Committee hears progress and data gaps in implementation of HB 2663 on inactive-well electrical equipment

Chairman Darby opened the committee’s first interim item by asking regulators about enforcement of House Bill 26 63, the 89th-session law that added electrical equipment to the list of infrastructure operators must remove when seeking long-term plugging extensions. David Lindley, assistant director of field operations in the Railroad Commission of Texas, said the bill was adopted Nov. 18, 2025 and became effective Dec. 8, 2025. He described the rule’s key effect: after 10 years an operator must remove all site equipment, now including electric equipment, and operators must affirm on first extension applications that electricity has been disconnected.