Amend CSHB 1500 (senate committee printing) by adding the following appropriately numbered SECTIONS and renumbering subsequent SECTIONS of the bill accordingly:
SECTION ____. The heading to Section 39.918, Utilities Code, is amended to read as follows:
Sec. 39.918. UTILITY FACILITIES FOR POWER RESTORATION AFTER SIGNIFICANT [WIDESPREAD] POWER OUTAGE.
SECTION ____. Section 39.918, Utilities Code, is amended by amending Subsections (a) and (b) and adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:
(a) In this section, "significant ["widespread] power outage" means an event that [results in]:
(1) results in a loss of electric power that:
(A) affects a significant number of distribution customers of a transmission and distribution utility [;] and
[(B)] has lasted or is expected to last for at least six [eight] hours;
(B) affects distribution customers of a transmission and distribution utility in an area for which the governor has issued a disaster or emergency declaration;
(C) affects distribution customers served by a radial transmission or distribution facility, creates a risk to public health or safety, and has lasted or is expected to last for at least 12 hours; or
(D) creates [and
[(2)] a risk to publichealth or safetybecause it affects a critical infrastructure facility that serves the public such as a hospital, health care facility, law enforcement facility, fire station, or water or wastewater facility; or
(2) causes the independent system operator to order a transmission and distribution utility to shed load.
(a-1) The Texas Division of Emergency Management, the independent organization certified under Section 39.151 for the ERCOT power region, or the executive director of the commission may determine that a power outage other than an outage described by Subsection (a) is a significant power outage for the purposes of this section.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this subtitle, a transmission and distribution utility may:
(1) lease and operate facilities that provide temporary emergency electric energy to aid in restoring power to the utility's distribution customers during a significant [widespread] power outage in which:
(A) the independent system operator has ordered the utility to shed load; or
(B) the utility's distribution facilities are not being fully served by the bulk power system under normal operations; and
(2) procure, own, and operate, or enter into a cooperative agreement with other transmission and distribution utilities to procure, own, and operate jointly, transmission and distribution facilities that have a lead time of at least six months and would aid in restoring power to the utility's distribution customers following a significant [widespread] power outage. In this section, long lead time facilities may not be electric energy storage equipment or facilities under Chapter 35, Utilities Code.
SECTION ____. Section 39.918(k), Utilities Code, is repealed.