Bill Text: TX HB1572 | 2021-2022 | 87th Legislature | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Relating to the rental and operation of electric generation equipment.

Spectrum: Slight Partisan Bill (Republican 3-1)

Status: (Passed) 2021-06-04 - Effective on 9/1/21 [HB1572 Detail]

Download: Texas-2021-HB1572-Enrolled.html

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H.B. No. 1572

AN ACT
relating to the rental and operation of electric generation
equipment.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 31.002, Utilities Code, is amended by
adding Subdivision (4-b) and amending Subdivision (6) to read as
follows:
(4-b) "Electric generation equipment lessor or
operator" means a person who rents to or operates for compensation
on behalf of a third party electric generation equipment that:
(A) is used on a site of the third party until the
third party is able to obtain sufficient electricity service;
(B) produces electricity on site to be consumed
by the third party and not resold; and
(C) does not interconnect with the electric
transmission or distribution system.
(6) "Electric utility" means a person or river
authority that owns or operates for compensation in this state
equipment or facilities to produce, generate, transmit,
distribute, sell, or furnish electricity in this state. The term
includes a lessee, trustee, or receiver of an electric utility and a
recreational vehicle park owner who does not comply with Subchapter
C, Chapter 184, with regard to the metered sale of electricity at
the recreational vehicle park. The term does not include:
(A) a municipal corporation;
(B) a qualifying facility;
(C) a power generation company;
(D) an exempt wholesale generator;
(E) a power marketer;
(F) a corporation described by Section 32.053 to
the extent the corporation sells electricity exclusively at
wholesale and not to the ultimate consumer;
(G) an electric cooperative;
(H) a retail electric provider;
(I) this state or an agency of this state; or
(J) a person not otherwise an electric utility
who:
(i) furnishes an electric service or
commodity only to itself, its employees, or its tenants as an
incident of employment or tenancy, if that service or commodity is
not resold to or used by others;
(ii) owns or operates in this state
equipment or facilities to produce, generate, transmit,
distribute, sell, or furnish electric energy to an electric
utility, if the equipment or facilities are used primarily to
produce and generate electric energy for consumption by that
person; [or]
(iii) owns or operates in this state a
recreational vehicle park that provides metered electric service in
accordance with Subchapter C, Chapter 184; or
(iv) is an electric generation equipment
lessor or operator.
SECTION 2. Section 37.001(3), Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(3) "Retail electric utility" means a person,
political subdivision, electric cooperative, or agency that
operates, maintains, or controls in this state a facility to
provide retail electric utility service. The term does not include
a corporation described by Section 32.053 to the extent that the
corporation sells electricity exclusively at wholesale and not to
the ultimate consumer. A qualifying cogenerator that sells electric
energy at retail to the sole purchaser of the cogenerator's thermal
output under Sections 35.061 and 36.007 is not for that reason
considered to be a retail electric utility. The owner or operator of
a qualifying cogeneration facility who was issued the necessary
environmental permits from the Texas Natural Resource Conservation
Commission after January 1, 1998, and who commenced construction of
such qualifying facility before July 1, 1998, may provide
electricity to the purchasers of the thermal output of that
qualifying facility and shall not for that reason be considered an
electric utility or a retail electric utility, provided that the
purchasers of the thermal output are owners of manufacturing or
process operation facilities that are located on a site entirely
owned before September, 1987, by one owner who retained ownership
after September, 1987, of some portion of the facilities and that
those facilities now share some integrated operations, such as the
provision of services and raw materials. A person who is an electric
generation equipment lessor or operator is not for that reason
considered to be a retail electric utility.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2021.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1572 was passed by the House on April
20, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 145, Nays 0, 1 present, not
voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
I certify that H.B. No. 1572 was passed by the Senate on May
19, 2021, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
APPROVED: _____________________
Date
_____________________
Governor