By Cyrus Reed
For the first time ever, the Public Utility Commission of Texas is requiring large private utilities to publicly present their proposed budgets and plans for their 2027 Energy Efficiency offerings. Known formally as the Energy Efficiency Plan and Reports (EEPR), the eight major Transmission and Distribution Utilities have been required to file the plan on April 1st every year with the Commission since well since early 2000s. What has changed is this year, at the urging of the new Office of Energy Efficiency, and a key request made by the Sierra Club, is that there will be two separate meetings at which each utility will present their ideas and take feedback from the public.
First up will be the four utilities located outside of ERCOT - El Paso Electric, Entergy Texas, Xcel Energy/SPS and SWEPCO, who will present their plans on April 22nd in a virtual meeting.
Energy Efficiency Forum - Virtual EEPR, April 22nd - 12:30 - 2:30 PM
Schedule of events:
- 12:30- 1:00pm - El Paso Electric - 20-minute plan overview, 10 minutes Q&A
- 1:00 - 1:30 pm - Entergy Texas - 20-minute plan overview, 10 minutes Q&A
- 1:30 - 2:00 pm - SWEPCO - 20-minute plan overview, 10 minutes Q&A
- 2:00 - 2:30 pm - Xcel Energy/SPS - 20-minute plan overview, 10 minutes Q&A
ERCOT utilities - Centerpoint Energy, ONCOR Electric, AEP Texas and TNMP - will present their 2027 energy efficiency plans on Tuesday, May 19, 9:30 am CT - 11:30 am CT. More details to come.
Why this process is so important
There has never been a requirement or process to ask questions of the utilities when they submit their plans to the Commission. While Sierra Club in the past has filed comments on these plans, they have never been required to respond or explain why they proposed to have a particular program, and not another. Instead, we have had to wait for the formal “rate case” when the utility proposes how much they will charge ratepayers to collect the money to run the programs, and at that point, we and others have been told that it is too late to change the programs.
Under current PUCT rules, non-ERCOT utilities are required to file their EECRF, or Energy Efficiency Cost Recovery Factors on May 1st, while ERCOT utilities are required to file their EECRFs on June 1st. The new required public meeting at least gives a few weeks to try to influence what they might include in their programs, including proposed budgets for programs that are intended to save consumers money on their electric bills through rebates, incentives and education.
Where can I see the proposed plans?
The PUCT has made it easier to find the plans and all of the plans were submitted in a single project (59166) through their interchange. A link has been provided where you can see all eight plans, plus associated tables that list numbers.
Has the Sierra Club Lone Star Chapter reviewed the plans yet?
Not yet, but we hope to review all the plans and provide comments either at the public meetings or through filing comments in project 59166 before the end of the month. Based on the plans and programs, the Sierra Club could decide to intervene in future rate cases as we have done in the past. Last year, we intervened in two EECRF rate cases, reaching agreement with both Centerpoint Energy and AEP Texas which we hope will lead to improvements in their programs and program offerings. Under our settlement agreement, we will be holding a public meeting later this year with CenterPoint Energy in the Houston area, and a meeting with AEP Texas in the Rio Grande Valley. Details to come later!
How much do utilities spend on these energy efficiency programs?
Texas was the first state in the nation to pass an Energy Efficiency Portfolio Standard, beginning in 1999, at that time requiring utilities to meet a certain percentage of their growth in demand through programs designed to save energy. While Sierra Club worked with the legislature in 2009 and 2011 to increase those requirements - basically raising the goals utilities have to meet - there has been no required increase in the programs since 2012 and spending and achievements in reducing energy use and energy demand (i.e. peak usage during those hot summer afternoons) have stayed relatively flat. Indeed, according to the American Council on an Energy Efficient Council (ACEEE), Texas now ranks 36th among all states on their energy efficiency policy and program efforts.
In 2024, consumers living in the 8 private TDU territories spent about $250 million to receive energy efficiency programs, but only about $150 million was spent in actual incentives and rebates for consumers, with the rest used for analysis, administrative costs - and big bonuses for the utilities themselves for meeting and exceeding their goals. While $150 million might seem like a lot, it pales in comparison to what some public utilities like Austin Energy and CPS Energy spend on their customers (on a per customer basis) and to other states like Massachusetts, New York which require much higher amounts of spending. In 2025, we worked with the Commission to pass a rule to limit the bonuses, which were sometimes as high as 40 percent of the total budget.
Hopefully, this will lead to bigger budgets to help electric consumers.
The Sierra Club will continue to advocate at the PUCT, ERCOT and the legislature for making sure that demand-side solutions - actually reducing our energy use - are a robust part of our energy solutions. Afterall, energy savings and other demand management programs are the cheapest, quickest and cleanest way to meet our energy needs.
How can the public participate in the upcoming meeting?
You can join us on April 22nd at 12:30 pm by joining a teams meeting run by the PUCT here. (Note - you gotta wait until then to join!) The link for the May 19th meeting is not yet available but you will be able to find it later this month here.