This section sets energy-efficiency duties for municipally owned utilities and related agencies, including annual reporting and oversight.
Sec. 39.9051. ENERGY EFFICIENCY FOR MUNICIPALLY OWNED UTILITIES. (a) In this section, "municipally owned utility" has the meaning assigned by Section 11.003. (b) This section applies only to a municipally owned utility that had retail sales of more than 500,000 megawatt hours in 2005. (c) It is the goal of the legislature that: (1) municipally owned utilities will administer energy savings incentive programs; (2) customers of a municipally owned utility will have a choice of and access to energy efficiency alternatives that allow customers to reduce energy consumption, peak demand, or energy costs; and (3) each municipally owned utility will provide incentives sufficient for municipally owned utilities to acquire additional cost-effective energy efficiency. (d) The governing body of a municipally owned utility shall provide oversight and adopt rules and procedures, as necessary, to ensure that the utility can achieve the goal of this section. (e) If a municipally owned utility adopts customer choice by decision of the governing body under Chapter 40, the commission shall provide oversight and adopt rules and procedures, as necessary, to ensure that the municipally owned utility can achieve the goal in this section in a market-neutral, nondiscriminatory manner. The commission shall, to the extent possible, include existing energy efficiency programs already adopted by the municipally owned utility. (f) Beginning April 1, 2012, a municipally owned utility must report each year to the State Energy Conservation Office, on a standardized form developed by the office, information regarding the combined effects of the energy efficiency activities of the utility from the previous calendar year, including the utility's annual goals, programs enacted to achieve those goals, and any achieved energy demand or savings goals. (g) The State Energy Conservation Office shall provide the reports made under Subsection (f) to the Energy Systems Laboratory at the Texas Engineering Experiment Station of The Texas A&M University System. The laboratory shall calculate the energy savings and estimated pollution reductions that resulted from the reported activities. (h) The energy systems laboratory shall share the results of the analysis with the Public Utility Commission of Texas, ERCOT, the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality. Added by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 939 (H.B. 3693), Sec. 23, eff. September 1, 2007. Amended by: Acts 2011, 82nd Leg., R.S., Ch. 1068 (S.B. 924), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2011.