Monitoring the Session

HB 3240

Guerra Bill Gives Geothermal Industry Seats On A Study Council

Did not pass

Verdict: Smells

SmellsNeeds review
Rep. R.D. "Bobby" GuerraDHouse 41
Both charges, and why
Study, task force, commission, report

THE TEXT

…“is established within the commission to study and make”…

Bill text, House committee report version (H)

The bill's only action is creating a council to study and recommend. Any real geothermal policy waits for later legislation, but the caption honestly says it creates a council.

Study, task force, commission, report
New fee, fund, board or appointees

THE TEXT

“not more than 11 members appointed by the”…

Bill text, House committee report version (H)

The bill creates a new council with up to 11 appointed seats. The members are unpaid, and the caption openly announces the council.

New fee, fund, board or appointees

Needs review · Nov 1, 2026 · Headline, summary and grade are analysis of the bill text, not a finding about any person · How we grade

Caption

relating to the establishment of the Texas geothermal energy production policy council.

Caption from analyzed text · version H.

Summary

Up to 11 unpaid seats, three to five from industry. It studies, then ends in 2032.

The bill creates an unpaid advisory council inside the Railroad Commission to study geothermal energy and recommend a state plan and law changes. It touches the commission chair, a University of Texas geology director, and up to 11 commission appointees, including three to five people from the geothermal industry. Nothing changes on the ground beyond the study and recommendations, and the council ends January 1, 2032.

Labels

Labels: ACROSS THE AISLE. Joint authors: 1 Republican, 4 Democrats. Party as the Legislative Reference Library lists it for the 89th Legislature.GOT HALFWAY. Passed the House on Apr 25, 2025. Died in the Senate: received, never referred to a committee.

Receipt

The receipt

89R-HB3240 · 2025-02-24

SOLD BY

Rep. R.D. "Bobby" GuerraDHouse 41 Rep. Drew DarbyRHouse 72 Rep. Eddie MoralesDHouse 74

+ 2 more authors, 4 coauthors

ITEM

relating to the establishment of the Texas geothermal energy production policy council.

WHAT IT DOES

Up to 11 unpaid seats, three to five from industry. It studies, then ends in 2032.

The bill creates an unpaid advisory council inside the Railroad Commission to study geothermal energy and recommend a state plan and law changes. It touches the commission chair, a University of Texas geology director, and up to 11 commission appointees, including three to five people from the geothermal industry. Nothing changes on the ground beyond the study and recommendations, and the council ends January 1, 2032.

CHARGES

[x] STUDY, TASK FORCE, COMMISSION, REPORTanalysis confidence 85%

THE TEXT

…“is established within the commission to study and make”…

Bill text, House committee report version (H)

The bill's only action is creating a council to study and recommend. Any real geothermal policy waits for later legislation, but the caption honestly says it creates a council.

[x] NEW FEE, FUND, BOARD OR APPOINTEESanalysis confidence 70%

THE TEXT

“not more than 11 members appointed by the”…

Bill text, House committee report version (H)

The bill creates a new council with up to 11 appointed seats. The members are unpaid, and the caption openly announces the council.

TOTAL

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version I · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version I · March 27, 2025

No first-year general revenue figure available here.

LBB published estimates · flow over the stated periods.

Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

HISTORY

  1. Filed
  2. Read first time
  3. Referred to Energy Resources
  4. Scheduled for public hearing on . . .
  5. Considered in public hearing
  6. Testimony taken/registration(s) recorded in committee
  7. Left pending in committee
  8. Considered in formal meeting
  9. Reported favorably w/o amendment(s)
  10. Comte report filed with Committee Coordinator
  11. Committee report distributed
  12. Committee report sent to Calendars
  13. Considered in Calendars
  14. Placed on General State Calendar
  15. Read 2nd time
  16. Passed to engrossment
  17. Record vote RV#538
  18. Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
  19. Read 3rd time
  20. Passed
  21. Record vote RV#581
  22. Statement(s) of vote recorded in Journal
  23. Reported engrossed
  24. Received from the House
FILED UNDER

No verified beat found.

SIGNED FOR BY

House · 81 yea · 35 nay

Sources

House: Final passage · Apr 25, 2025. Journal. Published stock for this vote. Snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

All floor motions and other positions below.

Smells

THANK YOU FOR CHECKING THE RECEIPT

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

CAMPAIGN PAID FOR BY

R.D. "Bobby" Guerra

Donors

Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas$3KTexas Trial Lawyers Association PAC$2KExxon Mobile PAC$1K

Not tied to this bill.

Sources

The author's campaign account only. Own money and internal transfers are separate on the member page.

Derived itemized flow · Oct 28, 2024 to Oct 11, 2025. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas$2,500.00

Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas

$2,500.00

Cash
$2,500.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$2,500.00

Also funds 53 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Aug 15, 2024 to Sep 21, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Name match, not a verified identity: normalized filed name and state.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · on Nov 15, 2024. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 100985170.

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC$1,500.00

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC

$1,500.00

Cash
$1,500.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$1,500.00

Also funds 137 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 24, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · on Dec 12, 2024. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 100985170.

Exxon Mobile PAC$1,000.00

Exxon Mobile PAC

$1,000.00

Cash
$1,000.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$1,000.00

Also funds 0 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · on Oct 31, 2024. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Name match, not a verified identity: normalized filed name and state.

Sources

Derived itemized flow · on Oct 31, 2024. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 100985170.

Money

Missing data does not establish zero giving. Display amounts are rounded.

×

Kickapoo Traditional Tribe of Texas

$2,500.00

Cash
$2,500.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$2,500.00

Also funds 53 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Aug 15, 2024 to Sep 21, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Name match, not a verified identity: normalized filed name and state.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · on Nov 15, 2024. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 100985170.

×

Texas Trial Lawyers Association PAC

$1,500.00

Cash
$1,500.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$1,500.00

Also funds 137 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · Jul 24, 2024 to Oct 23, 2026. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

TEC account match.

Team
Sources

Derived itemized flow · on Dec 12, 2024. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 100985170.

×

Exxon Mobile PAC

$1,000.00

Cash
$1,000.00
Paid by others
$0.00
Total
$1,000.00

Also funds 0 other sitting lawmakers.

Derived recipient stock · on Oct 31, 2024. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Name match, not a verified identity: normalized filed name and state.

Sources

Derived itemized flow · on Oct 31, 2024. State data as of Nov 4, 2026.

Derived itemized contributions on live regular reports and uncovered special-session dates. Internal account transfers and daily reports are excluded.

Report IDs: 100985170.

Votes2

House Apr 25, 2025

Yea
81
Nay
35
Present, not voting
1
Absent
4
Excused
29
Names

Named positions matched to lawmakers. See the journal for unmatched names.

House journal

Sources

Record 581

HB 3240 was passed by (Record 581): 81 Yeas, 35 Nays, 1 Present, not voting.

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

  • Yea: 81 (published)
  • Nay: 35 (published)
  • Present, not voting: 1 (published)
  • Absent: 4 (derived from named list)
  • Excused: 29 (derived from named list)

House journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

House Apr 24, 2025

Yea
102
Nay
44
Present, not voting
1
Absent
2
Excused
1
Names

Named positions matched to lawmakers. See the journal for unmatched names.

House journal

Sources

Record 538

HB 3240 was passed to engrossment by (Record 538): 102 Yeas, 44 Nays, 1 Present, not voting.

Published stock of positions for this vote, except where marked derived.

  • Yea: 102 (published)
  • Nay: 44 (published)
  • Present, not voting: 1 (published)
  • Absent: 2 (derived from named list)
  • Excused: 1 (derived from named list)

House journal. Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

Witnesses12
For
10
Against
0
On
2
Names

For

  • Chevron1 registration
  • Environmental Defense Fund1 registration
  • Lone Star Chapter Sierra Club1 registration
  • McAllen Public Utility1 registration
  • Self; City of Mcallen PUB1 registration
  • Self; Commission Shift Action1 registration
  • Self; Texas chapter of US Green Building Council1 registration
  • Texas 20361 registration
  • Texas Association of Business1 registration
  • Texas Geothermal Energy Alliance1 registration

On

  • Bureau of Economic Geology1 registration
  • Railroad Commission of Texas1 registration
Sources

12 parsed registrations across the loaded witness lists.

Derived stock of witness registrations. Repeated appearances count separately. Organizations and self-representation appear as printed.

House witness list. Source snapshot 2026-10-20, Central time.

Fiscal

No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated.

LBB estimate · fiscal note version I · source

Sources

Fiscal note · version I · March 27, 2025

No first-year general revenue figure available here.

LBB published estimates · flow over the stated periods.

Source snapshot 2026-10-19, Central time.

How this was graded

Adversarial review by claude-opus-5-5 at high effort: Smells.

Analysis of text version H by claude-opus-5-5, Oct 22, 2026, against the published rubric.

Sources

Texas House · Filed Feb 24, 2025

04/28/2025 S Received from the House

Texas Legislature Online · Introduced · House Committee Report · Engrossed

Data snapshot Nov 1, 2026 at 1:50 PM CST. Grades, charges, quotes and corrections follow the published record.

Coauthors
Jay DeanRHouse 7 Lulu FloresDHouse 51 Suleman LalaniDHouse 76 Mihaela PlesaDHouse 70

House committee · Energy Resources · Committee vote 11 aye, 0 nay · Out of committee

Companion

SB 2671 by Hinojosa, Juan "Chuy" (identical)

Subjects

Energy--Geothermal (IP9BV)

State Agencies, Boards & Commissions--Newly Proposed

UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS AT AUSTIN BUREAU OF ECONOMIC GEOLOGY

RAILROAD COMMISSION

TEXAS GEOTHERMAL ENERGY PRODUCTION POLICY COUNCIL (VQ35A)

Text

The text as introduced · 339 words

89R4064 JAM-D

By: Guerra
H.B. No. 3240

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to the establishment of the Texas geothermal energy

production policy council.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 81, Natural Resources

Code, is amended by adding Section 81.076 to read as follows:

Sec. 81.076. TEXAS GEOTHERMAL ENERGY PRODUCTION POLICY

COUNCIL. (a) In this section, "council" means the Texas geothermal

energy production policy council.

(b) The Texas geothermal energy production policy council

is established within the commission to study and make

recommendations relating to the commission's policy framework for

geothermal energy development.

(c) The council is composed of:

(1) the chair of the commission or the chair's

designee;

(2) the director of the Bureau of Economic Geology of

The University of Texas at Austin or the director's designee; and

(3) not more than 11 members appointed by the

commission to represent as many different types of participants as

possible, including at least three but not more than five

representatives from the geothermal energy industry.

(d) The chair of the commission or the chair of the

commission's designee is the chair of the council.

(e) A member of the council is not entitled to compensation

or reimbursement of expenses for service on the council.

(f) The council shall:

(1) study the development of geothermal energy

industries in this state, including the development of facilities

for the production, pipeline transportation, and storage of

geothermal energy;

(2) analyze how tax incentives or cooperation with the

Geothermal Technologies Office of the United States Department of

Energy could encourage the development of geothermal energy

projects in this state; and

(3) develop a state plan for geothermal energy

production oversight by the commission.

(g) The council shall make recommendations to the

legislature relating to legislative changes needed for the

oversight and regulation of production, pipeline transportation,

and storage of geothermal energy.

(h) The council is abolished and this section expires

January 1, 2032.

SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.