| |
| |
|
|
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
|
|
|
AN ACT
|
|
|
relating to the classification and use of energy storage equipment |
|
|
or facilities and the provision of studies and reports regarding |
|
|
energy storage equipment or those facilities. |
|
|
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
|
|
SECTION 1. Chapter 31, Utilities Code, is amended by adding |
|
|
Section 31.006 to read as follows: |
|
|
Sec. 31.006. ENERGY STORAGE EQUIPMENT OR FACILITIES. |
|
|
(a) The commission by rule shall classify energy storage equipment |
|
|
or facilities in this state as a separate class or separate classes |
|
|
of equipment or facilities, distinct from generation or |
|
|
transmission and distribution equipment or facilities. A rule |
|
|
adopted under this section may not prohibit energy storage |
|
|
equipment or facilities from being used to provide a service |
|
|
related to the generation, transmission, or distribution of |
|
|
electricity in this state. |
|
|
(b) The commission by rule shall provide a mechanism for a |
|
|
transmission and distribution utility to provide transmission and |
|
|
distribution services using energy storage equipment or facilities |
|
|
owned or operated by the utility or by another person. |
|
|
SECTION 2. Section 39.904(k), Utilities Code, is amended to |
|
|
read as follows: |
|
|
(k) The commission and the independent organization |
|
|
certified for ERCOT shall study the need for increased transmission |
|
|
capacity, [and] generation capacity, and energy storage capacity |
|
|
throughout this state and report to the legislature the results of |
|
|
the study and any recommendations for legislation. The report must |
|
|
be filed with the legislature not later than December 31 of each |
|
|
even-numbered year and may be filed as a part of the report required |
|
|
by Subsection (j). |
|
|
SECTION 3. Sections 39.905(b-3) and (d), Utilities Code, |
|
|
are amended to read as follows: |
|
|
(b-3) Not [Beginning not] later than January 1, 2012 [2008], |
|
|
the commission, in consultation with the State Energy Conservation |
|
|
Office, [annually for a period of five years] shall compute and |
|
|
report to ERCOT the projected energy savings and demand impacts for |
|
|
each entity in the ERCOT region that administers standard offer |
|
|
programs, market transformation programs, combined heating and |
|
|
power technology, demand response programs, solar incentive |
|
|
programs, appliance efficiency standards, energy efficiency |
|
|
programs in public buildings, energy storage technology, and any |
|
|
other relevant programs that are reasonably anticipated to reduce |
|
|
electricity energy or peak demand or that serve as substitutes for |
|
|
electric supply. |
|
|
(d) The commission shall establish a procedure for |
|
|
reviewing and evaluating market-transformation program options |
|
|
described by this subsection and other options. In evaluating |
|
|
program options, the commission may consider the ability of a |
|
|
program option to reduce costs to customers through reduced demand, |
|
|
energy savings, and relief of congestion. Utilities may choose to |
|
|
implement any program option approved by the commission after its |
|
|
evaluation in order to satisfy the goal in Subsection (a), |
|
|
including: |
|
|
(1) energy-smart schools; |
|
|
(2) appliance retirement and recycling; |
|
|
(3) air conditioning system tune-ups; |
|
|
(4) the use of trees or other landscaping for energy |
|
|
efficiency; |
|
|
(5) customer energy management and demand response |
|
|
programs; |
|
|
(6) high performance residential and commercial |
|
|
buildings that will achieve the levels of energy efficiency |
|
|
sufficient to qualify those buildings for federal tax incentives; |
|
|
(7) programs for customers who rent or lease their |
|
|
residence or commercial space; |
|
|
(8) programs providing energy monitoring equipment to |
|
|
customers that enable a customer to better understand the amount, |
|
|
price, and time of the customer's energy use; |
|
|
(9) energy audit programs for owners and other |
|
|
residents of single-family or multifamily residences and for small |
|
|
commercial customers; |
|
|
(10) net-zero energy new home programs; |
|
|
(11) solar thermal or solar electric programs; [and] |
|
|
(12) programs for using windows and other glazing |
|
|
systems, glass doors, and skylights in residential and commercial |
|
|
buildings that reduce solar gain by at least 30 percent from the |
|
|
level established for the federal Energy Star windows program; and |
|
|
(13) thermal, chemical, mechanical, and electrical |
|
|
energy storage technology programs. |
|
|
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011. |