System updates will be applied on February 19, 2026 at 6:00 PM. These updates will include changes to the user interface. Work is expected to take approximately 30 minutes to complete, during which the site will be unavailable.
Amend CSSB 12 by adding the following sections, numbered
appropriately, and renumbering the sections of the bill
accordingly:
SECTION ____. Chapter 39, Utilities Code, is amended by
adding Section 39.9051 to read as follows:
Sec. 39.9051. ENERGY EFFICIENCY DEMONSTRATION PROJECTS FOR
SOLAR ELECTRIC SYSTEM; GRANT PROGRAM. (a) The commission by rule
shall establish grant programs for:
(1) a demonstration project for installation of solar
electric systems for new residential subdivisions;
(2) a demonstration project for installation of solar
electric systems for new or established affordable housing for
persons with low incomes; and
(3) a demonstration project for installation of solar
electric systems for not more than three small businesses.
(b) To qualify for a grant under this section, the solar
electric system must be a device that:
(1) generates electricity using solar resources;
(2) has a generating capacity of not more than 1,000
kilowatts; and
(3) is installed with a warranty against breakdown or
undue degradation for a period of at least five years.
(c) A demonstration project grant program established under
this section must provide for full or partial payment of the cost of
equipment and installation for the solar electric systems. The
commission shall establish for each grant program a competitive
bidding process for grant applicants. The commission shall
consider the value of funding demonstration projects in different
parts of this state, after considering the demographic and
geographic diversity of this state.
(d) To qualify for a grant under Subsection (a)(1) the
applicant:
(1) must be a person whose primary business activity
is the building of residential housing developments; and
(2) must have installed or must be contractually
obligated to install qualifying solar electric systems in each
residence constructed in a residential subdivision.
(e) To qualify for a grant under Subsection (a)(2) the
applicant must have installed or be contractually obligated to
install a qualifying solar electric system for residential real
property:
(1) appraised in accordance with Section 23.21, Tax
Code, as affordable housing property; or
(2) subject to a contractual obligation that the
property will be appraised in accordance with Section 23.21, Tax
Code, as affordable housing property within a reasonable time after
the grant is received.
(f) To qualify for a grant under Subsection (a)(3), the
applicant must be a small business or owner of a small business that
meets qualifications adopted by the commission after consideration
of federal Small Business Administration standards for
qualification for loans from that administration.
(g) The commission shall issue a report to the governor,
lieutenant governor, and speaker of the house of representatives
not later than December 1 of each even-numbered year summarizing
the status of the grant programs established under Subsection (a).
The report must include the amount of money granted to each
demonstration project and an evaluation of whether the projects
demonstrate the economic and ecologic viability of solar electric
system installations.
(h) This section expires December 31, 2010.
SECTION ____. (a) The Public Utility Commission of Texas
may apply to a demonstration project grant program established
under Section 39.9051, Utilities Code, as added by this Act, any
money appropriated to the commission that may be used for that
purpose.
(b) The Public Utility Commission of Texas may solicit and
accepts gifts, grants, and other donations from any source to carry
out the demonstration grant program established under Section
39.9051, Utilities Code, as added by this Act.
(c) Contingent on the passage and becoming law of S.B. No.
482, Acts of the 80th Legislature, Regular Session, 2007, or
similar legislation that enacts a provision that establishes a fee
on a retail electric provider related to the number of customers the
provider gains in a given period, notwithstanding any law
dedicating that fee revenue for a particular purpose, that fee
revenue may be appropriated for use by the Public Utility
Commission of Texas for a demonstration project grant program under
Section 39.914, Utilities Code, as added by this Act.
(c) This section expires December 31, 2010.
SECTION ____. Subchapter Z, Chapter 39, Utilities Code, is
amended by adding Section 39.9032 to read as follows:
Sec. 39.9032. INTERCONNECTION OF DISTRIBUTED RENEWABLE
GENERATION. (a) In this section:
(1) "Distributed renewable generation" means electric
generation with a capacity of not more than 2,000 kilowatts
provided by a renewable energy technology, as defined by Section
39.904, that is installed on a retail electric customer's side of
the meter.
(2) "Distributed renewable generation owner" means
the owner of distributed renewable generation.
(3) "Interconnection" means the right of a distributed
renewable generation owner to physically connect distributed
renewable generation to an electricity distribution system, and the
technical requirements, rules, or processes for the connection.
(b) A transmission and distribution utility or electric
utility shall allow interconnection if:
(1) the distributed renewable generation to be
interconnected has a five-year warranty against breakdown or undue
degradation; and
(2) the rated capacity of the distributed renewable
generation does not exceed the service entrance capacity.
(c) A customer may request interconnection by filing an
application for interconnection with the transmission and
distribution utility or electric utility. Procedures of a
transmission and distribution utility or electric utility for the
submission and processing of a customer's application for
interconnection shall be consistent with rules adopted by the
commission regarding interconnection.
(d) The commission by rule shall establish safety,
technical, and performance standards for distributed renewable
generation that may be interconnected. In adopting the rules, the
commission shall consider standards published by the Underwriters
Laboratories, the National Electric Code, the National Electric
Safety Code, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics
Engineers.
(e) A transmission and distribution utility, electric
utility, or retail electric provider may not require a distributed
renewable generation owner whose distributed renewable generation
meets the standards established by rule under Subsection (d) to
purchase an amount, type, or classification of liability insurance
the distributed renewable generation owner would not have in the
absence of the distributed renewable generation.
(f) A transmission and distribution utility shall make
available to a distributed renewable generation owner for purposes
of this section metering required for services provided under this
section, including separate meters that measure the load and
generator output or a single meter capable of measuring separately
in-flow and out-flow at the point of common coupling meter point.
The distributed renewable generation owner must pay the
differential cost of the metering unless the meters are provided at
no additional cost. Except as provided by this section, Section
39.107 applies to metering under this section.
(g) A renewable energy credit that is earned by a
distributed renewable generation owner through the interconnection
of a renewable electric system is the sole property of the
distributed renewable generation owner unless the distributed
renewable generation owner engages in a transaction to sell or
trade the credit under Section 39.904.
(h) A transmission and distribution utility, an electric
utility or retail electric provider shall provide for net metering
and may contract with a distributed renewable generation owner so
that:
(1) surplus electricity produced by distributed
renewable generation is made available for sale to the transmission
grid and distribution system; and
(2) the net value of that surplus electricity is
credited to the distributed renewable generation owner.
(j) For distributed renewable generation owners in areas in
which customer choice has been introduced, the distributed
renewable generation owner must sell the owner's surplus
electricity produced to the retail electric provider that serves
the distributed renewable generation owner's load at a value agreed
to between the distributed renewable generation owner and the
provider that serves the owner's load. Without limiting any
mutually agreed commercial arrangement, the agreed value may be
based on the clearing price of energy at the time of day that the
electricity is made available to the grid or may be a credit applied
to an account during a billing period that may be carried over to
subsequent billing periods until the credit has been redeemed. The
independent organization identified in Section 39.151 shall
develop procedures so that the amount of electricity purchased from
a distributed renewable generation owner under this section is
accounted for in settling the total load served by the provider that
serves that owner's load by January 1, 2009. A distributed
renewable generation owner requesting net metering services for
purposes of this section must have metering devices capable of
providing measurements consistent with the independent
organization's settlement requirements.
SECTION ____. Section 39.9032, Utilities Code, as added by
this Act, takes effect January 1, 2009.