| Vote Recommendation | Economic Freedom | Property Rights | Personal Responsibility | Limited Government | Individual Liberty |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yes | Neutral | Positive | Neutral | Neutral | Neutral |
Relating to distributed renewable generation resources.
No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.
SB 398 would require a seller or lessor who enters into a purchase, lease, or power purchase agreement with a residential or small commercial customer for the operation of an on-site distributed renewable generation resource to provide to the customer, in writing, contact information, a description of all equipment to be installed, the cost of equipment to be installed, a detailed accounting of fees associated with installation or operation of the generation resource, representations made as part of the agreement, and all applicable warranties.
This bill would also require a lessor to provide to a leasing residential or small commercial customer in writing (1) the term and rate of the lease, and (2) a statement of whether the lease and any applicable warranty or maintenance agreement is transferrable to a subsequent purchaser of the property where the distributed renewable generation resource is installed.
Finally, this bill would prohibit a municipality from prohibiting or restricting the installation of a solar energy device by a residential or small commercial customer except to the extent: (1) a property owner's association is authorized to prohibit the installation or (2) the interconnection guidelines and interconnection agreement of a municipally-owned utility serving its service area, the rules of the Public Utility Commission, or the protocols of an independent organization limit the installation of solar energy devices due to reliability, power quality, or safety.
As SB 398 supports private property rights by prohibiting a municipality from restricting or prohibiting the use of private property for the purposes described in the bill. For this reason, Texas Action supports SB 398.