Bill Text: TX SB2404 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to the creation of the Texas Energy Efficiency Council to foster collaboration, coordination, and communication to enhance the state's energy efficiency performance; and strategically utilize the state's resources to optimize the benefits of energy efficiency programs.
Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-04-13 - Co-author authorized [SB2404 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-SB2404-Introduced.html
By: Schwertner | S.B. No. 2404 | |
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relating to the creation of the Texas Energy Efficiency Council to | ||
foster collaboration, coordination, and communication to enhance | ||
the state's energy efficiency performance; and strategically | ||
utilize the state's resources to optimize the benefits of energy | ||
efficiency programs. | ||
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 that | ||
uses state or federal funding to: | ||
(A) effect more efficient energy use; | ||
(B) reduce energy consumption during periods of | ||
peak energy demand; | ||
(C) optimize energy consumption; | ||
(D) capture the benefits of energy efficient | ||
building design standards; or | ||
(E) fund 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 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 to: | ||
(1) monitor energy efficiency programs in this state; | ||
(2) make recommendations for improving energy | ||
efficiency programs in this state; | ||
(3) monitor and facilitate 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; and | ||
(4) provide a central repository for information on | ||
statewide energy efficiency performance and opportunities to | ||
participate in energy efficiency programs in this state; | ||
(5) provide a statewide collaborative approach to | ||
promoting energy efficiency; | ||
(6) measure, evaluate, and report on energy efficiency | ||
performance 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 | ||
energy efficiency programs. | ||
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 or their designee; | ||
(B) the chief executive officer of the Electric | ||
Reliability Council of Texas or their designee ; | ||
(C) the presiding officer of the commission or | ||
their designee; | ||
(D) the comptroller or their designee; | ||
(E) the presiding officer of the Texas Department | ||
of Housing and Community Affairs or their designee; | ||
(F) the executive director of the Texas Economic | ||
Development and Tourism Office or their designee; | ||
(G) the presiding officer of the Texas Water | ||
Development Board or their designee; | ||
(H) the director of the Energy Systems Laboratory | ||
at the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station of The Texas A&M | ||
University System or their designee; and | ||
(I) the chief executive of the Office of Public | ||
Utility Counsel or their designee; 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 industrial operation; | ||
(C) one member must have experience in the field | ||
of environmental stewardship; | ||
(D) one member must have experience in the field | ||
of electric utility operation; and | ||
(E) one member must have experience in the field | ||
of business that implements energy efficiency programs. | ||
(F) one member must have experience in the field | ||
of public or private finance; | ||
(G) one member must have experience in the field | ||
of law or business. | ||
(b) The ex officio members and the appointed members serve | ||
as voting members of the council. | ||
(c) The presiding officer of the commission or their | ||
designee shall serve as presiding officer of the council. | ||
(d) The council shall meet at least two times per year at the | ||
call of the presiding officer. The council may meet at other times | ||
the council considers appropriate. The presiding officer may call a | ||
meeting on the officer's motion. | ||
(e) 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. | ||
(f) Appointments to council positions shall be made without | ||
regard to the race, color, disability, sex, religion, age, or | ||
national origin of the appointees. | ||
(g) An ex officio member may designate a person from the | ||
member's agency to represent the member in any meeting. | ||
(h) The presiding officer of the council may designate a | ||
person to represent the public member in any meeting if the person | ||
meets the qualifications required by subsection (a)(2). | ||
Sec. 18.005. TERMS; VACANCY. (a) Appointed council | ||
members serve staggered four-year terms, with the terms of two or | ||
three 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 energy efficiency performance in this state. | ||
(b) 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. | ||
(c) The council shall monitor energy efficiency programs in | ||
this state. | ||
Sec. 18.009. OFFICIAL INTERNET WEBSITES. The council shall | ||
use the following official Internet websites for the publication of | ||
information as required by this chapter: | ||
(1) the website of the State Energy Conservation | ||
Office; and | ||
(2) the website of the commission. | ||
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 websites under Section 18.009; and | ||
(2) work with the State Energy Conservation Office and | ||
the commission to develop and publish on the official Internet | ||
websites 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 | ||
shall each provide a link on their Internet websites to the page | ||
described by Subsection (a)(2). | ||
Sec. 18.011. 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 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 18.010, including initial | ||
capital investment, ongoing operating expenses and energy savings | ||
benefits of the programs. | ||
(2) statewide energy efficiency performance by sector | ||
and geographic region ; and | ||
(3) recommendations for improving energy efficiency | ||
programs in this state. | ||
(c) The report may include: | ||
(1) recommendations for creating new energy | ||
efficiency programs in this state; | ||
(2) criteria developed by the council for evaluating | ||
and measuring the effectiveness of energy efficiency programs in | ||
this state; and | ||
(3) opportunities for continuous improvement in | ||
energy efficiency performance in this state. | ||
(d) The council shall publish the report on the official | ||
Internet websites under Section 18.009. | ||
Sec. 18.012. INFORMATION.(a) Except as provided by this | ||
section, meetings of the council and information obtained or | ||
created by the council are 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. 18.013. 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. |