Bill Text: TX SB1125 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Enrolled
Bill Title: Relating to energy efficiency goals and programs, public information regarding energy efficiency programs, and the participation of loads in certain energy markets.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Passed) 2011-05-28 - Effective on 9/1/11 [SB1125 Detail]
Download: Texas-2011-SB1125-Enrolled.html
S.B. No. 1125 |
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relating to energy efficiency goals and programs, public | ||
information regarding energy efficiency programs, and the | ||
participation of loads in certain energy markets. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 39.905, Utilities Code, is amended by | ||
amending Subsections (a), (b), and (d) and adding Subsections (h) | ||
through (k) to read as follows: | ||
(a) It is the goal of the legislature that: | ||
(1) electric utilities will administer energy | ||
efficiency incentive programs in a market-neutral, | ||
nondiscriminatory manner but will not offer underlying competitive | ||
services; | ||
(2) all customers, in all customer classes, will have | ||
a choice of and access to energy efficiency alternatives and other | ||
choices from the market that allow each customer to reduce energy | ||
consumption, summer and winter peak demand, or energy costs; | ||
(3) each electric utility annually will provide, | ||
through market-based standard offer programs or through [ |
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targeted[ |
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for retail electric providers and competitive energy service | ||
providers to acquire additional cost-effective energy efficiency, | ||
subject to cost ceilings established by the commission, for the | ||
utility's residential and commercial customers equivalent to [ |
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(A) not less than: | ||
(i) 30 [ |
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utility's annual growth in demand of residential and commercial | ||
customers by December 31 of each year beginning with the 2013 | ||
calendar year; and | ||
(ii) the amount of energy efficiency to be | ||
acquired for the utility's residential and commercial customers for | ||
the most recent preceding year[ |
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(B) for an electric utility whose amount of | ||
energy efficiency to be acquired under this subsection is | ||
equivalent to at least four-tenths of one percent of the electric | ||
utility's summer weather-adjusted peak demand for residential and | ||
commercial customers in the previous calendar year, not less than: | ||
(i) four-tenths of one percent of the | ||
utility's summer weather-adjusted peak demand for residential and | ||
commercial customers by December 31 of each subsequent year; and | ||
(ii) the amount of energy efficiency to be | ||
acquired for the utility's residential and commercial customers for | ||
the most recent preceding year [ |
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(4) each electric utility in the ERCOT region shall | ||
use its best efforts to encourage and facilitate the involvement of | ||
the region's retail electric providers in the delivery of | ||
efficiency programs and demand response programs under this | ||
section, including programs for demand-side renewable energy | ||
systems that: | ||
(A) use distributed renewable generation, as | ||
defined by Section 39.916; or | ||
(B) reduce the need for energy consumption by | ||
using a renewable energy technology, a geothermal heat pump, a | ||
solar water heater, or another natural mechanism of the | ||
environment; | ||
(5) retail electric providers in the ERCOT region, and | ||
electric utilities outside of the ERCOT region, shall provide | ||
customers with energy efficiency educational materials; and | ||
(6) notwithstanding Subsection (a)(3), electric | ||
utilities shall continue to make available, at 2007 funding and | ||
participation levels, any load management standard offer programs | ||
developed for industrial customers and implemented prior to May 1, | ||
2007. | ||
(b) The commission shall provide oversight and adopt rules | ||
and procedures to ensure that the utilities can achieve the goal of | ||
this section, including: | ||
(1) establishing an energy efficiency cost recovery | ||
factor for ensuring timely and reasonable cost recovery for utility | ||
expenditures made to satisfy the goal of this section; | ||
(2) establishing an incentive under Section 36.204 to | ||
reward utilities administering programs under this section that | ||
exceed the minimum goals established by this section; | ||
(3) providing a utility that is unable to establish an | ||
energy efficiency cost recovery factor in a timely manner due to a | ||
rate freeze with a mechanism to enable the utility to: | ||
(A) defer the costs of complying with this | ||
section; and | ||
(B) recover the deferred costs through an energy | ||
efficiency cost recovery factor on the expiration of the rate | ||
freeze period; | ||
(4) ensuring that the costs associated with programs | ||
provided under this section and any shareholder bonus awarded are | ||
borne by the customer classes that receive the services under the | ||
programs; [ |
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(5) ensuring the program rules encourage the value of | ||
the incentives to be passed on to the end-use customer; | ||
(6) ensuring that programs are evaluated, measured, | ||
and verified using a framework established by the commission that | ||
promotes effective program design and consistent and streamlined | ||
reporting; and | ||
(7) ensuring that an independent organization | ||
certified under Section 39.151 allows load participation in all | ||
energy markets for residential, commercial, and industrial | ||
customer classes, either directly or through aggregators of retail | ||
customers, to the extent that load participation by each of those | ||
customer classes complies with reasonable requirements adopted by | ||
the organization relating to the reliability and adequacy of the | ||
regional electric network and in a manner that will increase market | ||
efficiency, competition, and customer benefits. | ||
(d) The commission shall establish a procedure for | ||
reviewing and evaluating market-transformation program options | ||
described by this subsection and other options. In evaluating | ||
program options, the commission may consider the ability of a | ||
program option to reduce costs to customers through reduced demand, | ||
energy savings, and relief of congestion. Utilities may choose to | ||
implement any program option approved by the commission after its | ||
evaluation in order to satisfy the goal in Subsection (a), | ||
including: | ||
(1) energy-smart schools; | ||
(2) appliance retirement and recycling; | ||
(3) air conditioning system tune-ups; | ||
(4) the installation of variable speed air | ||
conditioning systems, motors, and drives; | ||
(5) the use of trees or other landscaping for energy | ||
efficiency; | ||
(6) [ |
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response programs; | ||
(7) [ |
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buildings that will achieve the levels of energy efficiency | ||
sufficient to qualify those buildings for federal tax incentives; | ||
(8) commissioning services for commercial and | ||
institutional buildings that result in operational and maintenance | ||
practices that reduce the buildings' energy consumption; | ||
(9) [ |
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their residence or commercial space; | ||
(10) [ |
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equipment to customers that enable a customer to better understand | ||
the amount, price, and time of the customer's energy use; | ||
(11) [ |
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residents of single-family or multifamily residences and for small | ||
commercial customers; | ||
(12) [ |
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(13) [ |
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(14) [ |
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glazing systems, glass doors, and skylights in residential and | ||
commercial buildings that reduce solar gain by at least 30 percent | ||
from the level established for the federal Energy Star windows | ||
program; | ||
(15) data center efficiency programs; and | ||
(16) energy use programs with measurable and | ||
verifiable results that reduce energy consumption through | ||
behavioral changes that lead to efficient use patterns and | ||
practices. | ||
(h) For an electric utility operating in an area not open to | ||
competition, the utility may achieve the goal of this section by: | ||
(1) providing rebate or incentive funds directly to | ||
customers to promote or facilitate the success of programs | ||
implemented under this section; or | ||
(2) developing, subject to commission approval, new | ||
programs other than standard offer programs and market | ||
transformation programs, to the extent that the new programs | ||
satisfy the same cost-effectiveness requirements as standard offer | ||
programs and market transformation programs. | ||
(i) For an electric utility operating in an area open to | ||
competition, on demonstration to the commission, after a contested | ||
case hearing, that the requirements under Subsection (a) cannot be | ||
met in a rural area through retail electric providers or | ||
competitive energy service providers, the utility may achieve the | ||
goal of this section by providing rebate or incentive funds | ||
directly to customers in the rural area to promote or facilitate the | ||
success of programs implemented under this section. | ||
(j) An electric utility may use energy audit programs to | ||
achieve the goal of this section if: | ||
(1) the programs do not constitute more than three | ||
percent of total program costs under this section; and | ||
(2) the addition of the programs does not cause a | ||
utility's portfolio of programs to no longer be cost-effective. | ||
(k) To help a residential or nongovernmental nonprofit | ||
customer make informed decisions regarding energy efficiency, the | ||
commission may consider program designs that ensure, to the extent | ||
practicable, the customer is provided with information using | ||
standardized forms and terms that allow the customer to compare | ||
offers for varying degrees of energy efficiency attainable using a | ||
measure the customer is considering by cost, estimated energy | ||
savings, and payback periods. | ||
SECTION 2. Subchapter Z, Chapter 39, Utilities Code, is | ||
amended by adding Section 39.9054 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 39.9054. ENERGY EFFICIENCY PLANS AND REPORTS; PUBLIC | ||
INFORMATION. (a) An electric utility shall submit electronically | ||
an energy efficiency plan and report in a searchable form | ||
prescribed by the commission on or before April 1 of each year. The | ||
commission by rule shall adopt a form that will permit the public to | ||
easily compare information submitted by different electric | ||
utilities. The plan and report must: | ||
(1) provide information on the utility's performance | ||
in achieving energy efficiency goals for the previous five years; | ||
(2) describe how the utility intends to achieve future | ||
goals; and | ||
(3) provide any other information the commission | ||
considers relevant. | ||
(b) On the Internet website found at | ||
http://www.puc.state.tx.us, the commission shall publish | ||
information on energy efficiency programs, including: | ||
(1) an explanation of the goal for energy efficiency | ||
in this state; | ||
(2) a description of the types of energy efficiency | ||
programs available to certain classes of eligible customers; | ||
(3) a link to the plans and reports filed as prescribed | ||
by Subsection (a); and | ||
(4) a list of persons who install or provide energy | ||
efficiency measures or services by area. | ||
(c) This section does not require the commission to warrant | ||
that the list required to be displayed under Subsection (b) | ||
constitutes a complete or accurate list of all persons who install | ||
energy efficiency measures or services in the marketplace. | ||
SECTION 3. Subsection (b-2), Section 39.905, Utilities | ||
Code, is repealed. | ||
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011. | ||
______________________________ | ______________________________ | |
President of the Senate | Speaker of the House | |
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1125 passed the Senate on | ||
April 21, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that | ||
the Senate concurred in House amendments on May 17, 2011, by the | ||
following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Secretary of the Senate | ||
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1125 passed the House, with | ||
amendments, on May 11, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 99, | ||
Nays 34, two present not voting. | ||
______________________________ | ||
Chief Clerk of the House | ||
Approved: | ||
______________________________ | ||
Date | ||
______________________________ | ||
Governor |