Data Center Power Plants Paired With Desalination Escape Utility Rules

The text as introduced · 547 words

By: Darby
H.B. No. 4290

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to a qualifying cogenerator that serves a large load and a

colocated desalination facility.

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

SECTION 1. Section 31.002, Utilities Code, is amended by

amending Subdivision (13) to read as follows:

(13) "Qualifying cogenerator" and "qualifying small

power producer" have the meanings assigned those terms by 16 U.S.C.

Sections 796(18)(C) and 796(17)(D). A qualifying cogenerator that

provides electricity to a purchaser of the cogenerator's thermal

output is not for that reason considered to be a retail electric

provider or a power generation company. A qualifying cogenerator

includes an owner or operator of dispatchable generation that:

(A) provides thermal, steam or waste heat for use

by a co-located desalination facility; and

(B) serves a load whose primary purpose is the

manufacture of digital products.

SECTION 2. Subsection 37.001, Utilities Code, is amended by

amending Subdivision (3) to read as follows:

(3) "Retail electric utility" means a person,

political subdivision, electric cooperative, or agency that

operates, maintains, or controls in this state a facility to

provide retail electric utility service. The term does not include

a corporation described by Section 32.053 to the extent that the

corporation sells electricity exclusively at wholesale and not to

the ultimate consumer. A qualifying cogenerator that sells

electric energy at retail to the sole purchaser of the

cogenerator's thermal output under Sections 35.061 and 36.007 is

not for that reason considered to be a retail electric utility. The

owner or operator of a qualifying cogeneration facility who was

issued the necessary environmental permits from the Texas Natural

Resource Conservation Commission after January 1, 1998, and who

commenced construction of such qualifying facility before July 1,

1998, may provide electricity to the purchasers of the thermal

output of that qualifying facility and shall not for that reason be

considered an electric utility or a retail electric utility,

provided that the purchasers of the thermal output are owners of

manufacturing or process operation facilities that are located on a

site entirely owned before September, 1987, by one owner who

retained ownership after September, 1987, of some portion of the

facilities and that those facilities now share some integrated

operations, such as the provision of services and raw materials. A

person who is an electric generation equipment lessor or operator

is not for that reason considered to be a retail electric utility.

A person who owns or operates equipment used solely to provide

electricity charging service for consumption by an alternatively

fueled vehicle, as defined by Section 502.004, Transportation Code,

is not for that reason considered to be a retail electric utility.

The owner or operator of a qualifying congenator as defined by

Subdivision 31.002(13) is not considered to be a retail electric

utility if the owner or operator of a qualifying cogenerator is

providing electricity to a manufacturer of digital products and

thermal, steam, or waste heat to a colocated desalination facility.

SECTION 3. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives

a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as

provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this

Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this

Act takes effect September 1, 2025.