Speaker Of Texas House Includes Prohibition On "Wholesale Indexed Product" Electric Plans As Priority Legislative Reform

March 8, 2021

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Copyright 2010-21 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com

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Speaker of the Texas House of Representatives Dade Phelan has announced seven priority bills meant to address electricity industry reform, as part of a "first phase" of addressing the recent winter weather event

Among the seven priority bills is HB 16 which would ban wholesale real-time pricing pass-through products for residential customers

Specifically, the bill would provide that, "A retail electric provider may not offer a wholesale indexed product to a residential customer," with the bill defining "wholesale indexed product" as, "a retail electric product for which the price a customer pays for electricity includes a direct pass-through of real-time settlement point prices as determined by the independent organization established by Section 39.151 [ERCOT]."

None of the other six bills specifically address retail market issues, or wholesale market design or pricing issues

The other 6 bill are:

HB 10 - restructures the ERCOT board, replacing the unaffiliated members with members appointed by the governor, lieutenant governor, and speaker of the House. HB 10 also requires all board members to reside in the state of Texas and creates an additional ERCOT board member position to represent consumer interests.

HB 11 - requires electric transmission and generation facilities to be weatherized against extreme weather. The bill does not provide any funding for weatherization. Utilities would be required to reconnect service as soon as possible and prevent slower reconnections for low-income areas, rural Texas, and small communities.

HB 12 - creates a statewide disaster alert system to, among other things, provide targeted information on extended power outages

HB 13 - establishes a council composed of ERCOT, Public Utility Commission of Texas, Railroad Commission, and Texas Division of Emergency Management leaders to coordinate during a disaster.

HB 14 - would require gas pipeline operators to implement measures that ensure service quality and reliability during an extreme weather emergency

HB 17 - prevents any political subdivision or planning authority from adopting or enforcing an ordinance, regulation, code, or policy that would prohibit the connection of residential or commercial buildings to specific infrastructure based on the type or source of energy that will be delivered to the end user.

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