84R1739 DDT-D
	By: Sanford	H.B. No. 857

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the legislature's goals for renewable electric
	generating capacity.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Section 2305.0322(b)(5), Government Code, is
	amended to read as follows:
	(5)  "Renewable energy technology" has the meaning
	assigned by Section 39.916 [39.904(d)], Utilities Code.
	SECTION 2.  Section 36.053(d), Utilities Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	(d)  If the commission issues a certificate of convenience
	and necessity or if the commission, acting under the authority
	formerly provided by Section 39.203(e), ordered [orders] an
	electric utility or a transmission and distribution utility to
	construct or enlarge transmission or transmission-related
	facilities to facilitate meeting the goal for generating capacity
	from renewable energy technologies under former Section 39.904(a),
	the commission shall find that the facilities are used and useful to
	the utility in providing service for purposes of this section and
	are prudent and includable in the rate base, regardless of the
	extent of the utility's actual use of the facilities.
	SECTION 3.  Section 37.051(f), Utilities Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	(f)  The commission shall consider the requirements of
	Subsection (e) to have been met by an electric utility or other
	person that:
	(1)  was [is] selected by the commission as a
	transmission provider under a plan adopted by the commission under
	former Section 39.904 not later than September 1, 2009; and
	(2)  before the certificate is issued, provides to the
	commission a detailed plan regarding the offices, personnel, and
	other resources the electric utility or other person will have in
	this state to ensure provision of continuous and adequate
	transmission service.
	SECTION 4.  Section 37.0541, Utilities Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	Sec. 37.0541.  CONSOLIDATION OF CERTAIN PROCEEDINGS. The
	commission shall consolidate the proceeding on an application to
	obtain or amend a certificate of convenience and necessity for the
	construction of a transmission line with the proceeding on another
	application to obtain or amend a certificate of convenience and
	necessity for the construction of a transmission line if it is
	apparent from the applications or a motion to intervene in either
	proceeding that the transmission lines that are the subject of the
	separate proceedings share a common point of interconnection.
	[This section does not apply to a proceeding on an application for a
	certificate of convenience and necessity for a transmission line to
	serve a competitive renewable energy zone as part of a plan
	developed by the commission under Section 39.904(g)(2).]
	SECTION 5.  Sections 37.056(c) and (d), Utilities Code, are
	amended to read as follows:
	(c)  The commission shall grant each certificate on a
	nondiscriminatory basis after considering:
	(1)  the adequacy of existing service;
	(2)  the need for additional service;
	(3)  the effect of granting the certificate on the
	recipient of the certificate and any electric utility serving the
	proximate area; and
	(4)  other factors, such as:
	(A)  community values;
	(B)  recreational and park areas;
	(C)  historical and aesthetic values;
	(D)  environmental integrity; and
	(E)  the probable improvement of service or
	lowering of cost to consumers in the area if the certificate is
	granted[; and
	[(F)     to the extent applicable, the effect of
	granting the certificate on the ability of this state to meet the
	goal established by Section 39.904(a) of this title].
	(d)  The commission by rule shall establish criteria, in
	addition to the criteria described by Subsection (c), for granting
	a certificate for a transmission project that serves the ERCOT
	power region and [,] that is not necessary to meet state or federal
	reliability standards[, and that does not serve a competitive
	renewable energy zone].  The criteria must include a comparison of
	the estimated cost of the transmission project and the estimated
	cost savings that may result from the transmission project.  The
	commission shall include with its decision on an application for a
	certificate to which this subsection applies findings on the
	criteria.
	SECTION 6.  Section 39.002, Utilities Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	Sec. 39.002.  APPLICABILITY. This chapter, other than
	Sections 39.155, 39.157(e), 39.203, 39.903, [39.904,] 39.9051,
	39.9052, and 39.914(e), does not apply to a municipally owned
	utility or an electric cooperative. Sections 39.157(e) and [,]
	39.203, [and 39.904,] however, apply only to a municipally owned
	utility or an electric cooperative that is offering customer
	choice. If there is a conflict between the specific provisions of
	this chapter and any other provisions of this title, except for
	Chapters 40 and 41, the provisions of this chapter control.
	SECTION 7.  Section 39.203(e), Utilities Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	(e)  The commission may require an electric utility or a
	transmission and distribution utility to construct or enlarge
	facilities to ensure safe and reliable service for the state's
	electric markets and to reduce transmission constraints within
	ERCOT in a cost-effective manner where the constraints are such
	that they are not being resolved through Chapter 37 or the ERCOT
	transmission planning process.  [The commission shall require an
	electric utility or a transmission and distribution utility to
	construct or enlarge transmission or transmission-related
	facilities for the purpose of meeting the goal for generating
	capacity from renewable energy technologies under Section
	39.904(a).]  In any proceeding brought under Chapter 37, an
	electric utility or transmission and distribution utility ordered
	to construct or enlarge facilities under this subchapter need not
	prove that the construction ordered is necessary for the service,
	accommodation, convenience, or safety of the public and need not
	address the factors listed in Sections 37.056(c)(1)-(3) and (4)(E).
	Notwithstanding any other law, including Section 37.057, in any
	proceeding brought under Chapter 37 by an electric utility or a
	transmission and distribution utility related to an application for
	a certificate of public convenience and necessity to construct or
	enlarge transmission or transmission-related facilities under this
	subsection, the commission shall issue a final order before the
	181st day after the date the application is filed with the
	commission.  If the commission does not issue a final order before
	that date, the application is approved.
	SECTION 8.  Section 39.402(a), Utilities Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	(a)  Until the date on which an electric utility subject to
	this subchapter is authorized by the commission to implement
	customer choice, the rates of the utility shall be regulated under
	traditional cost of service regulation and the utility is subject
	to all applicable regulatory authority prescribed by this subtitle
	and Subtitle A, including Chapters 14, 32, 33, 36, and 37.  Until
	the date on which an electric utility subject to this subchapter
	implements customer choice, the provisions of this chapter, other
	than this subchapter, Section [Sections 39.904 and] 39.905, and the
	provisions relating to the duty to obtain a permit from the Texas
	Commission on Environmental Quality for an electric generating
	facility and to reduce emissions from an electric generating
	facility, shall not apply to that utility.  That portion of any
	commission order entered before September 1, 2001, to comply with
	this subchapter shall be null and void.
	SECTION 9.  Section 39.452(d), Utilities Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	(d)  Until the date on which an electric utility subject to
	this subchapter implements customer choice:
	(1)  the provisions of this chapter do not apply to that
	electric utility, other than this subchapter, Section [Sections
	39.904 and] 39.905, the provisions relating to the duty to obtain a
	permit from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality for an
	electric generating facility and to reduce emissions from an
	electric generating facility, and the provisions of Subchapter G
	that pertain to the recovery and securitization of hurricane
	reconstruction costs authorized by Sections 39.458-39.463; and
	(2)  the electric utility is not subject to a rate
	freeze and, subject to the limitation provided by Subsection (b),
	may file for rate changes under Chapter 36 and for approval of one
	or more of the rate rider mechanisms authorized by Sections 39.454
	and 39.455.
	SECTION 10.  Section 39.502(b), Utilities Code, is amended
	to read as follows:
	(b)  Until the date on which an electric utility subject to
	this subchapter implements customer choice, the provisions of this
	chapter, other than this subchapter and Section [Sections 39.904
	and] 39.905, do not apply to that utility.
	SECTION 11.  Section 39.552(b), Utilities Code, is amended
	to read as follows:
	(b)  Until the date on which an electric utility subject to
	this subchapter implements customer choice, the provisions of this
	chapter, other than this subchapter and Section [Sections 39.904
	and] 39.905, do not apply to that utility.
	SECTION 12.  Section 39.916(a), Utilities Code, is amended
	by amending Subdivision (1) and adding Subdivision (4) to read as
	follows:
	(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.
	(4)  "Renewable energy technology" means any
	technology that relies exclusively on an energy source that is
	naturally regenerated over a short time and is derived from the sun
	directly or indirectly or from moving water or other natural
	movements or mechanisms of the environment. The term includes a
	technology that relies on energy derived from the sun directly, on
	wind, geothermal, hydroelectric, wave, or tidal energy, or on
	biomass or biomass-based waste products, including landfill gas.
	The term does not include a technology that relies on an energy
	resource derived from a fossil fuel, a waste product from a fossil
	fuel, or a waste product from an inorganic source.
	SECTION 13.  Section 40.001(a), Utilities Code, is amended
	to read as follows:
	(a)  Notwithstanding any other provision of law, except
	Sections 39.155, 39.157(e), 39.203, and 39.903, [and 39.904,] this
	chapter governs the transition to and the establishment of a fully
	competitive electric power industry for municipally owned
	utilities. With respect to the regulation of municipally owned
	utilities, this chapter controls over any other provision of this
	title, except for sections in which the term "municipally owned
	utility" is specifically used.
	SECTION 14.  Section 40.004, Utilities Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	Sec. 40.004.  JURISDICTION OF COMMISSION. Except as
	specifically otherwise provided in this chapter, the commission has
	jurisdiction over municipally owned utilities only for the
	following purposes:
	(1)  to regulate wholesale transmission rates and
	service, including terms of access, to the extent provided by
	Subchapter A, Chapter 35;
	(2)  to regulate certification of retail service areas
	to the extent provided by Chapter 37;
	(3)  to regulate rates on appeal under Subchapters D
	and E, Chapter 33, subject to Section 40.051(c);
	(4)  to establish a code of conduct as provided by
	Section 39.157(e) applicable to anticompetitive activities and to
	affiliate activities limited to structurally unbundled affiliates
	of municipally owned utilities, subject to Section 40.054;
	(5)  to establish terms and conditions for open access
	to transmission and distribution facilities for municipally owned
	utilities providing customer choice, as provided by Section 39.203;
	(6)  to require collection of the nonbypassable fee
	established under Section 39.903(b) and to administer the
	[renewable energy credits program under Section 39.904(b) and the]
	natural gas energy credits program under Section 39.9044(b); and
	(7)  to require reports of municipally owned utility
	operations only to the extent necessary to:
	(A)  enable the commission to determine the
	aggregate load and energy requirements of the state and the
	resources available to serve that load; or
	(B)  enable the commission to determine
	information relating to market power as provided by Section 39.155.
	SECTION 15.  Section 41.001, Utilities Code, is amended to
	read as follows:
	Sec. 41.001.  APPLICABLE LAW. Notwithstanding any other
	provision of law, except Sections 39.155, 39.157(e), 39.203, and
	39.903, [and 39.904,] this chapter governs the transition to and
	the establishment of a fully competitive electric power industry
	for electric cooperatives. Regarding the regulation of electric
	cooperatives, this chapter shall control over any other provision
	of this title, except for sections in which the term "electric
	cooperative" is specifically used.
	SECTION 16.  Sections 39.904 and 39.916(g), Utilities Code,
	are repealed.
	SECTION 17.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.