Bill Text: TX HB773 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Comm Sub

---

Bill Title: Relating to creating an energy efficiency council to coordinate administration of energy efficiency programs.

Sponsorship: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-05-13 - Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal [HB773 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-HB773-Comm_Sub.html

---

82R15763 JXC-F
By: Anchia H.B. No. 773
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 773:
By: Crownover C.S.H.B. No. 773

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to creating an energy efficiency council to coordinate
administration of energy efficiency programs.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subtitle E, Title 4, Government Code, is amended
by adding Chapter 470 to read as follows:
CHAPTER 470. ENERGY EFFICIENCY COUNCIL
Sec. 470.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
(1) "Council" means the energy efficiency council.
(2) "Energy efficiency program" means a program that
uses state or federal funding to:
(A) reduce inefficient energy use;
(B) reduce peak energy demand;
(C) reduce energy consumption;
(D) promote compliance with energy efficient
building design standards; or
(E) pay for the implementation of energy cost
reduction measures.
(3) "Program administrator" includes any of the
following entities that administer an energy efficiency program:
(A) a state agency, including the Public Utility
Commission of Texas, the Railroad Commission of Texas, the State
Energy Conservation Office, and the Texas Department of Housing and
Community Affairs;
(B) a political subdivision of this state;
(C) a private or public utility service provider,
including an electric cooperative or municipally owned utility;
(D) a school district; or
(E) an institution of higher education.
Sec. 470.002. PURPOSE. The energy efficiency council is a
council established in the comptroller's office to:
(1) monitor energy efficiency programs in this state;
(2) make recommendations for improving energy
efficiency programs in this state; and
(3) provide a central repository for information on
energy efficiency programs in this state.
Sec. 470.003. ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAM POLICIES. A
program administrator shall consider any applicable
recommendations of the council when creating or implementing the
energy efficiency program.
Sec. 470.004. COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP. (a) The council is
composed of the following 15 members:
(1) 12 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 Public Utility
Commission of Texas;
(D) the presiding officer of the Railroad
Commission of Texas;
(E) the comptroller or an employee of the State
Energy Conservation Office designated by the comptroller;
(F) the director of the Texas Department of
Housing and Community Affairs;
(G) the executive director of the Texas
Facilities Commission;
(H) the executive administrator of the Texas
Water Development Board;
(I) the presiding officer of the Water
Conservation Advisory Council;
(J) the executive director of the Texas
Department of Rural Affairs;
(K) the director of the Energy Systems Laboratory
at the Texas Engineering Experiment Station of The Texas A&M
University System; and
(L) the chief executive of the Office of Public
Utility Counsel; and
(2) three public members appointed by the governor as
follows:
(A) one member to represent low-income
ratepayers;
(B) one member to represent commercial or
industrial ratepayers; and
(C) one member to represent an environmental
organization.
(b) The three public members must be appointed with the
advice and consent of the senate.
(c) The ex officio members and the appointed members serve
as voting members of the council.
(d) The comptroller or the employee designated under
Subsection (a)(1)(E) shall serve as presiding officer of the
council.
(e) The council shall meet at least two times per year at the
call of the presiding officer.
(f) 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.
(g) Appointments to council positions shall be made without
regard to the race, color, disability, sex, religion, age, or
national origin of the appointees.
Sec. 470.005. TERMS; VACANCY. (a) Appointed council
members serve staggered two-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. 470.006. GROUNDS FOR REMOVAL. (a) It is a ground for
removal from the council that a member:
(1) does not maintain during service on the council
the qualifications required by Section 470.004(a)(1);
(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. 470.007. ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT. To the extent
resources are available, the State Energy Conservation Office 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. 470.008. ACCEPTANCE OF GIFTS, GRANTS, OR DONATIONS.
The council may solicit and the comptroller may accept for the
council gifts, grants, and donations from any public or private
source for the purposes of this chapter.
Sec. 470.009. ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAM MONITORING AND
RECOMMENDATIONS. (a) The council shall monitor energy efficiency
programs in this state.
(b) The council may submit to a program administrator
recommendations on means to encourage greater energy efficiency on
a regular basis.
Sec. 470.010. OFFICIAL INTERNET WEBSITES. The council
shall use the following official Internet websites for the
publication of information as required by this chapter:
(1) the Internet website of the State Energy
Conservation Office; and
(2) the electric choice website of the Public Utility
Commission of Texas, www.powertochoose.org.
Sec. 470.011. 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 websites under Section 470.010; and
(2) work with the State Energy Conservation Office and
the Public Utility Commission of Texas to develop and publish on the
official Internet websites under Section 470.010 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 Public
Utility Commission of Texas shall each provide a link on their
Internet websites to the page described by Subsection (a)(2).
Sec. 470.012. BIENNIAL PROGRAMS REPORT. (a) The council
biennially shall prepare a report on energy efficiency programs in
this state. The council shall submit the report to the legislature
not later than October 1 of each even-numbered year.
(b) The report must include:
(1) a comprehensive review of the energy efficiency
programs on the list required by Section 470.011, including
information on the goals, costs, and benefits of the programs, the
results of each program, the energy savings and emissions
reductions that each program achieves, and the jobs that each
program creates;
(2) a study comparing energy efficiency programs in
this state to similar programs in:
(A) California;
(B) Florida;
(C) New York; and
(D) each other state the council determines to
have programs appropriate for the comparisons; and
(3) recommendations for improving energy efficiency
programs in this state.
(c) The report may include recommendations for creating new
energy efficiency programs in this state.
(d) The council shall publish the report on the official
Internet websites under Section 470.010.
Sec. 470.013. APPLICABILITY OF ADVISORY COMMITTEE LAW.
Chapter 2110 does not apply to the council.
SECTION 2. As soon as practicable after the effective date
of this Act, the governor and the lieutenant governor shall appoint
members to the energy efficiency council in accordance with Section
470.004, Government 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, 2011.