Bill Text: TX HB2419 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to disclosure under the public information law of information related to a competitive matter involving the provision of cable, Internet, or broadband services by a public power utility.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-03-13 - Referred to State Affairs [HB2419 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HB2419-Introduced.html
88R1358 TJB-F | ||
By: Holland | H.B. No. 2419 |
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relating to disclosure under the public information law of | ||
information related to a competitive matter involving the provision | ||
of cable, Internet, or broadband services by a public power | ||
utility. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Sections 552.133(a), (a-1), and (b-1), | ||
Government Code, are amended to read as follows: | ||
(a) In this section: | ||
(1) "Broadband service" has the meaning assigned by | ||
Section 181.048, Utilities Code. | ||
(2) "Public [ |
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providing electric or gas utility services that is subject to the | ||
provisions of this chapter. | ||
(a-1) For purposes of this section, "competitive matter" | ||
means a utility-related matter, including a cable, Internet, or | ||
broadband service matter, that is related to the public power | ||
utility's competitive activity, including commercial information, | ||
and would, if disclosed, give advantage to competitors or | ||
prospective competitors. The term: | ||
(1) means a matter that is reasonably related to the | ||
following categories of information: | ||
(A) generation unit specific and portfolio fixed | ||
and variable costs, including forecasts of those costs, capital | ||
improvement plans for generation units, and generation unit | ||
operating characteristics and outage scheduling; | ||
(B) bidding and pricing information for | ||
purchased power, generation and fuel, and Electric Reliability | ||
Council of Texas bids, prices, offers, and related services and | ||
strategies; | ||
(C) effective fuel and purchased power | ||
agreements and fuel transportation arrangements and contracts; | ||
(D) risk management information, contracts, and | ||
strategies, including fuel hedging and storage; | ||
(E) plans, studies, proposals, and analyses for | ||
system improvements, additions, or sales, other than transmission | ||
and distribution system improvements inside the service area for | ||
which the public power utility is the sole certificated retail | ||
provider; and | ||
(F) customer billing, contract, and usage | ||
information, electric power pricing information, system load | ||
characteristics, and electric power marketing analyses and | ||
strategies; [ |
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(2) means a matter reasonably related to information | ||
involving the provision of cable, Internet, or broadband services | ||
by a public power utility, including: | ||
(A) a capital improvement plan; | ||
(B) an expense related to the installation of a | ||
facility to provide those services; | ||
(C) bidding and pricing information for | ||
installation of the facility; | ||
(D) risk management information, contracts, and | ||
strategies; | ||
(E) plans, studies, proposals, and analyses for: | ||
(i) system improvements, additions, or | ||
sales; or | ||
(ii) establishing pricing for providing | ||
those services; and | ||
(F) customer billing, contract, and usage | ||
information; and | ||
(3) does not include the following categories of | ||
information: | ||
(A) information relating to the provision of | ||
distribution access service, including the terms and conditions of | ||
the service and the rates charged for the service but not including | ||
information concerning utility-related services or products that | ||
are competitive; | ||
(B) information relating to the provision of | ||
transmission service that is required to be filed with the Public | ||
Utility Commission of Texas, subject to any confidentiality | ||
provided for under the rules of the commission; | ||
(C) information for the distribution system | ||
pertaining to reliability and continuity of service, to the extent | ||
not security-sensitive, that relates to emergency management, | ||
identification of critical loads such as hospitals and police, | ||
records of interruption, and distribution feeder standards; | ||
(D) any substantive rule or tariff of general | ||
applicability regarding rates, service offerings, service | ||
regulation, customer protections, or customer service adopted by | ||
the public power utility as authorized by law; | ||
(E) aggregate information reflecting receipts or | ||
expenditures of funds of the public power utility, of the type that | ||
would be included in audited financial statements; | ||
(F) information relating to equal employment | ||
opportunities for minority groups, as filed with local, state, or | ||
federal agencies; | ||
(G) information relating to the public power | ||
utility's performance in contracting with minority business | ||
entities; | ||
(H) information relating to nuclear | ||
decommissioning trust agreements, of the type required to be | ||
included in audited financial statements; | ||
(I) information relating to the amount and timing | ||
of any transfer to an owning city's general fund; | ||
(J) information relating to environmental | ||
compliance as required to be filed with any local, state, or | ||
national environmental authority, subject to any confidentiality | ||
provided under the rules of those authorities; | ||
(K) names of public officers of the public power | ||
utility and the voting records of those officers for all matters | ||
other than those within the scope of a competitive resolution | ||
provided for by this section; | ||
(L) a description of the public power utility's | ||
central and field organization, including the established places at | ||
which the public may obtain information, submit information and | ||
requests, or obtain decisions and the identification of employees | ||
from whom the public may obtain information, submit information or | ||
requests, or obtain decisions; | ||
(M) information identifying the general course | ||
and method by which the public power utility's functions are | ||
channeled and determined, including the nature and requirements of | ||
all formal and informal policies and procedures; | ||
(N) salaries and total compensation of all | ||
employees of a public power utility; | ||
(O) information publicly released by the | ||
Electric Reliability Council of Texas in accordance with a law, | ||
rule, or protocol generally applicable to similarly situated market | ||
participants; or | ||
(P) information related to a chilled water | ||
program, as defined by Section 11.003, Utilities Code. | ||
(b-1) Notwithstanding any contrary provision of Subsection | ||
(b), information or records of a municipally owned utility or | ||
municipality that operates a chilled water program are subject to | ||
disclosure under this chapter if the information or records are | ||
reasonably related to: | ||
(1) a municipally owned utility's rate review process; | ||
(2) the method a municipality or municipally owned | ||
utility uses to set rates for retail electric service; or | ||
(3) the method a municipality or municipally owned | ||
utility uses to set rates for a chilled water program described by | ||
Subsection (a-1)(3)(P) [ |
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SECTION 2. Section 552.133, Government Code, as amended by | ||
this Act, applies only to a request for public information received | ||
by a governmental body or an officer for public information on or | ||
after the effective date of this Act. | ||
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |