S.B. No. 924

AN ACT

relating to the duties of certain utilities regarding energy efficiency reports and emergency notification systems.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 39.9051, Utilities Code, is amended by amending Subsection (f) and adding Subsections (g) and (h) to read as follows:

(f) Beginning April [Not later than September] 1, 2012 [2009], a municipally owned utility must report each year to the State Energy Conservation Office, on [in] a standardized form developed by [and manner determined by the utility in consultation with] the office, information regarding the combined effects of the energy efficiency activities of the utility from the previous calendar year, including the utility's annual goals, programs enacted to achieve those goals, and any achieved energy demand or savings goals.

(g) The State Energy Conservation Office shall provide the reports made under Subsection (f) to the Energy Systems Laboratory at the Texas Engineering Experiment Station of The Texas A&M University System. The laboratory shall calculate the energy savings and estimated pollution reductions that resulted from the reported activities.

(h) The energy systems laboratory shall share the results of the analysis with the Public Utility Commission of Texas, ERCOT, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

SECTION 2. Section 39.9052, Utilities Code, is amended by amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsections (c) and (d) to read as follows:

(b) Beginning April [Not later than September] 1, 2012 [2009], an electric cooperative that had retail sales of more than 500,000 megawatt hours in 2005 must report each year to the State Energy Conservation Office, on [in] a standardized form developed by [and manner determined by the electric cooperative in consultation with] the office, information regarding the combined effects of the energy efficiency activities of the electric cooperative from the previous calendar year, including the electric cooperative's annual goals, programs enacted to achieve those goals, and any achieved energy demand or savings goals.

(c) The State Energy Conservation Office shall provide the reports made under Subsection (b) to the Energy Systems Laboratory at the Texas Engineering Experiment Station of The Texas A&M University System. The laboratory shall calculate the energy savings and estimated pollution reductions that resulted from the reported activities.

(d) The energy systems laboratory shall share the results of the analysis with the Public Utility Commission of Texas, ERCOT, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality.

SECTION 3. (a) Subchapter H, Chapter 418, Government Code, is amended by adding Section 418.192 to read as follows:

Sec. 418.192. COMMUNICATIONS BY PUBLIC SERVICE PROVIDERS DURING DISASTERS AND EMERGENCIES. (a) In this section:

(1) "Emergency" means a temporary, sudden, and unforeseen occurrence that requires action by a public service provider to correct the occurrence, inform others of the occurrence, protect lives or property, or temporarily reduce demand for or allocate supply of the provider's products or services to ensure public safety or preserve the integrity of service delivery mechanisms.

(2) "Public service provider" means any person or entity that provides essential products or services to the public that are regulated under the Natural Resources Code, Utilities Code, or Water Code, including:

(A) common carriers under Section 111.002, Natural Resources Code;

(B) telecommunications providers as defined by Section 51.002, Utilities Code; and

(C) any other person or entity providing or producing heat, light, power, or water.

(b) A public service provider may enter into a contract for an emergency notification system described by this section for use in informing the provider's customers, governmental entities, and other affected persons regarding:

(1) notice of a disaster or emergency; and

(2) any actions a recipient is required to take during a disaster or emergency.

(c) The emergency notification system for which a contract is entered into under Subsection (b) must rely on a dynamic information database that:

(1) is capable of simultaneous transmission of emergency messages to all recipients through at least two industry-standard gateways to one or more telephones or electronic devices owned by a recipient in a manner that does not negatively impact the existing communications infrastructure;

(2) allows the public service provider to:

(A) store prewritten emergency messages in the dynamic information database for subsequent use; and

(B) generate emergency messages in real time based on provider inputs;

(3) allows a recipient to select the language in which the recipient would prefer to receive messages;

(4) transmits the message in the recipient's language of choice to that recipient;

(5) converts text messages to sound files and transmits those sound files to the appropriate device;

(6) assigns recipients to priority groups for notification;

(7) allows for the collection and verification of responses by recipients of emergency messages; and

(8) reads or receives alerts from a commercial mobile alert system established by the Federal Communications Commission or complies with standards adopted for a commercial mobile alert system established by the Federal Communications Commission.

(d) The dynamic information database must comply with:

(1) the Telecommunications Service Priority program established by the Federal Communications Commission; and

(2) the Federal Information Processing Standard 140-2 governing compliant cryptographic modules for encryption and security issued by the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

(e) Before sending a notice described by Subsection (b), a public service provider must:

(1) provide a copy of the notice to the emergency management director designated under Section 418.1015, for each political subdivision for which the public service provider provides services at the time of the notice; and

(2) during a disaster declared by the governor or United States government, obtain approval of the notice from the emergency management director designated under Section 418.1015, for each political subdivision for which the public service provider provides services during the disaster.

(f) A customer of a public service provider may decline to receive the notices described by Subsection (b) by providing written notice of that decision to the public service provider.

(g) A public service provider shall cooperate with emergency management officials of each political subdivision in which the public service provider provides services to survey the number of notification systems in place.

(h) The requirements of this section do not apply to an emergency notification system that is in use by a public service provider on June 1, 2011.

(b) This section takes effect immediately if this Act 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 section takes effect September 1, 2011.

SECTION 4. Except as otherwise provided by this Act, this Act takes effect September 1, 2011.

______________________________ ______________________________

President of the Senate Speaker of the House

I hereby certify that S.B. No. 924 passed the Senate on April 21, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that the Senate concurred in House amendment on May 27, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1.

______________________________ Secretary of the Senate

I hereby certify that S.B. No. 924 passed the House, with amendment, on May 23, 2011, by the following vote: Yeas 143, Nays 2, two present not voting.

______________________________ Chief Clerk of the House

Approved:

______________________________

Date

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Governor