Bill Text: TX SB2195 | 2019-2020 | 86th Legislature | Comm Sub

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Bill Title: Relating to metering and billing requirements for certain apartment houses, manufactured homes, and recreational vehicles.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2019-05-16 - Committee report sent to Calendars [SB2195 Detail]

Download: Texas-2019-SB2195-Comm_Sub.html

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By: Lucio S.B. No. 2195
(Martinez)

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to metering and billing requirements for certain apartment
houses, manufactured homes, and recreational vehicles.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 39.554(e), Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(e) An electric utility that approves an application of a
distributed renewable generation owner under Subsection (b) shall
provide to the owner the metering options described by Section
39.916(f) and an option to interconnect with the utility through a
single meter that runs forward and backward if:
(1) the owner:
(A) intends to interconnect the distributed
renewable generation at an apartment house, as defined by Section
184.001 [184.011], occupied by low-income elderly tenants that
qualifies for master metering under Section 184.012(b) and the
distributed renewable generation is reasonably expected to
generate not less than 50 percent of the apartment house's annual
electricity use; or
(B) has a qualifying facility with a design
capacity of not more than 50 kilowatts; and
(2) the distributed renewable generation or
qualifying facility that is the subject of the application is rated
to produce an amount of electricity that is less than or equal to:
(A) the owner's estimated annual kilowatt hour
consumption for a new apartment house or qualifying facility; or
(B) the amount of electricity the owner consumed
in the year before installation of the distributed renewable
generation or qualifying facility.
SECTION 2. Section 184.001, Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 184.001. DEFINITIONS [DEFINITION]. In this chapter:
(1) "Apartment house" means one or more buildings
containing more than five dwelling units each of which is rented
primarily for nontransient use with rent paid at intervals of one
week or longer. The term includes a rented or owner-occupied
residential condominium.
(2) "Apartment house owner" means:
(A) the legal titleholder of an apartment house;
or
(B) an individual, firm, or corporation that
purports to be the landlord of a tenant of an apartment house.
(3) "Commission"[, "commission"] means the Public
Utility Commission of Texas.
(4) "Dwelling unit" means one or more rooms that are
suitable for occupancy as a residence and that contain kitchen and
bathroom facilities. The term includes a manufactured home. The
term does not include a recreational vehicle.
(5) "Electricity supplier" means an electric utility,
a retail electric provider, a municipally owned utility, as defined
by Section 11.003, or an electric cooperative, as defined by
Section 11.003, from which an apartment owner, manufactured
community owner, or recreational vehicle park owner purchases
electric energy.
(6) "Electric utility" has the meaning assigned by
Section 31.002.
(7) "Manufactured home" or "manufactured housing" has
the meaning assigned in Section 1201.003, Occupations Code.
(8) "Manufactured housing community" has the meaning
assigned to "manufactured home community" by Section 94.001,
Property Code.
(9) "Recreational vehicle" has the meaning assigned by
Section 522.004, Transportation Code.
(10) "Recreational vehicle park" has the meaning
assigned by Section 13.087, Water Code.
(11) "Retail electric provider" has the meaning
assigned by Section 31.002.
(12) "Separately metered" has the meaning assigned by
Section 31.002.
(13) "Utility company" means an electric utility or a
transmission and distribution utility, as defined by Section
31.002.
SECTION 3. Subchapter A, Chapter 184, Utilities Code, is
amended by adding Section 184.002 to read as follows:
Sec. 184.002. ELECTRICITY SUPPLIER; APPLICABILITY OF TITLE
2. Notwithstanding Title 2, a person that is not regulated by the
commission under that title as an electric utility or a retail
electric provider for another activity may not be considered to be
an electric utility or a retail electric provider solely because
the person provides electric service in accordance with this
chapter and commission rules adopted under this chapter.
SECTION 4. The heading to Subchapter B, Chapter 184,
Utilities Code, is amended to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER B. METERING IN APARTMENTS, CONDOMINIUMS, AND
MANUFACTURED HOUSING COMMUNITIES [MOBILE HOME PARKS]
SECTION 5. Section 184.012(a), Utilities Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) A political subdivision may not authorize the
construction or occupancy of a new apartment house, including the
conversion of property to a condominium, unless the construction
plan provides for the measurement of the quantity of electricity
consumed by the occupants of each dwelling unit of the apartment
house, either by separate [individual] metering by the utility
company or by submetering by the owner.
SECTION 6. Sections 184.013(a) and (c), Utilities Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) The owner of an apartment house or manufactured housing
community [mobile home park] may submeter each dwelling unit in the
apartment house or manufactured housing community that is not
separately metered [mobile home park] to measure the quantity of
electricity consumed by the occupants of the dwelling unit.
(c) If, not more than 90 days before the date an owner,
operator, or manager of an apartment house or manufactured housing
community installs individual meters or submeters in the apartment
house or manufactured housing community, the owner, operator, or
manager increases rental rates and the increase in rental rates is
attributable to the increased cost of utilities, the owner,
operator, or manager, on installation of the meters or submeters,
shall:
(1) immediately reduce the rental rate by the amount
of the increase attributable to the increased cost of utilities;
and
(2) refund the amount of the increased rent:
(A) collected in the 90-day period preceding the
installation of the meters or submeters; and
(B) attributable to the cost of increased
utilities.
SECTION 7. Sections 184.014(a) and (b), Utilities Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) The commission shall adopt rules under which an owner,
operator, or manager of an apartment house or manufactured housing
community [mobile home park] for which electricity is not
separately [individually] metered may install submetering
equipment to allocate fairly the cost of the electrical consumption
of each dwelling unit in the apartment house or manufactured
housing community [mobile home park].
(b) In addition to other appropriate safeguards for a tenant
of an apartment house or manufactured housing community [mobile
home park], a rule adopted under Subsection (a) must provide that:
(1) the apartment house owner or a manufactured
housing community [mobile home park] owner may not charge a tenant
more than the cost per kilowatt hour charged by the utility to the
owner; and
(2) the apartment house owner shall maintain adequate
records relating to submetering and make those records available
for inspection by the tenant during reasonable business hours.
SECTION 8. Sections 184.033, 184.034, 184.035, and 184.036,
Utilities Code, are amended to read as follows:
Sec. 184.033. METERED SALE UNDER THIS CHAPTER.
Notwithstanding any provision of Title 2, the metered sale of
electricity by a recreational vehicle park owner does not
constitute the provision of electric service for compensation if:
(1) the electricity is consumed in a recreational
vehicle that is located in a recreational vehicle park;
(2) the owner can show that the owner does not annually
recover from recreational vehicle occupants through metered
charges more than the electricity supplier [supplying utility]
charges the owner for electricity that is submetered, taking into
account fuel refunds;
(3) the owner establishes a fiscal year for the
purposes of this subchapter and maintains for at least three years
records of:
(A) bills received from the electricity supplier
[supplying utility];
(B) charges made to recreational vehicle
occupants; and
(C) consumption records for each fiscal year;
(4) the owner charges for electricity using a fixed
rate per kilowatt hour for each fiscal year computed at the
beginning of the fiscal year in the manner provided by Section
184.034; and
(5) the owner complies with the refund requirements of
Section 184.035.
Sec. 184.034. COMPUTATION OF CHARGES. (a) For the
purposes of computing the charge for electricity under Section
184.033(4), the recreational vehicle park owner shall divide the
amount charged the owner by the electricity supplier [supplying
utility] for the preceding fiscal year by the total number of
kilowatt hours consumed by occupants visiting the park in the
preceding fiscal year and round the quotient to the nearest cent.
(b) If since or during the preceding fiscal year the rates
the owner pays its electricity supplier have increased [supplying
utility increases its rates], the owner may recompute the preceding
fiscal year's charges [by the utility] using the current rates
[charged by the utility].
(c) If since or during the preceding fiscal year the rates
the owner pays its electricity supplier have decreased [supplying
utility decreases its rates], the owner shall recompute the
preceding fiscal year's charges [by the utility] using the current
rates [charged by the utility].
(d) An owner may not:
(1) include a charge by the electricity supplier
[supplying utility] for electricity used in a common area or office
of the recreational vehicle park in computing the amounts under
Subsection (b) or (c); or
(2) recover that charge through a metered charge to a
recreational vehicle occupant.
Sec. 184.035. REFUND OF SURCHARGES. A recreational vehicle
park owner who determines at the end of a fiscal year that the owner
has collected more than the amount charged by the electricity
supplier [supplying utility] shall refund the excess amount to
occupants visiting the park in the succeeding fiscal year.
Sec. 184.036. UTILITY CUTOFF AT RECREATIONAL VEHICLE PARK.
Notwithstanding any other law, a person who operates a recreational
vehicle park[, as defined by Section 13.087, Water Code,] may
withhold electric, water, or wastewater utility services from a
person occupying a recreational vehicle at the park if the occupant
is delinquent in paying for utility services provided by the
operator until the occupant pays the delinquent amount.
SECTION 9. Chapter 184, Utilities Code, is amended by
adding Subchapter C-1 to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER C-1. MIXED USE FACILITIES
Sec. 184.0401. APPLICABILITY. This subchapter applies to
dwelling units and recreational vehicles that:
(1) are not separately metered; and
(2) are located on a property that includes at least
two of the following types of housing:
(A) apartment houses;
(B) manufactured homes; and
(C) recreational vehicles.
Sec. 184.0402. METERING AND BILLING REQUIREMENTS. (a) A
submetered dwelling unit is subject to the metering and billing
requirements applicable to a dwelling unit under Subchapter B.
(b) Except as provided by Subsection (c), a submetered
recreational vehicle is subject to the metering and billing
requirements applicable to a recreational vehicle under Subchapter
C.
(c) The owner of a property that includes at least one
submetered recreational vehicle and at least one submetered
manufactured home may choose to apply the metering and billing
requirements applicable to a dwelling unit under Subchapter B to
manufactured homes and recreational vehicles on the property.
(d) A dwelling unit or recreational vehicle that is not
submetered is subject to the billing requirements of Subchapter D.
Sec. 184.0403. RULES. The commission shall adopt rules
under which an owner of a property described by Section 184.0401(2)
may install submetering equipment to fairly allocate the cost of
electric energy consumption of each dwelling unit or recreational
vehicle.
SECTION 10. Section 184.051(8), Utilities Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(8) "Utility" means an electric [a public, private, or
member-owned] utility, a retail electric provider, an electric
cooperative, or a municipally owned utility that provides
electricity, water, or wastewater service to an apartment house
served by a master meter.
SECTION 11. Section 184.071(a), Utilities Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) A landlord who violates a commission rule relating to
submetering of electric utilities consumed exclusively in a
tenant's dwelling unit or a rule relating to the allocation of
central system utility costs or nonsubmetered master metered
electricity [electric utility] costs is liable to the tenant for:
(1) three times the amount of any overcharge;
(2) a civil penalty equal to one month's rent;
(3) reasonable attorney's fees; and
(4) court costs.
SECTION 12. The following provisions of the Utilities Code
are repealed:
(1) Section 184.011;
(2) Section 184.031; and
(3) Sections 184.051(1), (2), and (5).
SECTION 13. This Act takes effect September 1, 2019.