Energy legislation has been moving at a rapid pace in the last two weeks. Below is a highlight on some of the details in key bills to provide context as we move deeper into the Session. Approximately 150 bills touching electricity in some way are filed, and many were filed by committee chairs and senior members.
The Senate Business & Commerce Committee, Chaired by Sen. Charles Schwertner and Vice-Chair is Sen. Phil King, has taken testimony and heard bills for a few weeks, and a number of bills have already been heard, including (but not all-inclusive):
- SB 853 by Hancock – Grants appeal rights to customers of certain municipally owned utilities (targeting Austin Energy).
- SB 1001 by Schwertner – Requires licensure of EV charging stations by TDLR (akin to the state testing gasoline pumps, but giving authority to TDLR instead of the Dept of Ag)
- SB 1015 and 1016 by King – accelerates certain ratemaking decisions, allows more interim rate adjustments, and adds flexibility to inclusion of executive compensation in utility rates.
- SB 1002 by Schwertner – Prohibits utilities from installing EV charging stations.
- SB 6 and SJR 1 by Schwertner – Institutes a funding program to construct billions of dollars’ worth of state-owned dispatchable generation if competitive generation is not built by a date certain. The criteria to qualify as a builder is quite strict and limits developers to a handful of entities.
- SB 7 by Schwertner – reallocates revenues from ancillary services to dispatchable generation resources and away from nondispatchable resources.
- SB 1287 by King – Establishes an “allowance” for transmission interconnection costs for generators and requires payment of costs above the allowance.
- SB 2012 by Schwertner – Among other things, authorizes transmission and distribution utilities (TDUs) to construct generation if adequate resources are not built through competitive forces.
- SB 2014 by King – Eliminates the RPS program (renewable mandate) and requires renewable generation resources to have “reactive power capability.”
- SB 2015 by King – Modifies today’s “50% natural gas generation” requirement to 50% dispatchable requirement, and if dispatchable units are less than 55%, then a dispatchable energy credit program is to be initiated by ERCOT and PUCT.
ELEVEN electricity bills are on the Senate Business and Commerce agenda for Tuesday’s hearing this week:
- SB 330 (Hall) Relating to the resilience of the electric grid and certain municipalities; authorizing an administrative penalty.
- SB 624 (Kolkhorst) Relating to the permitting of renewable energy generation facilities by the Public Utility Commission of Texas; authorizing fees.
- SB 1076 (King) Relating to the deadline for approving a certificate of public convenience and necessity for certain transmission projects.
- SB 1093 (Schwertner) Relating to facilities included in the electricity supply chain.
- SB 1212 (Johnson) Relating to the interconnection and integration of distributed energy resources.
- SB 1295 (Schwertner) Relating to the provision of information regarding distributed generation and certain electrical loads.
- SB 1699 (Johnson) Relating to the participation of aggregated distributed energy resources in the ERCOT market.
- SB 1751 (Kolkhorst) Relating to the regulation and tax treatment of facilities in the ERCOT power region that demand a large load of interruptible power.
- SB 1929 (Johnson) Relating to the authority of an independent organization certified for the ERCOT power region to require information from and registration by certain facilities.
- SB 2112 (Johnson) Relating to resources used to ensure the continuous provision of power.
- SJR 82 (Johnson) Proposing a constitutional amendment providing for the creation of the Texas power resiliency fund to finance the operation of backup power sources.
The House State Affairs Committee began hearing bills on March 15th and have already heard 8 bills, including:
- HB 1500 by Holland – PUCT and ERCOT Sunset bill
The March 29th (Wednesday) committee meeting has nine bills relating to this issue on an already packed agenda as well:
- HB 2848 (Darby) Relating to the approval of a certificate of public convenience and necessity for certain transmission projects.
- HB 3054 (Geren) Relating to regulation of ownership and control of installed electric generation capacity.
- HB 4821 (Slawson) Relating to the authority of the Public Utility Commission of Texas to impose administrative penalties and enter into voluntary mitigation plans; increasing an administrative penalty.
- HB 4831(Hunter) Relating to the implementation of a program to meet the reliability needs in the ERCOT power region.
- HB 4832 (Hunter) Relating to the reliability of the ERCOT power grid.
- HB 4834 (Hunter) Relating to the use of the Texas energy reliability fund to finance construction of electric generating facilities in the ERCOT power region; authorizing fees.
- HB 4836 (Hunter) Relating to the legislature’s goals for natural gas generating capacity.
- HB 4862 (Slawson) Relating to reporting by the market monitor of potential manipulation of the wholesale electric market.
- HJR 180 (Hunter) Proposing a constitutional amendment providing for the creation of the Texas energy reliability fund to finance construction of electric generating facilities.
Please note that as these bills are being heard in committee, many are being laid out with committee substitutes that are not always disclosed in advance. Thus, the bill that was filed is not necessarily the bill that is being heard.
No bills have been sent to the floor of the first chamber for a vote (or between chambers) yet. The budget bill still must be passed and will likely slow progress on other issues until complete.
As always, please contact us with any questions or comments.