Bill Text: TX HB2961 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Introduced


Bill Title: Relating to the creation of a program for the development of solar energy industry in this state.

Spectrum: Bipartisan Bill

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-04-06 - Left pending in committee [HB2961 Detail]

Download: Texas-2011-HB2961-Introduced.html
  82R13299 T
 
  By: Darby H.B. No. 2961
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to the creation of a program for the development of solar
  energy industry in this state.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  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), and 39.9156, does not apply to a
  municipally owned utility or an electric cooperative. Sections
  39.157(e), 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 2.  Subchapter Z, Chapter 39, Utilities Code, is
  amended by adding Section 39.9155 to read as follows:
         Sec. 39.9155.  SOLAR GENERATION INCENTIVE PROGRAM. (a) In
  this section:
               (1)  "Distributed solar generation" means distributed
  renewable generation as defined by Section 39.916 that uses an
  energy source derived directly from the sun.
               (2)  "Low-income electric customer" has the meaning
  assigned by Section 39.903(l).
               (3)  "Rated watts" means the output of a solar energy
  device as specified by the manufacturer of the device expressed in
  watts of direct current.
               (4)  "Small commercial customer" means a non
  residential customer as classified by the appropriate electric
  utility or transmission and distribution utility tariff whose
  electricity consumption averages less than 2500 kilowatt hours per
  month over the 12 month period ending on the last full calendar
  month before the effective date of this section.
               (5)  "Solar energy device" has the meaning assigned by
  Section 185.001.
               (6)  "Wholesale solar generation" means a solar
  generation system that:
                     (A)  regardless of the system's generation
  capacity, is installed on the utility's side of the meter; or
                     (B)  has a generation capacity of two megawatts or
  more and is installed on a retail customer's side of the meter.
         (b)  The program developed under this section applies only to
  an electric utility operating inside or outside of ERCOT.
         (c)  The commission shall develop and implement a program as
  provided by this section to facilitate the development of a solar
  energy market and solar energy industry in this state by increasing
  the amount of wholesale and distributed solar generation installed
  in this state. The program shall be transparent, cost effective,
  limited in scope and duration, apply statewide, and that
  residential and small commercial customers may choose to
  participate at a higher level than that prescribed by this section
  or may choose not to participate in the program. The commission
  shall act as the program administrator to oversee and administer
  the implementation of the program or may designate a third party as
  the program administrator in accordance with an agreement with the
  designated party.
         (d)  The commission shall establish a goal of achieving
  through the program the installation of at least 1,000 megawatts of
  solar generation over the duration of the program.
         (e)  The solar generation rebate fund is established as a
  special trust fund held by the comptroller outside of the state
  treasury and administered by the program administrator for the
  payment of the incentives authorized by this section, without the
  necessity of an appropriation. Money in the fund may be used only
  for the purposes of the program as provided by this section. Not
  more than 2.5 percent of the fund may be spent annually for costs of
  administering the fund and the program. The fund consists of:
               (1)  fees imposed under this section and remitted to
  the comptroller for deposit to the credit of the fund;
               (2)  gifts or grants awarded for the purposes of the
  program and deposited to the credit of the fund; and
               (3)  interest and other income from investment of the
  money deposited to the credit of the fund.
         (f)  Money collected under the program may be spent only for
  program purposes. Except for spending authorized by Subsections
  (e), (o), and (p), 50 percent of all money spent under the program
  must be used for incentives for wholesale solar generation projects
  and the remaining money spent under the program must be used for
  incentives for distributed solar generation projects. The money
  spent for distributed solar generation projects must be divided
  proportionately between residential and nonresidential market
  segments in accordance with the relative percentage of money
  contributed under the program from those market segments. A
  portion of the money allocated for the residential market segment,
  as determined by the commission, must be reserved to be spent only
  for incentives for distributed solar generation projects in new
  residential construction.
         (g)  The commission by rule shall provide for the assessment
  and collection of nonbypassable fees by electric utilities and
  transmission and distribution utilities. An electric utility or
  transmission and distribution utility shall remit all fees
  collected to the comptroller for deposit to the credit of the solar
  generation rebate fund. The fees assessed under this subsection
  must be in the following amounts:
               (1)  $1 each month for each residential meter which, if
  applicable, must be included in nonbypassable delivery charges paid
  by the customer's retail electric provider;
               (2)  $5 each month for each commercial meter; and
               (3)  $50 each month for each industrial meter, except
  that the total of nonbypassable fees assessed against a retail
  electric provider for a single industrial account may not exceed
  $250 in a single month.
         (h)  The commission by rule shall establish a mechanism to
  ensure that fees collected under this section and remitted for
  deposit to the solar generation rebate fund are made continuously
  available as necessary to provide for payment of incentives in the
  form of rebate payments as provided by this section to defray the
  cost of installing solar generation.
         (i)  the commission shall establish a method by which
  residential and small commercial customers may request to increase
  the amount of the nonbypassable fee assessed to them under this
  section by $1 per month, or by which residential and small
  commercial customers may waive the assessment of the nonbypassable
  fee assessed to them under this section by:
                     (A)  submitting a written request after receiving
  an initial notification of the implementation of this program,
  which notice shall be issued by an electric utility or a
  transmission and distribution utility to its residential and small
  commercial customers within 60 days after the commission adopts
  rules implementing this program; or
                     (B)  making a request when establishing service
  with a retail electric provider or an electric utility;
         (j)  Customers who request a waiver under subsection (i) will
  not be eligible for rebates under the program.
         (k)  When a customer requests a waiver under subsection (i),
  the commission shall ensure that the retail electric provider is
  not responsible for the fees that normally would be collected for
  that customer account.
         (l)  The commission shall establish a schedule of rebate
  amounts for installed solar generation that vary according to the
  rated watts of, or the kilowatt-hours produced by, the solar
  generation equipment and that decrease in proportion to the
  capacity of solar generation installed. The commission shall
  ensure that the schedule:
               (1)  is publicly available;
               (2)  provides for reducing rebate amounts per unit of
  solar generation capacity by not less than 12 percent for each year
  of the program;
               (3)  does not obligate payment of rebates in amounts
  that would cause the rebate program payments to exceed the amount
  budgeted for rebate payments over the duration of the program; and
               (4)  provides for rebates to be paid directly to
  customers, qualified installers, homebuilders, remodelers, or
  third-party owners of installed solar generation in a simple,
  uniform, and reliable administrative manner that:
                     (A)  ensures the timely payment of rebates; and
                     (B)  allows for the assignment of the rebate to
  another person at the direction of the qualified recipient.
         (m)  The commission shall establish as the initial rebate
  amounts:
               (1)  $2 per rated watt for installed distributed solar
  generation with a capacity of not more than 10 kilowatts, or an
  equivalent amount per kilowatt-hour produced;
               (2)  $1.40 per rated watt for installed distributed
  solar generation with a capacity of more than 10 but not more than
  2,000 kilowatts, or an equivalent amount per kilowatt-hour
  produced; and
               (3)  $1 per rated watt for installed wholesale solar
  generation, or an equivalent amount per kilowatt-hour produced.
         (n)  The fees authorized by this section may not be assessed
  after the fifth anniversary of the date the program is established
  under commission rules, and the program ends when all money in the
  solar generation rebate fund that is available for paying
  incentives under the program is exhausted.
         (o)  Using available money from the solar generation rebate
  fund, the commission, in consultation with an independent
  organization certified under Section 39.151, shall identify and
  report to the 83rd Legislature before January 1, 2013, the
  geographic areas of this state where wholesale solar generation can
  be located with minimal additional transmission facilities.
         (p)  The commission by rule shall provide a method by which
  the program administrator shall use money from the solar generation
  rebate fund to pay for a credit to the electric service bill of each
  low-income electric customer for an amount equal to the amount of
  the fee assessed in the customer's bill.
         (q)  This section may not be construed as mandating
  distributed solar generation or any design, construction, or
  installation of solar-ready products to be installed by
  homebuilders.
         SECTION 3.  Subchapter Z, Chapter 39, Utilities Code, is
  amended by adding Sections 39.9156 and 39.9157 to read as follows:
         Sec. 39.9156.  SOLAR GENERATION PROGRAMS. (a) This section
  applies only to an electric cooperative or municipally owned
  utility with retail sales of more than 500,000 megawatt hours in
  2009.
         (b)  It is the goal of the legislature that:
               (1)  electric cooperatives and municipally owned
  utilities administer incentive programs to facilitate the
  development of a solar energy market and solar energy industry in
  this state by increasing the amount of wholesale and distributed
  solar generation installed in this state;
               (2)  customers of electric cooperatives and
  municipally owned utilities will have access to incentives for the
  installation of distributed solar generation; and
               (3)  electric cooperatives and municipally owned
  utilities spend money to increase the amount of solar generation to
  a funding level consistent with the requirements for electric
  utilities in this state under Section 39.9155.
         (c)  Beginning not later than March 1, 2012, an electric
  cooperative or municipally owned utility annually, in a form and
  manner determined by the program administrator, shall report to the
  program administrator designated under Section 39.9155,
  information regarding the efforts of the municipally owned utility
  or electric cooperative related to this section.
         (d)  This section does not prevent the governing body of an
  electric cooperative or municipally owned utility from adopting
  rules, programs, and incentives to encourage or provide for the
  installation of more solar generation capacity beyond the goals
  established by Section 39.9155, or rules adopted under that
  section.
         (e)  An electric cooperative or municipally owned utility
  may recover the costs required by this section through a
  nonbypassable fee consistent with the nonbypassable fees
  authorized by the commission for electric utilities under Section
  39.9155(g), or another cost recovery mechanism as determined by the
  governing body of the electric cooperative or municipally owned
  utility.
         Sec. 39.9157.  OWNERSHIP OF DISTRIBUTED SOLAR GENERATION.
  Notwithstanding any other provision of this title:
               (1)  any person may own distributed solar generation
  and enter into a contract with the retail customer on whose property
  the solar generation capacity is located to lease the solar
  generation equipment or sell the generated output to the retail
  customer or to that customer's retail electric provider;
               (2)  an owner of the distributed solar generation is
  not an electric utility and is not required to register with the
  commission as a power generation company or self-generator; and
               (3)  the commission may establish appropriate
  reporting and other requirements for an owner of distributed solar
  generation to be eligible to earn renewable energy credits.
         SECTION 4.  Section 151.318(c), Tax Code, is amended to read
  as follows:
         (c)  The exemption does not include:
               (1)  intraplant transportation equipment, including
  intraplant transportation equipment used to move a product or raw
  material in connection with the manufacturing process and
  specifically including all piping and conveyor systems, provided
  that the following remain eligible for the exemption:
                     (A)  piping or conveyor systems that are a
  component part of a single item of manufacturing equipment or
  pollution control equipment eligible for the exemption under
  Subsection (a)(2), (a)(4), or (a)(5);
                     (B)  piping through which the product or an
  intermediate or preliminary product that will become an ingredient
  or component part of the product is recycled or circulated in a loop
  between the single item of manufacturing equipment and the
  ancillary equipment that supports only that single item of
  manufacturing equipment if the single item of manufacturing
  equipment and the ancillary equipment operate together to perform a
  specific step in the manufacturing process; and
                     (C)  piping through which the product or an
  intermediate or preliminary product that will become an ingredient
  or component part of the product is recycled back to another single
  item of manufacturing equipment and its ancillary equipment in the
  same manufacturing process;
               (2)  hand tools;
               (3)  maintenance supplies not otherwise exempted under
  this section, maintenance equipment, janitorial supplies or
  equipment, office equipment or supplies, equipment or supplies used
  in sales or distribution activities, research or development of new
  products, or transportation activities;
               (4)  machinery and equipment or supplies to the extent
  not otherwise exempted under this section used to maintain or store
  tangible personal property; [or]
               (5)  tangible personal property used in the
  transmission or distribution of electricity, including
  transformers, cable, switches, breakers, capacitor banks,
  regulators, relays, reclosers, fuses, interruptors, reactors,
  arrestors, resistors, insulators, instrument transformers, and
  telemetry units not otherwise exempted under this section, and
  lines, conduit, towers, and poles; or
               (6)  solar energy devices as defined by Section
  185.001(2), Utilities Code.
         SECTION 5.  Except Section 39.9157, Utilities Code, as added
  by this Act, this Act expires when the fund established pursuant to
  Section 39.9155, Utilities Code, as added by this Act, is
  exhausted.
         SECTION 6.  The Public Utility Commission of Texas shall
  adopt rules establishing the programs required under Sections
  39.9155 and 39.9156, Utilities Code, as added by this Act, not later
  than December 1, 2011.
         SECTION 7.  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, 2011.
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