By: Anchía, Guillen, Hernandez, Geren	H.B. No. 4811

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the creation of the Texas Energy Efficiency Council.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Subtitle A, Title 2, Utilities Code, is amended
	by adding Chapter 18 to read as follows:
	CHAPTER 18.  TEXAS ENERGY EFFICIENCY COUNCIL
	Sec. 18.001.  DEFINITIONS.  In this chapter:
	(1)  "Council" means the Texas Energy Efficiency
	Council.
	(2)  "Energy efficiency program" means a program
	designed to:
	(A)  increase efficient energy use;
	(B)  reduce energy consumption during periods of
	peak energy demand;
	(C)  optimize energy consumption;
	(D)  identify and realize the benefits of energy
	efficient building design standards; or
	(E)  fund the implementation of energy cost
	reduction measures.
	(3)  "Measure" means a direct measurement or modeling
	of energy efficiency performance over a 12-month period.
	(4)  "Program administrator" includes any of the
	following entities that administer an energy efficiency program:
	(A)  a state agency, including the commission, the
	Texas Water Development Board, the State Energy Conservation
	Office, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, and the
	Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs;
	(B)  a political subdivision; or
	(C)  a private or public provider of electricity,
	gas, or water utility service, including an electric cooperative or
	municipally owned utility.
	Sec. 18.002.  PURPOSE. The Texas Energy Efficiency Council
	is a council established in the commission to:
	(1)  provide a statewide collaborative approach to
	promoting energy efficiency;
	(2)  measure, evaluate, and report on energy efficiency
	performance in this state;
	(3)  monitor energy efficiency programs in this state;
	(4)  make recommendations for improving energy
	efficiency programs in this state;
	(5)  monitor and facilitate opportunities for
	coordination and leveraging of federal funding from the United
	States Department of Energy, United States Department of Housing
	and Urban Development, and other federal agencies that can be used
	by state agencies and political subdivisions for the purposes of
	enhancing energy efficiency;
	(6)  provide a central repository for information on
	statewide energy efficiency performance and opportunities to
	participate in energy efficiency programs in this state; and
	(7)  promote continuous improvement in energy
	efficiency performance in this state.
	Sec. 18.003.  ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAM POLICIES. A program
	administrator shall establish measurable performance criteria and
	share the results with the council when creating or implementing an
	energy efficiency program.
	Sec. 18.004.  COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP. (a)  The council is
	composed of the following 16 members:
	(1)  nine ex officio members as follows:
	(A)  the presiding officer of the Texas Commission
	on Environmental Quality;
	(B)  the chief executive officer of the Electric
	Reliability Council of Texas;
	(C)  the presiding officer of the commission;
	(D)  the comptroller;
	(E)  the director of the Texas Department of
	Housing and Community Affairs;
	(F)  the executive director of the Texas Economic
	Development and Tourism Office;
	(G)  the chairman of the Texas Water Development
	Board;
	(H)  the director of the Energy Systems Laboratory
	at the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station of The Texas A&M
	University System; and
	(I)  the chief executive of the Office of Public
	Utility Counsel; and
	(2)  seven public members appointed by the presiding
	officer of the commission as follows:
	(A)  one member must have experience in the field
	of engineering;
	(B)  one member must have experience in the field
	of public or private finance;
	(C)  one member must have experience in the field
	of law or business;
	(D)  one member must have experience in the field
	of environmental stewardship;
	(E)  one member must have experience in the field
	of electric utility operation;
	(F)  one member must have experience in the field
	of industrial operation; and
	(G)  one member must have business experience in
	the implementation of energy efficiency programs.
	(b)  An ex officio member may designate a person from the
	member's agency to serve in the member's place.
	(c)  The presiding officer of the council may designate a
	person to represent an appointed member in any meeting if the person
	meets the qualifications required by Subsection (a)(2).
	(d)  The ex officio members and the appointed members serve
	as voting members of the council.
	(e)  The presiding officer of the commission or the employee
	designated by the presiding officer shall serve as presiding
	officer of the council.
	(f)  The council shall meet at least two times per year at the
	call of the presiding officer.
	(g)  Council members may not receive compensation for
	services but, subject to the availability of funding, may receive
	reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses incurred while
	performing council business.
	(h)  Appointments to council positions shall be made without
	regard to the race, color, disability, sex, religion, age, or
	national origin of the appointees.
	Sec. 18.005.  TERMS; VACANCY.  (a)  Appointed council
	members serve staggered four-year terms, with the terms of one or
	two members, as applicable, expiring on February 1.
	(b)  A vacancy on the council in the position of an appointed
	council member shall be filled in the same manner as the original
	appointment. The person appointed serves for the remainder of the
	unexpired term.
	Sec. 18.006.  GROUNDS FOR REMOVAL. (a) It is a ground for
	removal from the council that a member:
	(1)  described by Section 18.004(a)(1) does not
	maintain during service on the council the qualifications required
	by that subdivision;
	(2)  cannot, because of illness or disability,
	discharge the member's duties for a substantial part of the member's
	term; or
	(3)  is absent from more than half of the regularly
	scheduled council meetings that the member is eligible to attend
	during a calendar year without an excuse approved by a majority vote
	of the council.
	(b)  The validity of an action of the council is not affected
	by the fact that it is taken when a ground for removal of a council
	member exists.
	(c)  If the presiding officer has knowledge that a potential
	ground for removal exists, the presiding officer shall notify the
	appointing authority and the attorney general that a potential
	ground for removal exists.
	Sec. 18.007.  ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT. The commission shall
	provide the council with administrative support, including meeting
	space and staff necessary to assist the council in carrying out the
	council's duties under this chapter.
	Sec. 18.008.  ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAM MONITORING AND
	RECOMMENDATIONS. (a)  The council shall measure, evaluate, and
	report on energy efficiency performance in this state.
	(b)  The council shall monitor energy efficiency programs in
	this state.
	(c)  The council may submit to a program administrator
	recommendations on means to encourage greater energy efficiency on
	a regular basis.  The council may submit to a program administrator
	that administers a program described by Section 39.905
	recommendations to assure better coordination between local,
	state, federal, and private energy efficiency programs for the
	purposes of Section 39.905.
	Sec. 18.009.  OFFICIAL INTERNET WEBSITE. The council shall
	develop and maintain an official Internet website for the
	publication of information as required by this chapter.
	Sec. 18.010.  LIST OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAMS. (a)  The
	council shall:
	(1)  develop a list of currently operating energy
	efficiency programs in this state and publish the list on the
	official Internet website maintained under Section 18.009; and
	(2)  work with the State Energy Conservation Office and
	the commission to develop and publish on the official Internet
	website maintained under Section 18.009 a user-friendly page that
	allows a consumer to search by the consumer's address energy
	efficiency programs available in the consumer's service area.
	(b)  The State Energy Conservation Office and the commission
	each shall provide a link on their Internet websites to the page
	described by Subsection (a)(2).
	Sec. 18.011.  CONFIDENTIALITY OF CERTAIN INFORMATION. (a)
	Except as provided by this section, the council is not subject to
	Chapter 551 or 552, Government Code.
	(b)  Information written, produced, collected, assembled, or
	maintained under law or in connection with the transaction of
	official business by the council or an officer or employee of the
	council is subject to Section 552.008, Government Code, in the same
	manner as public information.
	Sec. 18.012.  BIENNIAL PERFORMANCE REPORT. (a)  The council
	biennially shall prepare a report on energy efficiency performance
	in this state.  The council shall submit the report to the
	legislature not later than January 15 of each odd-numbered year.
	(b)  The report must include:
	(1)  a comprehensive review of the energy efficiency
	programs on the list required by Section 18.010, including initial
	capital investment, ongoing operating expenses, and energy savings
	benefits of the programs;
	(2)  statewide energy efficiency performance by sector
	and county; and
	(3)  recommendations for improving energy efficiency
	programs in this state.
	(c)  The report may include:
	(1)  criteria developed by the council for evaluating
	and measuring energy efficiency programs in this state;
	(2)  opportunities for continuous improvement in
	energy efficiency performance in this state; and
	(3)  recommendations for creating new energy
	efficiency programs in this state.
	(d)  The council shall publish the report on the official
	Internet website maintained under Section 18.009.
	Sec. 18.013.  APPLICABILITY OF ADVISORY COMMITTEE LAW.
	Chapter 2110, Government Code, does not apply to the council.
	SECTION 2.  As soon as practicable after the effective date
	of this Act, the presiding officer of the Public Utility Commission
	of Texas shall appoint members to the Texas Energy Efficiency
	Council in accordance with Section 18.004, Utilities Code, as added
	by this Act.
	SECTION 3.  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, 2023.