84R11550 JXC-D
	By: Creighton	S.B. No. 1761

	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
	AN ACT
	relating to the authority and obligation of this state to comply
	with and implement a Clean Power Plan.
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
	SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 382, Health and Safety
	Code, is amended by adding Section 382.0174 to read as follows:
	Sec. 382.0174.  STATE AUTHORITY AND OBLIGATIONS UNDER
	CERTAIN FEDERAL REQUIREMENTS. (a) In this section:
	(1)  "Clean Power Plan" means a final rulemaking action
	of the United States Environmental Protection Agency that
	establishes carbon pollution guidelines for existing electric
	utility generating units under Section 111(d) of the federal Clean
	Air Act (42 U.S.C. Section 7411).
	(2)  "Utility commission" means the Public Utility
	Commission of Texas.
	(b)  The governor and the attorney general, in consultation
	with the commission and the utility commission, shall work to
	prevent federal commandeering of state police powers, protect the
	sovereignty of this state under the federal Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C.
	Section 7401 et seq.), and retain authority to develop a state plan
	to meet judicially or legislatively approved goals to reduce carbon
	dioxide emissions.
	(c)  Notwithstanding any other law, the commission and the
	utility commission:
	(1)  may examine the implications of complying with and
	implementing a Clean Power Plan;
	(2)  shall take measures necessary to comply with or
	implement a Clean Power Plan only after:
	(A)  the plan has been finally determined to be
	authorized under federal law by the United States Supreme Court;
	(B)  the House Committee on Environmental
	Regulation or a successor committee and the Senate Committee on
	Natural Resources and Economic Development or a successor committee
	have affirmatively approved the plan and submitted to the
	legislature a report on the plan's impacts on commercial and
	residential electricity customers in this state; and
	(C)  the utility commission and the Federal Energy
	Regulatory Commission have certified that this state's plan to
	implement the Clean Power Plan meets the grid reliability standards
	of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; and
	(3)  have the authority necessary to comply with and
	implement a Clean Power Plan if the requirements of Subdivision (2)
	are satisfied.
	(d)  The commission and the utility commission shall develop
	and adopt a memorandum of understanding as necessary to clarify or
	provide for their respective duties, responsibilities, or
	functions regarding any matter under the jurisdiction of the
	commission or utility commission that relates to a Clean Power Plan
	and is not expressly assigned to either the commission or utility
	commission.
	(e)  During the examination of the implications of complying
	with and implementing a Clean Power Plan and during the
	implementation of the plan, the utility commission:
	(1)  may not authorize the retirement of a functioning
	electric generating unit in this state before the unit has aged past
	the engineering lifetime of the unit, unless:
	(A)  the unit is not necessary to maintain the
	grid reliability required by the Federal Energy Regulatory
	Commission;
	(B)  the owner of the unit has recouped the costs
	of constructing and financing the unit;
	(C)  the state has sufficient replacement
	capacity to meet the dispatchable capacity of the unit to be
	retired; and
	(D)  an electric generating unit brought online to
	replace the unit to be retired will not increase costs to consumers;
	(2)  shall require operators of electric generating
	units to operate the units in accordance with the design parameters
	and design life of the unit approved by the utility commission when
	the generating unit began operation;
	(3)  shall regulate electricity generation and
	distribution based on least-cost proposals that comply with federal
	and state regulations of air pollutants for which criteria have
	been adopted under Section 108 of the federal Clean Air Act (42
	U.S.C. Section 7408) or that are listed in Section 112 of the
	federal Clean Air Act (42 U.S.C. Section 7412); and
	(4)  to the extent possible, shall ensure that each
	entity engaged in generating, transmitting, or distributing
	electric energy that increases non-fuel rates based on
	implementation of a Clean Power Plan or anticipated implementation
	of a Clean Power Plan does not increase the rates by more than 1.5
	percent.
	SECTION 2.  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, 2015.