| Vote Recommendation | Economic Freedom | Property Rights | Personal Responsibility | Limited Government | Individual Liberty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | Positive | Neutral | Neutral | Positive | Neutral |
Relating to utility facilities for restoring electric service after a widespread power outage.
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
HB 2483 would permit transmission and distribution utilities to lease or own and operate facilities that provide temporary, emergency electric energy to aid in the restoration of service during an outage. The transmission and distribution utilities would be required to ensure that retail customer usage is adjusted out of reports on usage for billing and use a competitive bidding process when leasing a facility. Additionally, the bill would allow such utilities to buy, own or enter into a cooperative agreement with other utilities to jointly procure facilities that would aid in the restoration of electric service during an outage. Under this bill, a utility that leases and operates the facilities that provide temporary emergency electric energy would be prohibited from selling energy or ancillary services from those facilities. The transmission and distribution utilities would be required to submit a detailed plan to the Publics Utilities Commission regarding these facilities.
The bill would also require that the commission permit these utilities that lease, own, and operates facilities
under this section to recover the costs of leasing or ownership and operation of the facilities, using the rate of return on investment
established in the final order of the utility’s most recent base
rate proceeding.
Texas Action supports HB 2483 as it allows for more cooperation and less restriction in the energy market in order to more effectively respond to service outages.