Energy Bills on the Move

In early April, SPEER's Executive Director Todd McAlister and Policy Manager Noah Oaks had the opportunity to travel to Oklahoma to meet with several stakeholders and discuss all things energy efficiency. We greatly appreciate the opportunity to be included in these conversations and are excited to continue building our efforts in the state. Special thanks to the Oklahoma Dept. of Commerce, INCOG, ACOGOK, Oklahoma Chapter of the Association of Energy Engineers, and the Oklahoma Sustainability Network for all taking the time to meet with us!

In Texas, we also had the opportunity to testify twice at the Texas Legislature in support of SB 258 and HB 4811. These bills seek to improve our energy efficiency programs through several programmatic reforms, reporting needs, and the establishment of the Texas Energy Efficiency Council if passed. SB 258 was left pending in committee and HB 4811 was reported out of committee favorably as substituted. As always, we will continue to monitor the actions in both the Oklahoma and Texas Legislatures.

Countdown to sine die…

Texas – 34 days

Oklahoma – 31 days

In this newsletter:

Texas 88th Legislature Activities
Oklahoma 59th Legislature Activities
Local Policy Actions
Texas Technical Reference Manual Update **ENGAGEMENT OPPORTUNITY**
Events and Webinars
What We're Reading + Hearing

Received this email from a friend?

Subscribe and stay informed with SPEER and industry news.

Texas 88th Legislature Activities

SPEER is currently tracking over 180 energy-related bills and will be providing updates on committee hearings and bill movement via social media, newsletters, and updates on our policy pag e. Because public meetings are required to be posted a week in advance, please check these resources frequently.

All committee hearings are recorded and are available on the Texas Legislature website here.

Bills on the move

Appropriations bills:

HB 1 Appropriations Act Senate appoints conferees-reported

House Calendars April 24-26th *as posted 4/24/2023*

April 25th:

HB 1755 Relating to the creation of the Lone Star Workforce of the Future Fund

HB 4018 Relating to the use of Parks and Wildlife Department land for carbon sequestration or similar ecosystem services projects

April 26th:

HB 1158 Relating to advanced clean energy projects and certain other projects that reduce or eliminate emissions of carbon dioxide or other pollutants

HB 2199 Relating to imposing an additional fee for the registration of an electric vehicle

House Committee Hearings April 24-27th:

Ways and Means on Monday April 24th at 10:00am

HB 4950 Relating to an exemption from ad valorem taxation of the amount of the appraised value of real property that arises from the installation in the property of certain energy efficiency-related improvements

HJR 187 Proposing a constitutional amendment to authorize the legislature to provide for an exemption from ad valorem taxation of the amount of the market value of real property that arises from the installation in the property of certain energy efficiency-related improvements

Full Ways and Means Agenda

Senate Calendars April 24-26th *As posted 4/24/2023*

April 24th:

SJR 82 (CS) Proposing a constitutional amendment providing for the creation of the Texas power resiliency fund to finance backup power sources

SB 330 (CS) Relating to the resilience of the electric grid and certain municipalities

SB 624 (CS) Relating to the permitting of renewable energy generation facilities by the Public Utility Commission of Texas, authorizing fees

SB 1094 (CS) Relating to purchased power costs incurred by electric utilities

SB 1866 (CS) Relating to the use of customer-sited distributed generation facilities owned by certain non-ERCOT electric utilities

SB 2112 (CS) Relating to resources used to ensure the continuous provision of power

Senate Committee Hearings April 24-27th:

Natural Resources & Economic Development on Monday April 24th at 12pm or upon adjournment: Full NRED Agenda - Consider pending business

Business and Commerce on Tuesday April 25th at 9:00am: Full Business and Commerce Agenda- Consider pending business

Bill filing continues and SPEER will be reviewing and tracking all legislation that pertains to our mission. Our full tracking list will be uploaded weekly to the SPEER Policy Texas page which can be found here. If you have any questions or would like to discuss pending legislation, please reach out to us!

Oklahoma 59th Legislature Activities

The final date for legislators to pre-file legislation for the first half of the session was January 19, 2023. Over 2,500 individual bills were pre-filed.

Bills on the move

House Bills:

HB 1023 Property; owners association; solar energy; effective date – Second reading referred to Judiciary 3/29

HB 2425 Professions and occupations; authorizing Construction Industries Board to administer the Uniform Building Code Commission Act; repealer. – Approved by Governor 4/21

HB 2472 Public finance; performance based efficiency contracts; public entity; initial payments; effective date. – Sent to Governor 4/20

HB 2556 Professions and occupations; authorizing Construction Industries Board to administer the Uniform Building Code Commission Act; repealer; effective date – Second reading referred to Business and Commerce 3/30

Senate Bills:

SB 19 An Act relating to carbon capture technologies; defining terms; requiring energy produced from certain sources be considered carbon neutral; requiring energy produced from certain sources in conjunction with carbon capture technologies be considered carbon negative; providing for codification. – Approved by Governor 4/19

SB 168 Oklahoma Uniform Building Code Commission; prohibiting any provision from being enacted to prohibit or limit use of refrigerant designated as federally acceptable. – Approved by Governor 4/19

SB 202 General provisions; protecting the internal combustion engine. – Engrossed by Senate, House amendments read 4/19

SB 433 Department of Commerce; requiring Department to publish information relating to energy efficiency programs. – Second reading referred to Business and Commerce

SB 477 Oklahoma Emission Reduction Technology Rebate Program; modifying rebate limit. Effective date. Emergency – CR; do pass, amended by committee 4/17

SB 502 Electric vehicles; creating the Oklahoma Electric Vehicle Charging Act. Effective date. – CR; do pass, amended by committee 4/10

SPEER is currently tracking legislation that pertains to our mission. Our tracking list will be uploaded weekly to the SPEER Policy Oklahoma page which can be found here. If you have any questions or would like to discuss pending legislation, please reach out to us!

Local Policy Updates

Recent and Upcoming Local Government Policy Actions:

Houston: On April 25th the Houston City Council will consider approval and authorization for an amendment to contract No C79486 between Houston and the Texas Comptroller through SECO to extend the project completion date for certain energy efficient projects relating to the Lonestar Revolving Loan Program. For more information, please see the Houston City Council Agenda page.

If you are aware of upcoming policy discussions or actions in your area and would like to share them in this newsletter, please send information to noaks@eepartnership.org.

Texas Technical Reference Manual v11 Update

Engagement Opportunity

The Public Utility Council of Texas (PUCT) and their third-party EM&V contractor Tetra Tech is in the process of reviewing and updating the measures in the Technical Reference Manual (TRM) v11 update. The purpose of the TRM is to provide a single common reference document to estimate energy and peak demand savings resulting from the installation of energy efficiency measures. The TRM is updated annually through a stakeholder engagement process with utilities, implementers, advocates, and other interested parties submitting recommendations for review to the EM&V contractor. These measures need updating as new advances in technology in efficiency may impact program abilities and savings.

The TRM is by nature very technical and can be overwhelming for individuals not actively involved in the process, however it remains important for stakeholders to engage where possible to ensure the programs are capturing accurate savings. For those interested in participating or have questions, please contact Therese Harris, Lark Lee, and Tina Yoder (Therese.Harris@puc.texas.gov, lark.lee@tetratech.com, Tina.Yoder@tetratech.com) as soon as possible.

Recommendations are due on May 1st.

Events + Webinars

CxEnergy 2023: CxEnergy 2023 is the premier event in commissioning, building technology, and energy management. The 30+ educational sessions, state-of-the-art expo hall, and professional networking opportunities take place May 2-5, 2023 in Dallas/Fort Worth, TX. The Expo Hall features the latest technology in the industry and the event draws hundreds of the nation’s leading commissioning experts, energy management professionals, MEP engineers, HVAC testing professionals, facility managers and building owners. If you are interested in attending, please register here.

Dallas Workshop + Happy Hour

SPEER, in collaboration with the Energy Services Coalition (ESC) Texas Chapter, will feature a panel discussion focused on “No dollar left behind”. The panel will provide up-to-date information on the Investment & Infrastructure Jobs Act (II&JA), the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the expected flow of funds and timeframes, what is included in the bill relevant to our audience, how to seek funds, and offer a forum for questions to our panel of experts.

Our guest panelists include:

→ Eddy Trevino, State Energy Conservation Office (SECO)

→ Crystal Perkins, South Central Regional Intergovernmental and External Affairs Specialist, DOE

→ Cassidy Ellis, Ameresco

→ Shaun Auckland, SPEER

Save Your Spot!

The Texas Energy Code Compliance Collaborative (TECCC) was established in an effort to find ways for the state to access and improve compliance with energy codes, offer support to local jurisdictions, and engage stakeholders in energy code discussions. The stakeholder group was established in 2011 and since 2014 SPEER has been leading the quarterly meetings. With the publication of the 2021 International Energy Conservation Code in the fall of 2020, Texas A&M Energy System Lab (ESL) and our State Energy Conversation Office (SECO) were put on the clock for stringency analysis and recommendation for adoption. Catch a recap of our Q1 TECCC meeting and our expert panelists. While you're there view the 140+ webinar recordings on our YouTube Channel.