Bill Text: TX HB773 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Comm Sub
Bill Title: Relating to creating an energy efficiency council to coordinate administration of energy efficiency programs.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-05-13 - Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal [HB773 Detail]
Download: Texas-2011-HB773-Comm_Sub.html
82R15763 JXC-F | |||
By: Anchia | H.B. No. 773 | ||
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 773: | |||
By: Crownover | C.S.H.B. No. 773 |
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relating to creating an energy efficiency council to coordinate | ||
administration of energy efficiency programs. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Subtitle E, Title 4, Government Code, is amended | ||
by adding Chapter 470 to read as follows: | ||
CHAPTER 470. ENERGY EFFICIENCY COUNCIL | ||
Sec. 470.001. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter: | ||
(1) "Council" means the energy efficiency council. | ||
(2) "Energy efficiency program" means a program that | ||
uses state or federal funding to: | ||
(A) reduce inefficient energy use; | ||
(B) reduce peak energy demand; | ||
(C) reduce energy consumption; | ||
(D) promote compliance with energy efficient | ||
building design standards; or | ||
(E) pay for the implementation of energy cost | ||
reduction measures. | ||
(3) "Program administrator" includes any of the | ||
following entities that administer an energy efficiency program: | ||
(A) a state agency, including the Public Utility | ||
Commission of Texas, the Railroad Commission of Texas, the State | ||
Energy Conservation Office, and the Texas Department of Housing and | ||
Community Affairs; | ||
(B) a political subdivision of this state; | ||
(C) a private or public utility service provider, | ||
including an electric cooperative or municipally owned utility; | ||
(D) a school district; or | ||
(E) an institution of higher education. | ||
Sec. 470.002. PURPOSE. The energy efficiency council is a | ||
council established in the comptroller's office to: | ||
(1) monitor energy efficiency programs in this state; | ||
(2) make recommendations for improving energy | ||
efficiency programs in this state; and | ||
(3) provide a central repository for information on | ||
energy efficiency programs in this state. | ||
Sec. 470.003. ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAM POLICIES. A | ||
program administrator shall consider any applicable | ||
recommendations of the council when creating or implementing the | ||
energy efficiency program. | ||
Sec. 470.004. COUNCIL MEMBERSHIP. (a) The council is | ||
composed of the following 15 members: | ||
(1) 12 ex officio members as follows: | ||
(A) the presiding officer of the Texas Commission | ||
on Environmental Quality; | ||
(B) the chief executive officer of the Electric | ||
Reliability Council of Texas; | ||
(C) the presiding officer of the Public Utility | ||
Commission of Texas; | ||
(D) the presiding officer of the Railroad | ||
Commission of Texas; | ||
(E) the comptroller or an employee of the State | ||
Energy Conservation Office designated by the comptroller; | ||
(F) the director of the Texas Department of | ||
Housing and Community Affairs; | ||
(G) the executive director of the Texas | ||
Facilities Commission; | ||
(H) the executive administrator of the Texas | ||
Water Development Board; | ||
(I) the presiding officer of the Water | ||
Conservation Advisory Council; | ||
(J) the executive director of the Texas | ||
Department of Rural Affairs; | ||
(K) the director of the Energy Systems Laboratory | ||
at the Texas Engineering Experiment Station of The Texas A&M | ||
University System; and | ||
(L) the chief executive of the Office of Public | ||
Utility Counsel; and | ||
(2) three public members appointed by the governor as | ||
follows: | ||
(A) one member to represent low-income | ||
ratepayers; | ||
(B) one member to represent commercial or | ||
industrial ratepayers; and | ||
(C) one member to represent an environmental | ||
organization. | ||
(b) The three public members must be appointed with the | ||
advice and consent of the senate. | ||
(c) The ex officio members and the appointed members serve | ||
as voting members of the council. | ||
(d) The comptroller or the employee designated under | ||
Subsection (a)(1)(E) shall serve as presiding officer of the | ||
council. | ||
(e) The council shall meet at least two times per year at the | ||
call of the presiding officer. | ||
(f) Council members may not receive compensation for | ||
services but, subject to the availability of funding, may receive | ||
reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses incurred while | ||
performing council business. | ||
(g) Appointments to council positions shall be made without | ||
regard to the race, color, disability, sex, religion, age, or | ||
national origin of the appointees. | ||
Sec. 470.005. TERMS; VACANCY. (a) Appointed council | ||
members serve staggered two-year terms, with the terms of one or two | ||
members, as applicable, expiring on February 1. | ||
(b) A vacancy on the council in the position of an appointed | ||
council member shall be filled in the same manner as the original | ||
appointment. The person appointed serves for the remainder of the | ||
unexpired term. | ||
Sec. 470.006. GROUNDS FOR REMOVAL. (a) It is a ground for | ||
removal from the council that a member: | ||
(1) does not maintain during service on the council | ||
the qualifications required by Section 470.004(a)(1); | ||
(2) cannot, because of illness or disability, | ||
discharge the member's duties for a substantial part of the member's | ||
term; or | ||
(3) is absent from more than half of the regularly | ||
scheduled council meetings that the member is eligible to attend | ||
during a calendar year without an excuse approved by a majority vote | ||
of the council. | ||
(b) The validity of an action of the council is not affected | ||
by the fact that it is taken when a ground for removal of a council | ||
member exists. | ||
(c) If the presiding officer has knowledge that a potential | ||
ground for removal exists, the presiding officer shall notify the | ||
appointing authority and the attorney general that a potential | ||
ground for removal exists. | ||
Sec. 470.007. ADMINISTRATIVE SUPPORT. To the extent | ||
resources are available, the State Energy Conservation Office shall | ||
provide the council with administrative support, including meeting | ||
space and staff necessary to assist the council in carrying out the | ||
council's duties under this chapter. | ||
Sec. 470.008. ACCEPTANCE OF GIFTS, GRANTS, OR DONATIONS. | ||
The council may solicit and the comptroller may accept for the | ||
council gifts, grants, and donations from any public or private | ||
source for the purposes of this chapter. | ||
Sec. 470.009. ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAM MONITORING AND | ||
RECOMMENDATIONS. (a) The council shall monitor energy efficiency | ||
programs in this state. | ||
(b) The council may submit to a program administrator | ||
recommendations on means to encourage greater energy efficiency on | ||
a regular basis. | ||
Sec. 470.010. OFFICIAL INTERNET WEBSITES. The council | ||
shall use the following official Internet websites for the | ||
publication of information as required by this chapter: | ||
(1) the Internet website of the State Energy | ||
Conservation Office; and | ||
(2) the electric choice website of the Public Utility | ||
Commission of Texas, www.powertochoose.org. | ||
Sec. 470.011. LIST OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY PROGRAMS. (a) The | ||
council shall: | ||
(1) develop a list of currently operating energy | ||
efficiency programs in this state and publish the list on the | ||
official Internet websites under Section 470.010; and | ||
(2) work with the State Energy Conservation Office and | ||
the Public Utility Commission of Texas to develop and publish on the | ||
official Internet websites under Section 470.010 a user-friendly | ||
page that allows a consumer to search by the consumer's address | ||
energy efficiency programs available in the consumer's service | ||
area. | ||
(b) The State Energy Conservation Office and the Public | ||
Utility Commission of Texas shall each provide a link on their | ||
Internet websites to the page described by Subsection (a)(2). | ||
Sec. 470.012. BIENNIAL PROGRAMS REPORT. (a) The council | ||
biennially shall prepare a report on energy efficiency programs in | ||
this state. The council shall submit the report to the legislature | ||
not later than October 1 of each even-numbered year. | ||
(b) The report must include: | ||
(1) a comprehensive review of the energy efficiency | ||
programs on the list required by Section 470.011, including | ||
information on the goals, costs, and benefits of the programs, the | ||
results of each program, the energy savings and emissions | ||
reductions that each program achieves, and the jobs that each | ||
program creates; | ||
(2) a study comparing energy efficiency programs in | ||
this state to similar programs in: | ||
(A) California; | ||
(B) Florida; | ||
(C) New York; and | ||
(D) each other state the council determines to | ||
have programs appropriate for the comparisons; and | ||
(3) recommendations for improving energy efficiency | ||
programs in this state. | ||
(c) The report may include recommendations for creating new | ||
energy efficiency programs in this state. | ||
(d) The council shall publish the report on the official | ||
Internet websites under Section 470.010. | ||
Sec. 470.013. APPLICABILITY OF ADVISORY COMMITTEE LAW. | ||
Chapter 2110 does not apply to the council. | ||
SECTION 2. As soon as practicable after the effective date | ||
of this Act, the governor and the lieutenant governor shall appoint | ||
members to the energy efficiency council in accordance with Section | ||
470.004, Government Code, as added by this Act. | ||
SECTION 3. 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. |