5/3/2023 0 Comments Texas legislative sessionSB 3 establishes that a retail public utility that is required to possess a certificate of public convenience and necessity (“CCN”) or a district or affected county that furnishes retail water or sewer utility service shall not impose late fees or disconnect service for nonpayment of bills that are due during an extreme weather emergency until after the emergency is over and shall work with customers that request to establish a payment schedule for unpaid bills that are due during the extreme weather emergency. SB 3 provides specific information regarding TCEQ review of each utility’s emergency preparedness plan and what information should be included in such a plan. In regards to water and wastewater utilities, SB 3 requires affected utilities, which SB 3 defines as retail public utilities, exempt utilities, or providers or conveyors of potable or raw water service, to ensure the emergency operation of their water system during an extended power outage at a minimum water pressure of 20 pounds per square inch, or at a water pressure level approved by the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (“TCEQ”), as soon as safe and practicable following the occurrence of a natural disaster and adopt and submit to TCEQ for its approval: (A) an emergency preparedness plan that demonstrates the utility’s ability to provide the emergency operations described by Subdivision (1) and (B) a timeline for implementing the emergency preparedness plan. SB 3 also created the State Energy Plan Advisory Committee to study the Texas energy market and prepare a report that is due to the Texas Legislature by September 1, 2022. SB 3 created a new Texas Energy Reliability Council that is tasked with preparing a report on an annual basis on the reliability and stability of the electricity supply chain in this state. There were numerous new requirements placed on electric and gas utilities. SB 3 is the Texas Legislature’s effort to improve the reliability and weatherization efforts for water, gas, and electric utilities in Texas in response to Winter Storm Uri. SB 3 (Schwertner) – Relating to preparing for, preventing, and responding to weather emergencies, power outages, and other disasters. The bills below are the major pieces of legislation that accomplished that objective: The Legislature passed a significant package of bills in response to Winter Storm Uri and in an effort to address reliability and weatherization issues to prevent many of the issues faced by Texas citizens in February. Utilities – Response to Winter Storm Uri, Weatherization and Reliability This article summarizes the major legislation that addressed reliability and weatherization issues for utilities, groundwater, water utilities, solid waste and open government issues. A total of 7148 bills and joint resolutions were filed during the Regular Session, 21 bills were vetoed by Governor Abbott, and 1083 bills and joint resolutions became effective as Texas law. Speaker Phelan is a Republican from Beaumont who has served as a state representative for over 8 years. The Regular Session did kick off on January 12th with the election of a new Speaker of the Texas House, Dade Phelan. The Legislature invested a large amount of time and effort during the Regular Session to try and address the issues that Winter Storm Uri brought to light. The state experienced a major winter storm event, Winter Storm Uri, in February that caused a substantial number of deaths and significantly impacted the electric grid in Texas. The Legislature operated the entire session under the conditions created by the Covid-19 pandemic and many normal legislative activities were impacted by the pandemic in some way. The Regular Session of the 87th Texas Legislature was one of the most unusual Regular Sessions the citizens of Texas have ever seen. The Regular Session of the Texas Legislature ended on May 31st when the Legislature adjourned Sine Die.
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