79R16751 JJT-F
By: Carona S.B. No. 712
Substitute the following for S.B. No. 712:
By: Farabee C.S.S.B. No. 712
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the legislature's goal for energy efficiency and
related energy efficiency programs.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 39.905, Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 39.905. GOAL FOR ENERGY EFFICIENCY. (a) It is the
goal of the legislature that:
(1) electric utilities will administer energy savings
incentive programs in a market-neutral, nondiscriminatory manner
but will not offer underlying competitive services;
(2) all customers, in all customer classes, have a
choice of and access to energy efficiency alternatives and other
choices from the market that allow each customer to reduce energy
consumption, peak demand, or [and reduce] energy costs; and
(3) each electric utility will provide, through
market-based standard offer programs or limited, targeted,
market-transformation programs, incentives sufficient for retail
electric providers and competitive energy service providers to
acquire additional cost-effective energy efficiency equivalent to
at least 10 percent of the electric utility's annual growth in
demand.
(b) The commission shall provide oversight and adopt rules
and procedures, as necessary, to ensure that the utilities can
achieve the goal of this section [is achieved by January 1, 2004].
(c) A standard offer program provided under Subsection
(a)(3) must be neutral with respect to technologies, equipment, and
fuels, including thermal, chemical, mechanical, and electrical
energy storage technologies.
(d) The commission shall adopt the following
market-transformation program options that the utilities may
choose to implement in order to satisfy the goal in Subsection
(a)(3):
(1) energy-smart schools;
(2) appliance retirement and recycling;
(3) air conditioning system tune-ups; and
(4) the use of trees or other landscaping for energy
efficiency.
(e) An electric utility may use money approved by the
commission for energy efficiency programs to perform necessary
research and development to foster continuous improvement and
innovation in the application of technology and program design and
implementation. Money the utility uses under this subsection may
not exceed 10 percent of the amount the commission approved for
energy efficiency programs in the utility's most recent full rate
proceeding.
SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.