Legislation Passed in the last Legislature Session:
SB 300 - Amends previous bill. Requires school districts to develop a plan to reduce electric consumption by
5% beginning with the 2008 state fiscal year and consume electricity in subsequent fiscal years in accordance
with the district's energy plan. Deletes existing text requiring the board of trustees of a district to establish a goal
to reduce the school district's annual electric consumption by five percent each state fiscal year for six years
beginning September 1, 2007.
Senate Bill 300 Senate Author: Patrick, Dan
Effective: 6-19-09 House Sponsor: Shelton
Bill Summary:
Senate Bill 300 amends the Education Code to require a school district's employment policy to require that notice of a vacant
position be provided to each current district employee by posting the position either on a bulletin board at a place convenient to
the public in the district's central administrative office and at the central administrative office of each campus in the district or on
the district's Internet website, if the district has a website, rather than on both such bulletin boards and the district website.
The bill delays the expiration of a district-level class size exception from the end of the semester for which it is granted to the
end of the school year for which it is granted and removes a prohibition against the commissioner of education granting an
exception for more than one semester at a time. The bill requires a school district seeking an exception to notify the
commissioner and apply for the exception not later than October 1 or the 30th day after the first school day the district exceeds the
class size limit, whichever is later. The bill requires the Texas Education Agency, not later than January 1, 2011, to report to the
legislature the number of applications for exceptions submitted by each school district and, for each application, whether the
application was granted or denied.
The bill authorizes, rather than requires, each school district to conduct a training session for students and teachers on
procedures for evacuating a school bus during an emergency. The bill encourages a school district that chooses to conduct such
training to conduct the training in the fall and to structure the training session so that the session applies to school bus
passengers, a portion of the session occurs on a school bus, and the session lasts for at least one hour. The bill removes
provisions requiring training sessions in both fall and spring, requiring a portion of the training to occur on a school bus, and
requiring the training session to last at least one hour. The bill encourages a school district, immediately before each field trip
involving transportation by school bus, to review emergency evacuation procedures with the school bus passengers, including a
demonstration of the emergency exits and the safe manner to exit.
The bill requires each school district board of trustees to establish a long-range energy plan, rather than a goal, to reduce the
district's annual electric consumption by five percent beginning with the 2008 state fiscal year and to consume electricity in
subsequent fiscal years in accordance with the plan. The bill requires the plan to include strategies for achieving energy efficiency
that result in net savings or that can be achieved without financial cost to the district, and to include, for each strategy identified, the
initial, short-term capital costs and lifetime costs and savings that may result from its implementation. The bill requires the board
of trustees to consider the total net costs and savings that may occur over the seven-year period following implementation of the
strategy and authorizes the board of trustees to submit the required plan to the State Energy Conservation Office to determine
whether funds available through loan programs administered by the office are available to the district.
The bill repeals a requirement that a school district board of trustees, for purposes of entering into energy savings
performance contracts, establish a goal to reduce the annual electric consumption by five percent each year for six years,
beginning September 1, 2007. The bill makes its provisions applicable beginning with the 2009-2010 school year.
SB 547 - Delays indefinitely retail electric competition in areas of east Texas currently served by Southwestern
Electric Power Co. (SWEPCO)
Senate Bill 547 Senate Author: Eltife
Effective: 9-1-09 House Sponsor: Hughes
Bill Summary:
Senate Bill 547 adds provisions to the Utilities Code relating to the transition to retail electric competition for certain areas
outside of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT). It makes such provisions applicable to an investor-owned electric
utility that is operating solely outside of ERCOT in areas of Texas included in the Southwest Power Pool on January 1, 2008, that
was not affiliated with the Southeastern Electric Reliability Council on January 1, 2008, and to which provisions for certain other
non-ERCOT utilities do not apply. The bill delays the introduction of retail competition for such an electric utility until fair
competition and reliable service are available to all retail customer classes in the area served by the utility. It establishes a
sequence of required events, in five prescribed stages, to be followed to introduce retail competition in the utility's service area.
The bill authorizes the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) to modify the sequence of such events, but prohibits the PUC
from modifying the substance of the requirements. Until the date the electric utility is authorized by the PUC to implement retail
customer choice, its rates are subject to regulation under the law on electric rates, and until the date the utility implements
customer choice, statutory provisions relating to the restructuring of the electric utility industry, other than those of the bill and
those relating to goals for renewable energy and energy efficiency, do not apply to the utility.
SB 1492 - Delays retail electric competition in areas of the panhandle, far west, and far southeast parts of the
state.
Senate Bill 1492 Senate Author: Williams
Effective: 6-19-09 House Sponsor: Ritter
Bill Summary:
In 2005, the legislature delayed retail electric deregulation in a portion of southeast Texas operating outside the territory of the
Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) and included in the neighboring Southeastern Electric Reliability Council (SERC).
However, associated provisions require an electric utility operating solely in the SERC area to propose a competitive generation
tariff to allow eligible customers to contract for competitive electricity generation from sources other than the utility. Senate Bill
1492 amends the Utilities Code to require the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) to approve, reject, or modify the
proposed tariff not later than September 1, 2010. The bill provides that, pursuant to such a tariff, the utility must purchase
competitive generation service selected by the customer, provide it at retail to the customer, and provide and price retail
transmission service to a customer receiving the tariff at a rate that is unbundled from the utility's cost of service. In awarding a
certificate of convenience and necessity or allowing cost recovery for purchased power by the utility, the PUC must ensure that
environmental integrity factors, as well as factors regarding probable improvement of service or consumer cost reduction, are met
and that the generating facility or the purchased power agreement satisfies the identified reliability needs of the utility. The PUC
must ensure also that tariff implementation does not harm manufacturers that do not opt for competitive generation. The bill
prohibits any PUC decision that is contrary to an applicable decision, rule, or policy statement of a federal regulatory authority.
An electric utility operating solely in the SERC area must cease all activities relating to the transition to competition if the PUC
has not approved a transition to competition plan as of January 1, 2009. The bill sets related deadlines for plan withdrawal and
the required cessation. It establishes procedures under which the PUC may initiate actions reviving such transition plans,
potentially leading to plan approval.
Senate Bill 1492 authorizes the PUC, on a declaration of a natural disaster or other emergency by the governor, to require an
electric utility, municipally owned utility, electric cooperative, qualifying facility, power generation company, exempt wholesale
generator, or power marketer to sell electricity to an electric utility, municipally owned utility, or electric cooperative that is unable to
supply power to meet customer demand due to the disaster or emergency. The bill authorizes the PUC to order an electric utility,
municipally owned utility, or electric cooperative to provide interconnection service to another electric utility, municipally owned
utility, or electric cooperative to facilitate a sale of electricity to address such a situation. The bill requires the PUC, if it does not
order the sale of electricity during a declared emergency, to promptly submit to the legislature a report describing why not. The
receiving entity must reimburse the supplying entity for the actual cost of providing the electricity. The bill authorizes an entity that
pays for such electricity and is regulated by the PUC to fully recover the cost of the electricity by including the cost in its fuel cost or
imposing a surcharge. The bill requires the PUC, not later than November 1, 2009, to conduct and complete a related study of
locations in Texas that are most likely to experience a natural disaster or other emergency.
HB 2667 - Changes water use performance standards for plumbing fixtures sold in Texas.
House Bill 2667 House Author: Ritter et al.
Effective: 9-1-09 Senate Sponsor: Hinojosa
Bill Summary:
House Bill 2667 amends the Health and Safety Code to revise the water saving performance standards for plumbing fixtures
sold in, distributed in, or imported into Texas. The bill sets out revised performance standards for a sink or lavatory faucet or a
faucet aerator, a shower head, a urinal and the associated flush valve, if any, and a toilet. The bill specifies different water saving
performance standards for a urinal and its flush valve and a toilet based on whether the fixture is sold, offered for sale, or
distributed in Texas before January 1, 2014, or on or after January 1, 2014.
The bill requires a manufacturer to supply to the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) certified test results
from a laboratory accredited by the American National Standards Institute verifying that a plumbing fixture meets certain water
saving performance standards in order to have the fixture included on TCEQ's list of fixtures that are certified as meeting such
standards. The bill makes the above-described performance standards and certification requirements inapplicable to a
nonwater-supplied urinal and a plumbing fixture that has been certified by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency under the
WaterSense Program.
The bill authorizes the governing body of a municipality or county to allow the sale of a urinal or toilet that does not comply with
those standards that are only applicable on or after January 1, 2014, if a greater amount of water is required to flush a public
sewer system in a manner consistent with public health. The bill sets out a phase-in schedule of water saving performance
standards for urinals and toilets. The bill prohibits a person from selling, offering for sale, or distributing in Texas a nonwater-
supplied urinal for use in this state unless the nonwater-supplied urinal meets certain performance, testing, labeling, and
installation requirements set out in the bill. The bill redefines "plumbing fixture" and "toilet," rescinds TCEQ's rulemaking authority
for the marking or labeling of plumbing fixtures, and makes conforming changes to the Water Code.
The full text of all bills can be accessed at http://www.legis.state.tx.us/ and entering the bill number.
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