Bill Text: TX HB11 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Engrossed

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Bill Title: Relating to the preparedness for extreme weather emergencies of facilities that provide electricity service; providing an administrative penalty.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 28-10)

Status: (Engrossed - Dead) 2021-05-03 - Left pending in committee [HB11 Detail]

Download: Texas-2021-HB11-Engrossed.html

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By: Paddie, Hernandez, Allison, et al. H.B. No. 11

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the preparedness for extreme weather emergencies of
facilities that provide electricity service; providing an
administrative penalty.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter A, Chapter 35, Utilities Code, is
amended by adding Section 35.0021 to read as follows:
Sec. 35.0021. WEATHER EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS. (a) In this
section, "extreme weather emergency" means a period when:
(1) the previous day's highest temperature did not
exceed 10 degrees Fahrenheit and the temperature is predicted to
remain at or below that level for the next 24 hours according to the
nearest National Weather Service reports; or
(2) the National Weather Service issues a heat
advisory for any county in the relevant service territory, or when
such an advisory has been issued on any one of the previous two
calendar days.
(b) This section applies only to a municipally owned
utility, electric cooperative, power generation company, or exempt
wholesale generator that sells electric energy at wholesale in the
ERCOT power region.
(c) The commission by rule shall require each entity
described by Subsection (b) to:
(1) implement measures to prepare generation
facilities to provide adequate electric generation service during
an extreme weather emergency;
(2) make reasonable efforts to prevent electric
generation service interruptions during an extreme weather
emergency;
(3) reestablish service in the shortest possible time
period after an electric generation service interruption that
occurs due to an extreme weather emergency; and
(4) make reasonable efforts to manage emergencies
caused by electric generation service interruptions during extreme
weather emergencies, including issuing instructions to employees
on procedures to be followed in the event of an extreme weather
emergency.
(d) The rules must address electric generation service for
all neighborhoods, rural areas, communities of fewer than 1,000
people, and low-income areas in the ERCOT power region.
(e) The commission may impose an administrative penalty on
an entity, including a municipally owned utility or an electric
cooperative, that violates a rule adopted under this section in the
manner provided by Chapter 15.
(f) Rural areas shall have the meaning assigned in Section
12.046(a)(2), Agriculture Code.
(g) Low-income area shall mean a neighborhood that has at
least 52 percent of its households at or below 80 percent of Area
Median Family Income (AMFI).
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 35, Utilities Code, is
amended by adding Section 35.0022 to read as follows:
Sec. 35.0022. COMPREHENSIVE EMERGENCY OPERATIONS AND
WEATHERIZATION PLAN. (a) Not later than January 1 of each year,
the independent organization certified under Section 39.151 for the
ERCOT power region shall prepare and deliver to the commission a
comprehensive emergency operations and weatherization plan that
includes:
(1) emergency operations plans currently on file with
the organization;
(2) declarations of completion of weatherization
preparations from all electric generation entities in the ERCOT
power region; and
(3) relevant seasonal assessments of resource
adequacy, including projected resource capabilities, peak demand
forecasts, and expected unit outage forecasts.
(b) The commission shall analyze each emergency operations
plan developed by the independent organization certified under
Section 39.151 for the ERCOT power region and prepare a report on
emergency operations and weatherization preparedness in this state
that includes recommendations for improving the emergency
operations plan, if any.
(c) The commission shall submit the report described by
Subsection (b) to the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house
of representatives, and the members of the legislature not later
than September 1 of each year.
(d) Emergency operations plans described by Subsection
(a)(1) are public information except for the portions of the plans
considered confidential under Chapter 552, Government Code, or
other state or federal law.
SECTION 3. Subchapter A, Chapter 35, Utilities Code, is
amended by adding Section 35.0023 to read as follows:
Sec. 35.0023. IDENTIFICATION OF CRITICAL CARE CUSTOMERS
WITH BACKUP GENERATION. The commission shall coordinate with
electric utilities to identify critical care customers who have
backup generation and who are capable of being curtailed in the
event of firm load shed.
SECTION 4. Subchapter D, Chapter 38, Utilities Code, is
amended by adding Section 38.074 to read as follows:
Sec. 38.074. WEATHER EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS. (a) In this
section, "extreme weather emergency" has the meaning assigned by
Section 35.0021.
(b) The commission by rule shall require each electric
cooperative, municipally owned utility, and transmission and
distribution utility providing transmission or distribution
service in the ERCOT power region to:
(1) implement measures to prepare facilities to
maintain service quality and reliability during an extreme weather
emergency;
(2) make reasonable efforts to prevent service
interruptions during an extreme weather emergency;
(3) reestablish service in the shortest possible time
period after a service interruption that occurs due to an extreme
weather emergency; and
(4) make reasonable efforts to manage emergencies
caused by service interruptions during extreme weather
emergencies, including issuing instructions to employees on
procedures to be followed in the event of an extreme weather
emergency.
(c) The rules must address service for all neighborhoods,
rural areas, communities of fewer than 1,000 people, and low-income
areas in the ERCOT power region.
(d) The commission may impose an administrative penalty on
an entity, including a municipally owned utility or an electric
cooperative, that violates a rule adopted under this section in the
manner provided by Chapter 15.
(e) Rural areas shall have the meaning assigned in Section
12.046(a)(2), Agriculture Code.
(f) Low-income area shall mean a neighborhood that has at
least 52 percent of its households at or below 80 percent of Area
Median Family Income (AMFI).
(g) Notwithstanding any other provision of this subtitle,
the commission shall allow a transmission and distribution utility
to design and operate a load management program for nonresidential
customers to be used during extreme weather where the independent
organization certified under Section 39.151 for the ERCOT power
region has declared an emergency. A transmission and distribution
utility implementing a load management program under this
subsection shall be permitted to recover the reasonable and
necessary costs of the load management program under Chapter 36. A
load management program operated under this subsection is not
considered a competitive service.
SECTION 5. Subchapter Z, Chapter 39, Utilities Code, is
amended by adding Section 39.918 to read as follows:
Sec. 39.918. COMMUNICATION DURING EXTREME WEATHER
EMERGENCY. The commission by rule shall establish best practices
for the commission, the independent organization certified under
Section 39.151 for the ERCOT power region, and market participants
to use when communicating with the public during an extreme weather
emergency, as defined by Section 35.0021. The best practices must
include practices for communicating in multiple languages and with
multiple methods.
SECTION 6. Subchapter A, Chapter 186, Utilities Code, is
amended by adding Section 186.008 to read as follows:
Sec. 186.008. EMERGENCY OPERATIONS PLAN AUDITS. (a) The
Public Utility Commission of Texas by rule shall develop a
procedure for auditing emergency operations plans developed by:
(1) electric utilities, as defined by Section 31.002;
(2) power generation companies, as defined by Section
31.002;
(3) municipally owned utilities, as defined by Section
11.003;
(4) electric cooperatives;
(5) retail electric providers, as defined by Section
31.002; and
(6) the independent organization certified under
Section 39.151 for the ERCOT power region.
(b) The procedure for auditing emergency operations plans
must:
(1) require an entity described by Subsection (a) to
file an updated emergency operations plan if the Public Utility
Commission of Texas finds that the entity's emergency operations
plan on file does not contain adequate information to determine
whether the entity can provide adequate services during an
emergency; and
(2) ensure that the plans will allow each generation
facility in the plan to meet minimum reliability standards or
guidelines adopted by the North American Electric Reliability
Corporation in or before 2021.
SECTION 7. The Public Utility Commission of Texas shall
adopt the rules required by Sections 35.0021 and 38.074, Utilities
Code, as added by this Act, not later than November 1, 2021.
SECTION 8. 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, 2021.