Committee hears bill to streamline municipal permitting for residential backup batteries

Senate Bill 1252, a bill to reduce municipal permitting barriers for residential battery backup systems, received extensive testimony from utilities, clean-energy organizations and industry representatives at a Committee on Business & Commerce hearing and was left pending.

Sponsor Senator Schwartner said the committee substitute "addresses a bureaucratic permitting problem that is prevalent across our state that is limiting consumers' access to residential backup power systems." He said local permitting timelines and costs vary widely and can prevent homeowners from obtaining battery systems that provide backup during distribution-level outages.

"Senate Bill 12 52 would eliminate unnecessary municipal permitting and aligns the regulation of residential batteries with existing practices in unincorporated areas of the state where systems are already required to comply with TDLR electrical licensing and National Electric Code standards," Schwartner told the committee. He added that the substitute preserves municipal-owned utilities' discretion over interconnection within their service territories.

Testimony in favor came from a range of witnesses. Cyrus Reed of the Sierra Club's Lone Star chapter said the substitute "fixes" earlier concerns by explicitly preserving municipal utility oversight and noted that the TDLR adopted the 2023 National Electric Code. Zach Dell, CEO of Base Power, said city permitting delays and costs have left his company with a wait list of more than 15,000 Texans seeking backup systems, representing "over 250 megawatts of flexible capacity" that could support the grid if permitting were consistent. Taylor Kilroy of the Texas Public Power Association said municipal utilities had raised safety concerns but that the substitute language addressed those issues.

Industry witnesses and advocates urged the committee to move the bill to reduce red tape and provide consistent standards across cities, while preserving utility interconnection requirements and NEC compliance. Questions from committee members focused on safety, the role of municipal utilities, inspection delays, and whether municipal governments retain appropriate authority for interconnection agreements.

The committee closed public testimony and left SB 1252 pending for further consideration.

Ending: The substitute aims to standardize permitting statewide while keeping local utilities' interconnection authority; supporters said it would speed installations and add flexible capacity to the grid, while opponents raised concerns about preserving local safety oversight.