- HB 3010. Rep. Erin Zwiener (D-45). HB 3010, requiring municipal/county governments to use SolarApp+ (or another online program with similar capabilities) to streamline the solar permitting process, is currently stalled. Referred to House State Affairs committee on March 14, it never had a hearing. Efforts to insert the language of HB 3010 into SB 2127 (Sen. Brandon Creighton [R-4]), a bill designed to limit the legislative autonomy of municipal/county governments from passing policies that contradict state law, were unsuccessful. Despite this, staffers for Creighton voiced some support for HB 3010 and have been willing to help identify another bill to which HB 3010 could be attached.
- HB 4455. Rep. Mano DeAyala (R-133). HB 4455 amends Sec. 202.010 of the Texas Property Code changing the requirement from 10% to a 25% increase in energy production if the solar energy device is located in an area not designated by the property owner’s association, was referred to House Business and Industry committee on March 21. The bill was never set for hearing. The bill would have restricted homeowners from installing solar where they wanted. At this time, TXSES has not identified any attempts to attach the language of the bill into another.
- SB 2257 Sen. Cesar Blanco (D-29)& HB 4542 Rep. Joseph Moody (D-78). SB 2257 and its House Companion HB 4542 appear unlikely to make it out of their respective committees (Senate Business and Commerce and House State Affairs respectively). The bills would have required electric utility providers (municipal utilities, co-ops, and retail electric providers) to use a net-metering buyback plan for homeowners with excess generation to interconnect to the grid. The bill’s ultimate impact however would have been minor, as it only would have applied to areas outside of ERCOT (<10%).