Read the full stored bill text
89(R) SB 715 - Engrossed version - Bill Text
By: Sparks, et al.
S.B. No. 715
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to reliability requirements for certain electric
generation facilities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sections 39.1592(a) and (d), Utilities Code, are
amended to read as follows:
(a) This section applies only to an electric generation
facility in the ERCOT power region
that is subject to
[
for which
] a
standard generator interconnection agreement
,
[
is signed on or
after January 1, 2027, that
] has been in operation for at least one
year, and [
that
] is not a self-generator.
(d) The independent organization certified under Section
39.151 for the ERCOT power region may not impose penalties under
Subsection (c):
(1) for resource unavailability due to planned
maintenance outages or transmission outages;
(2) on resources that are already subject to
performance obligations during the highest reliability risk hours
under the day-ahead market rules or other ancillary or reliability
services established by the commission or the independent
organization; [
or
]
(3) during hours outside a baseline established by the
commission that includes morning and evening ramping periods
;
(4)
on resources that demonstrate the ability to
operate when called upon for dispatch for 24 continuous hours at or
above the seasonal average generation capability through the
resource's own generation capability or through a contract with an
on-site or off-site resource, including a battery energy storage
resource; or
(5)
on resources with dual but separate grid
interconnections that provide dispatchable generation to the ERCOT
power region
.
SECTION 2. Sections 52(b) and (c), Chapter 410 (H.B. 1500),
Acts of the 88th Legislature, Regular Session, 2023, are repealed.
SECTION 3. (a) The Public Utility Commission of Texas shall
adopt rules as necessary to implement Section 39.1592, Utilities
Code, as amended by this Act, not later than January 1, 2027.
(b) Notwithstanding Subsection (a) of this section, an
owner or operator of an electric generation facility that is
subject to a power purchase agreement entered into before the
effective date of this Act is not required to comply with the
performance requirements described by Section 39.1592(b),
Utilities Code, until the expiration of the agreement as it exists
on the effective date of this Act.
SECTION 4. (a) The Public Utility Commission of Texas shall
consider the use of a settlement price cap, a fixed reliability fee,
and other methods of imposing penalties under Section
39.1592(c)(1), Utilities Code. The Public Utility Commission of
Texas and the independent organization certified under Section
39.151, Utilities Code, for the ERCOT power region shall:
(1) consider rebating penalties collected under
Section 39.1592 directly to consumers or redirecting a portion of
the collected penalties toward reliability incentives; and
(2) for the purposes of Subdivision (1) of this
subsection, prioritize rebates of penalties or redirection of
penalties in a manner the commission determines will provide the
maximum financial benefit to consumers while still ensuring that
the reliability needs of the ERCOT power region are met and
premature retirements of dispatchable generation facilities are
avoided.
(b) Notwithstanding Section 39.1592(c), Utilities Code, the
Public Utility Commission of Texas may allow the financial
penalties and incentives required by that subsection to be adopted
in a phased manner over multiple years to mitigate market
disruptions that the commission determines would result in net
increased costs to consumers.
SECTION 5. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.