otherwise exempted under this section used to maintain or store
tangible personal property; [or]
(5) tangible personal property used in the
transmission or distribution of electricity, including
transformers, cable, switches, breakers, capacitor banks,
regulators, relays, reclosers, fuses, interruptors, reactors,
arrestors, resistors, insulators, instrument transformers, and
telemetry units not otherwise exempted under this section, and
lines, conduit, towers, and poles; or
(6) solar energy devices as defined by Section
185.001(2), Utilities Code.
SECTION 5. Except Section 39.9157, Utilities Code, as added
by this Act, this Act expires when the fund established pursuant to
Section 39.9155, Utilities Code, as added by this Act, is
exhausted.
SECTION 6. The Public Utility Commission of Texas shall
adopt rules establishing the programs required under Sections
39.9155 and 39.9156, Utilities Code, as added by this Act, not later
than December 1, 2011.
SECTION 7. 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, 2011.