Bill Text: TX HB4213 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to rates for electricity charged by certain municipally owned utilities and to the use of revenue from the rates.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2023-05-03 - Reported favorably as substituted [HB4213 Detail]
Download: Texas-2023-HB4213-Introduced.html
By: Troxclair | H.B. No. 4213 |
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relating to rates for electricity charged by certain municipally | ||
owned utilities and to the use of revenue from the rates. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Subchapter B, Chapter 40, Utilities Code, is | ||
amended by adding Section 40.0521 to read as follows: | ||
Sec. 40.0521. RATES OF AND USE OF REVENUE BY CERTAIN | ||
UTILITIES NOT OFFERING CUSTOMER CHOICE. (a) This section applies | ||
only to a municipally owned utility that is governed directly by the | ||
governing body of the municipality and is owned by a municipality | ||
with a population of more than 750,000. | ||
(b) This section does not require a municipally owned | ||
utility to implement or opt for customer choice. | ||
(c) In the case of a conflict between this section and | ||
another provision of law, this section prevails. | ||
(d) A municipally owned utility may not: | ||
(1) directly or indirectly subsidize wholesale | ||
competitive activities through rates charged for the provision of | ||
retail electric service that include fixed or variable costs | ||
reasonably attributable to the operation and maintenance of | ||
municipally owned utility assets that generate energy for sale at | ||
wholesale; or | ||
(2) charge rates for the provision of retail electric | ||
service that exceed 50 percent of the average rates available to | ||
similarly situated customers in areas of the state that have access | ||
to customer choice. | ||
(e) The commission by rule shall require a municipally owned | ||
utility to submit to the commission information to allow the | ||
commission to determine whether the municipally owned utility is | ||
complying with the requirements of Subsection (d). The commission | ||
shall notify the municipal governing body if the commission | ||
determines that the municipally owned utility is not complying with | ||
the requirements of Subsection (d). | ||
(f) A municipal governing body that receives notice from the | ||
commission under Subsection (e): | ||
(1) shall require the municipally owned utility to | ||
comply with Subsection (d); and | ||
(2) may, in a manner consistent with Section | ||
40.055(a)(4), reasonably determine the amount of the municipally | ||
owned utility's stranded investment and calculate and establish for | ||
the municipally owned utility a non-bypassable charge reflecting | ||
stranded costs properly attributable to the municipally owned | ||
utility's retail electric service customers. | ||
(g) The relevant date for identifying stranded investment | ||
under Subsection (f) is November 30, 2010, instead of the date | ||
specified in Section 40.055(a)(4). The amount and duration of the | ||
charge under Subsection (f) must: | ||
(1) be calculated in a similar manner to that | ||
prescribed by Subchapter F, Chapter 39; | ||
(2) include the calculation of nuclear | ||
decommissioning costs as allowed by Sections 39.205 and 39.206; and | ||
(3) consider the municipally owned utility's capital | ||
and debt structure. | ||
(h) A person affected by a determination made under this | ||
section by a municipal governing body may appeal the determination | ||
to the commission by filing with the commission a petition for | ||
review not later than the 30th day after the date of the | ||
determination. An appeal under this section is de novo. The | ||
commission shall enter a final order: | ||
(1) approving the determination of the municipal | ||
governing body; or | ||
(2) substituting the commission's own determination. | ||
(i) A municipally owned utility may use the net proceeds of | ||
its wholesale competitive activities for utility debt repayment, | ||
reduction of purchased power costs, or vegetation management. The | ||
municipally owned utility shall: | ||
(1) document and book the underlying transactions in | ||
auditable form; and | ||
(2) on at least an annual basis as part of the | ||
budgeting process, disclose to the public the net amount of the | ||
proceeds and the intended uses of the proceeds. | ||
SECTION 2. A municipally owned utility described by Section | ||
40.0521, Utilities Code, as added by this Act, that does not comply | ||
with Section 40.0521, Utilities Code, as added by this Act, on the | ||
effective date of this Act shall comply with Section 40.0521, | ||
Utilities Code, as added by this Act, not later than March 1, 2024. | ||
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023. |