Senate Bill 2341

(As Sent to Governor)

AN ACT TO MAINTAIN STATE JURISDICTION OVER THE INTEGRITY OF ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION INFRASTRUCTURE TO ASSURE LANDOWNER SAFEGUARDS, TRANSPARENCY AND OVERSIGHT OF CUSTOMER RATES, RELIABILITY AND RELIEF; TO PRESCRIBE THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE ISSUANCE OF A CERTIFICATE OF PUBLIC CONVENIENCE AND NECESSITY TO BUILD CERTAIN ELECTRIC TRANSMISSION FACILITIES IN A REGIONAL TRANSMISSION ORGANIZATION; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.

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

SECTION 1. (1) In order to promote the policy declared in Section 77-3-2 and to assure a local forum for landowner safeguards, transparency and oversight of customer rates, reliability and relief, an application filed under Section 77-3-11 or 77-3-14 for a certificate of public convenience and necessity to build, own or operate a new transmission facility in a regional transmission organization can only satisfy the public convenience and necessity if such facilities will ultimately be owned by:

(a) An entity over which the commission has the jurisdiction to set rates as described in Section 77-3-5 or 77-3-33;

(b) A "generation and transmission cooperative" or "G&T cooperative" as defined in Section 77-5-256; or

(c) An entity that agrees to submit to commission jurisdiction over its standards for service quality and customer service and, as to costs ultimately to be borne by Mississippi electric customers, agrees to recover through any applicable transmission tariff only those costs, including the cost of capital, approved by the commission.

(2) Nothing in this section shall apply to applications filed before the effective date of this act, nor to any amendments or supplements to such application made thereafter. Nothing in this section shall be construed as requiring a certificate for facilities that the commission has determined by rule do not require certification to build, own or operate.

SECTION 2. Section 1 of this act shall be codified in Title 77, Chapter 3, Mississippi Code of 1972.

SECTION 3. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2023.