By: Anchía, Guillen, Hernandez, Geren H.B. No. 4811
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the creation of the Texas Energy Efficiency Council.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subtitle A, Title 2, Utilities Code, is amended
  by adding Chapter 18 to read as follows:
  CHAPTER 18.  TEXAS ENERGY EFFICIENCY COUNCIL
         Sec. 18.001.  DEFINITIONS.  In this chapter:
               (1)  "Council" means the Texas Energy Efficiency
  Council.
               (2)  "Energy efficiency program" means a program
  designed to:
                     (A)  increase efficient energy use;
                     (B)  reduce energy consumption during periods of
  peak energy demand;
                     (C)  optimize energy consumption;
                     (D)  identify and realize the benefits of energy
  efficient building design standards; or
                     (E)  fund the implementation of energy cost
  reduction measures.
               (3)  "Measure" means a direct measurement or modeling
  of energy efficiency performance over a 12-month period.
               (4)  "Program administrator" includes any of the
  following entities that administer an energy efficiency program:
                     (A)  a state agency, including the commission, the
  Texas Water Development Board, the State Energy Conservation
  Office, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, and the
  Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs;
                     (B)  a political subdivision; or
                     (C)  a private or public provider of electricity,
  gas, or water utility service, including an electric cooperative or
  municipally owned utility.
         Sec. 18.002.  PURPOSE. The Texas Energy Efficiency Council
  is a council established in the commission to:
               (1)  provide a statewide collaborative approach to
  promoting energy efficiency;
               (2)  measure, evaluate, and report on energy efficiency
  performance in this state;
               (3)  monitor energy efficiency programs in this state;
               (4)  make recommendations for improving energy
  efficiency programs in this state;
               (5)  monitor and facilitate opportunities for
  coordination and leveraging of federal funding from the United
  States Department of Energy, United States Department of Housing
  and Urban Development, and other federal agencies that can be used
  by state agencies and political subdivisions for the purposes of
  enhancing energy efficiency;
               (6)  provide a central repository for information on
  statewide energy efficiency performance and opportunities to
  participate in energy efficiency programs in this state; and
               (7)  promote continuous improvement in energy
  efficiency performance in this state.
         Sec. 18.003.  ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAM POLICIES. A program
  administrator shall establish measurable performance criteria and
  share the results with the council when creating or implementing an
  energy efficiency program.
         Sec. 18.004.  COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP. (a)  The council is
  composed of the following 16 members:
               (1)  nine ex officio members as follows:
                     (A)  the presiding officer of the Texas Commission
  on Environmental Quality;
                     (B)  the chief executive officer of the Electric
  Reliability Council of Texas;
                     (C)  the presiding officer of the commission;
                     (D)  the comptroller;
                     (E)  the director of the Texas Department of
  Housing and Community Affairs;
                     (F)  the executive director of the Texas Economic
  Development and Tourism Office;
                     (G)  the chairman of the Texas Water Development
  Board;
                     (H)  the director of the Energy Systems Laboratory
  at the Texas A&M Engineering Experiment Station of The Texas A&M
  University System; and
                     (I)  the chief executive of the Office of Public
  Utility Counsel; and
               (2)  seven public members appointed by the presiding
  officer of the commission as follows:
                     (A)  one member must have experience in the field
  of engineering;
                     (B)  one member must have experience in the field
  of public or private finance;
                     (C)  one member must have experience in the field
  of law or business;
                     (D)  one member must have experience in the field
  of environmental stewardship;
                     (E)  one member must have experience in the field
  of electric utility operation;
                     (F)  one member must have experience in the field
  of industrial operation; and
                     (G)  one member must have business experience in
  the implementation of energy efficiency programs.
         (b)  An ex officio member may designate a person from the
  member's agency to serve in the member's place.
         (c)  The presiding officer of the council may designate a
  person to represent an appointed member in any meeting if the person
  meets the qualifications required by Subsection (a)(2).
         (d)  The ex officio members and the appointed members serve
  as voting members of the council.
         (e)  The presiding officer of the commission or the employee
  designated by the presiding officer shall serve as presiding
  officer of the council.
         (f)  The council shall meet at least two times per year at the
  call of the presiding officer.
         (g)  Council members may not receive compensation for
  services but, subject to the availability of funding, may receive
  reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses incurred while
  performing council business.
         (h)  Appointments to council positions shall be made without
  regard to the race, color, disability, sex, religion, age, or
  national origin of the appointees.
         Sec. 18.005.  TERMS; VACANCY.  (a)  Appointed council
  members serve staggered four-year terms, with the terms of one or
  two members, as applicable, expiring on February 1.
         (b)  A vacancy on the council in the position of an appointed
  council member shall be filled in the same manner as the original
  appointment. The person appointed serves for the remainder of the
  unexpired term.
         Sec. 18.006.  GROUNDS FOR REMOVAL. (a) It is a ground for
  removal from the council that a member:
               (1)  described by Section 18.004(a)(1) does not
  maintain during service on the council the qualifications required
  by that subdivision;
               (2)  cannot, because of illness or disability,
  discharge the member's duties for a substantial part of the member's
  term; or
               (3)  is absent from more than half of the regularly
  scheduled council meetings that the member is eligible to attend
  during a calendar year without an excuse approved by a majority vote
  of the council.
         (b)  The validity of an action of the council is not affected
  by the fact that it is taken when a ground for removal of a council
  member exists.
         (c)  If the presiding officer has knowledge that a potential
  ground for removal exists, the presiding officer shall notify the
  appointing authority and the attorney general that a potential
  ground for removal exists.
         Sec. 18.007.  ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT. The commission shall
  provide the council with administrative support, including meeting
  space and staff necessary to assist the council in carrying out the
  council's duties under this chapter.
         Sec. 18.008.  ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAM MONITORING AND
  RECOMMENDATIONS. (a)  The council shall measure, evaluate, and
  report on energy efficiency performance in this state.
         (b)  The council shall monitor energy efficiency programs in
  this state.
         (c)  The council may submit to a program administrator
  recommendations on means to encourage greater energy efficiency on
  a regular basis.  The council may submit to a program administrator
  that administers a program described by Section 39.905
  recommendations to assure better coordination between local,
  state, federal, and private energy efficiency programs for the
  purposes of Section 39.905.
         Sec. 18.009.  OFFICIAL INTERNET WEBSITE. The council shall
  develop and maintain an official Internet website for the
  publication of information as required by this chapter.
         Sec. 18.010.  LIST OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAMS. (a)  The
  council shall:
               (1)  develop a list of currently operating energy
  efficiency programs in this state and publish the list on the
  official Internet website maintained under Section 18.009; and
               (2)  work with the State Energy Conservation Office and
  the commission to develop and publish on the official Internet
  website maintained under Section 18.009 a user-friendly page that
  allows a consumer to search by the consumer's address energy
  efficiency programs available in the consumer's service area.
         (b)  The State Energy Conservation Office and the commission
  each shall provide a link on their Internet websites to the page
  described by Subsection (a)(2).
         Sec. 18.011.  CONFIDENTIALITY OF CERTAIN INFORMATION. (a)  
  Except as provided by this section, the council is not subject to
  Chapter 551 or 552, Government Code.
         (b)  Information written, produced, collected, assembled, or
  maintained under law or in connection with the transaction of
  official business by the council or an officer or employee of the
  council is subject to Section 552.008, Government Code, in the same
  manner as public information.
         Sec. 18.012.  BIENNIAL PERFORMANCE REPORT. (a)  The council
  biennially shall prepare a report on energy efficiency performance
  in this state.  The council shall submit the report to the
  legislature not later than January 15 of each odd-numbered year.
         (b)  The report must include:
               (1)  a comprehensive review of the energy efficiency
  programs on the list required by Section 18.010, including initial
  capital investment, ongoing operating expenses, and energy savings
  benefits of the programs;
               (2)  statewide energy efficiency performance by sector
  and county; and
               (3)  recommendations for improving energy efficiency
  programs in this state.
         (c)  The report may include:
               (1)  criteria developed by the council for evaluating
  and measuring energy efficiency programs in this state;
               (2)  opportunities for continuous improvement in
  energy efficiency performance in this state; and
               (3)  recommendations for creating new energy
  efficiency programs in this state.
         (d)  The council shall publish the report on the official
  Internet website maintained under Section 18.009.
         Sec. 18.013.  APPLICABILITY OF ADVISORY COMMITTEE LAW.
  Chapter 2110, Government Code, does not apply to the council.
         SECTION 2.  As soon as practicable after the effective date
  of this Act, the presiding officer of the Public Utility Commission
  of Texas shall appoint members to the Texas Energy Efficiency
  Council in accordance with Section 18.004, Utilities Code, as added
  by this Act.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect immediately if it 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
  Act takes effect September 1, 2023.