Bill Text: TX SB326 | 2013-2014 | 83rd Legislature | Introduced

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Bill Title: Relating to financing programs for low-income electric customers and certain other electric customers.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2013-03-18 - Referred to s/c on Fiscal Matters by Chair [SB326 Detail]

Download: Texas-2013-SB326-Introduced.html

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83R2350 JJT-D
By: Carona S.B. No. 326

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to financing programs for low-income electric customers
and certain other electric customers.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 17.007, Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 17.007. ELIGIBILITY PROCESS FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE
DISCOUNTS. The commission by rule shall provide for an integrated
eligibility process for customer service discounts, including
discounts under Sections 39.9035 [39.903] and 55.015.
SECTION 2. Section 39.002, Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 39.002. APPLICABILITY. This chapter, other than
Sections 39.155, 39.157(e), 39.203, 39.903, 39.9035, 39.904,
39.9051, 39.9052, and 39.914(e), does not apply to a municipally
owned utility or an electric cooperative. Sections 39.157(e),
39.203, and 39.904, however, apply only to a municipally owned
utility or an electric cooperative that is offering customer
choice. If there is a conflict between the specific provisions of
this chapter and any other provisions of this title, except for
Chapters 40 and 41, the provisions of this chapter control.
SECTION 3. Subchapter Z, Chapter 39, Utilities Code, is
amended by amending Section 39.903 and adding Section 39.9035 to
read as follows:
Sec. 39.903. SYSTEM BENEFIT FUND. (a) The system benefit
fund is an account in the general revenue fund. Money in the
account may be appropriated only for the purposes provided by this
section [or other law]. Interest earned on the system benefit fund
shall be credited to the fund. Section 403.095, Government Code,
does not apply to the system benefit fund.
(b) The system benefit fund is financed by a nonbypassable
system benefit fund fee set by the commission in an amount not to
exceed two [65] cents per megawatt hour. The system benefit fund
fee is allocated to customers based on the amount of kilowatt hours
used.
(c) The nonbypassable fee may not be imposed on the retail
electric customers of a municipally owned utility or electric
cooperative before the sixth month preceding the date on which the
utility or cooperative implements customer choice. Money
distributed from the system benefit fund to a municipally owned
utility or an electric cooperative shall be proportional to the
nonbypassable fee paid by the municipally owned utility or the
electric cooperative[, subject to the reimbursement provided by
Subsection (i)]. On request by a municipally owned utility or
electric cooperative, the commission shall reduce the
nonbypassable fee imposed on retail electric customers served by
the municipally owned utility or electric cooperative by an amount
equal to the amount provided by the municipally owned utility or
electric cooperative or its ratepayers for [local low-income
programs and] local programs that educate customers about the
retail electric market in a neutral and nonpromotional manner. The
commission shall adopt rules providing for reimbursements from
appropriated system benefit fund money for activities authorized
for funding under this section.
(d) The commission shall annually review and approve system
benefit fund accounts, projected revenue requirements, and
proposed nonbypassable fees. The commission shall report to the
electric utility restructuring legislative oversight committee if
the system benefit fund fee is insufficient to fund the purposes set
forth in Subsection (e) to the extent required by this section.
(e) Money in the system benefit fund may be appropriated to
provide funding solely for the following regulatory purposes [, in
the following order of priority]:
(1) [programs to:
[(A) assist low-income electric customers by
providing the 10 percent reduced rate prescribed by Subsection (h);
and
[(B) provide one-time bill payment assistance to
electric customers who are or who have in their households one or
more seriously ill or disabled low-income persons and who have been
threatened with disconnection for nonpayment;
[(2)] customer education programs;
(2) [,] administrative expenses incurred by the
commission in implementing and administering this chapter;
(3) [, and] expenses incurred by the office under this
chapter; and
(4) [(3) programs to assist low-income electric
customers by providing the targeted energy efficiency programs
described by Subsection (f)(2);
[(4) programs to assist low-income electric customers
by providing the 20 percent reduced rate prescribed by Subsection
(h); and
[(5)] reimbursement to the commission and the Health
and Human Services Commission for expenses incurred in the
implementation and administration of an integrated eligibility
process created under Section 17.007 for customer service discounts
relating to retail electric service, including outreach expenses
the commission determines are reasonable and necessary.
Sec. 39.9035. LOW-INCOME ELECTRIC CUSTOMERS PROGRAM FUND.
(a) The commission shall adopt and enforce rules requiring
transmission and distribution utilities to establish a low-income
electric customers program fund under commission oversight. The
rules must provide for:
(1) the fund to be established as a trust fund outside
of the state treasury;
(2) the fund to be held by an administrator selected by
the transmission and distribution utilities in accordance with
standards adopted by the commission; and
(3) any interest earned on money in the fund to be
credited to the fund.
(b) The administrator serves as trustee of the fund for the
benefit of low-income electric customer programs described by this
section, and in accordance with commission rules, the administrator
may make any payments or reimbursements from the fund to further the
programs. Commission rules must prescribe the maximum percentage
of money available in the fund that may be used for the expenses of
administering the fund and for annual independent auditing of the
fund and expenditures and other transactions related to the fund.
The commission or its agents may at any time examine any records
related to the fund or investigate any fund-related expenditures or
expenses. The administrator and each transmission and distribution
utility shall fully cooperate with any investigation regarding the
fund conducted by the commission or its agents.
(c) The commission by rule shall impose a nonbypassable
low-income electric customers program fund fee to be set by the
commission in an amount not to exceed 65 cents per megawatt hour,
allocated to customers based on the amount of kilowatt hours used.
(d) The commission shall provide for a nonbypassable fee in
the same amount as the fee imposed under Subsection (c) to be
imposed on the retail electric customers of a municipally owned
utility or electric cooperative beginning on the first day of the
sixth month preceding the date on which the utility or cooperative
implements customer choice.
(e) Commission rules adopted under this section must
provide that the low-income electric customers program fund fees
collected for the programs described by this section are collected
through the rates of the transmission and distribution service
providers and deposited into the low-income electric customers
program fund.
(f) Money in the low-income electric customers program fund
may be spent only for the following regulatory purposes and must be
allocated as follows:
(1) not more than 85 percent of the money available in
the fund must be used to provide a 10 to 20 percent reduced rate for
low-income households over a 12-month period;
(2) not more than 4 percent of the money available in
the fund must be used for bill payment assistance for customers on
life support with total household income not to exceed 400 percent
of the federal poverty guidelines; and
(3) not less than 11 percent of the money available in
the fund must be used to finance low-income electric customer
weatherization programs to be operated by a statewide network of
federal weatherization program providers under federal
weatherization program guidelines. [Notwithstanding Section
39.106(b), the commission shall adopt rules regarding programs to
assist low-income electric customers on the introduction of
customer choice. The programs may not be targeted to areas served
by municipally owned utilities or electric cooperatives that have
not adopted customer choice. The programs shall include:
[(1) reduced electric rates as provided by Subsections
(h)-(l); and
[(2) targeted energy efficiency programs to be
administered by the Texas Department of Housing and Community
Affairs in coordination with existing weatherization programs.]
(g) Until customer choice is introduced in a power region,
an electric utility may not reduce, in any manner, programs already
offered to assist low-income electric customers. Until a
municipally owned utility or electric cooperative implements
customer choice, the utility or cooperative may not reduce, in any
manner, programs already offered to assist low-income electric
customers. A retail electric provider or electric utility may not
reduce programs offered to assist low-income electric customers on
or after September 11, 2015, except as provided by commission
rules.
(h) The commission shall adopt rules for a retail electric
provider to determine a reduced rate for eligible customers to be
discounted off the standard retail service package as approved by
the commission under Section 39.106 and shall require a retail
electric provider to apply the same reduction to any rate plan under
which an eligible low-income electric customer is receiving service
[, or the price to beat established by Section 39.202, whichever is
lower]. Municipally owned utilities and electric cooperatives
shall establish a reduced rate for eligible customers to be
discounted off the standard retail service package established
under Section 40.053 or 41.053, as appropriate. The reduced rate
for a retail electric provider shall result in a total charge for 12
months of service that is at least 10 percent and, if sufficient
money in the low-income electric customers program [system benefit]
fund is available, up to 20 percent, lower than the amount the
customer would otherwise be charged for 12 months of service. To
the extent the low-income electric customers program [system
benefit] fund is insufficient to pay for [fund] the initial 10
percent rate reduction, the commission may increase the fee to an
amount not more than 65 cents per megawatt hour, as provided by
Subsection (c) [(b)]. If the fee is set at 65 cents per megawatt
hour or if the commission determines that revenues anticipated to
be due for deposit to the fund are [appropriations are]
insufficient to pay for [fund] the 10 percent rate reduction, the
commission may reduce the rate of the reduction to less than 10
percent. For a municipally owned utility or electric cooperative,
the reduced rate shall be equal to an amount that can be fully
funded by that portion of the nonbypassable fee proceeds paid by the
municipally owned utility or electric cooperative that is allocated
to the utility or cooperative by the commission under Subsection
(f) [(e)] for programs for low-income customers of the utility or
cooperative. The reduced rate for municipally owned utilities and
electric cooperatives under this section is in addition to any rate
reduction that may result from local programs for low-income
customers of the municipally owned utilities or electric
cooperatives.
(i) A retail electric provider, municipally owned utility,
or electric cooperative seeking reimbursement from the low-income
electric customers program [system benefit] fund may not charge an
eligible low-income customer a rate higher than the appropriate
rate determined under Subsection (h). Commission rules must
provide for [A retail electric provider not subject to the price to
beat, or] a municipally owned utility or electric cooperative
subject to the nonbypassable fee under Subsection (d) to [(c),
shall] be reimbursed from the [system benefit] fund for the
difference between the reduced rate and the rate established under
[Section 39.106 or, as appropriate, the rate established under]
Section 40.053 or 41.053, as appropriate. A retail electric
provider [who is subject to the price to beat] shall be reimbursed
from the [system benefit] fund for the difference between the
reduced rate and the rate plan under which the customer is receiving
service [the price to beat]. The commission shall adopt rules
providing for the reimbursement.
(j) The commission shall adopt rules providing for methods
of enrolling customers eligible to receive the reduced rates
determined under Subsection (h). The rules must provide for
automatic enrollment as one enrollment option. The Health and
[Texas Department of] Human Services Commission, on request of the
commission, shall assist in the adoption and implementation of
these rules. The commission and the Health and [Texas Department
of] Human Services Commission shall enter into a memorandum of
understanding establishing the respective duties of the agencies
[commission and the department] in relation to the automatic
enrollment. Rules adopted under this section must provide that:
(1) an electric customer eligible for the reduced
rates determined under Subsection (h) is also eligible for reduced
rates for telecommunications services offered for low-income
customers; and
(2) a customer eligible for reduced rates for
telecommunications services offered for low-income customers is
also eligible for the reduced rates established under Subsection
(h).
(k) [(j-1)] The commission shall adopt rules governing the
bill payment assistance program provided under Subsection (f)(2)
[(e)(1)(B)]. The rules must provide that a customer is eligible to
receive the assistance only if the assistance is necessary to
prevent the disconnection of service for nonpayment of bills for a
household in which the customer or another member of the household
is on life support and [the electric customer is or has in the
customer's household one or more seriously ill or disabled
low-income persons] whose health or safety may be injured by the
disconnection. The commission may prescribe the documentation
necessary to demonstrate eligibility for the assistance and may
establish additional eligibility criteria. The Health and Human
Services Commission, on request of the commission, shall assist in
the adoption and implementation of these rules.
(l) [(k)] A retail electric provider is prohibited from
charging the customer a fee for participation in the reduced rate
program.
[(l) For the purposes of this section, a "low-income
electric customer" is an electric customer:
[(1) whose household income is not more than 125
percent of the federal poverty guidelines; or
[(2) who receives food stamps from the Texas
Department of Human Services or medical assistance from a state
agency administering a part of the medical assistance program.]
SECTION 4. Section 39.905(f), Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(f) Unless funding is provided under Section 39.9035
[39.903], each unbundled transmission and distribution utility
shall include in its energy efficiency plan a weatherization
[targeted low-income energy efficiency] program as described by
Section 39.9035(f)(3) [39.903(f)(2)], and the savings achieved by
the program shall count toward the transmission and distribution
utility's energy efficiency goal. The commission shall determine
the appropriate level of funding to be allocated to both the
required weatherization programs [targeted] and standard offer
low-income energy efficiency programs in each unbundled
transmission and distribution utility service area. The level of
funding for the required weatherization programs and low-income
energy efficiency programs shall be provided from money approved by
the commission for the transmission and distribution utility's
energy efficiency programs. The commission shall ensure that
annual expenditures for the required weatherization programs and
[targeted] low-income energy efficiency programs of each unbundled
transmission and distribution utility are not less than 10 percent
of the transmission and distribution utility's energy efficiency
budget for the year. A required weatherization program or a
[targeted] low-income energy efficiency program must comply with
the same audit requirements that apply to federal weatherization
subrecipients. In an energy efficiency cost recovery factor
proceeding related to expenditures under this subsection, the
commission shall make findings of fact regarding whether the
utility meets requirements imposed under this subsection. The
state agency that administers the federal weatherization
assistance program shall provide reports as required by the
commission to provide the most current information available on
energy and peak demand savings achieved in each transmission and
distribution utility service area. The agency shall participate in
energy efficiency cost recovery factor proceedings related to
expenditures under this subsection to ensure that the required
weatherization programs and [targeted] low-income weatherization
programs are consistent with federal weatherization programs and
adequately funded.
SECTION 5. Section 40.001(a), Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, except
Sections 39.155, 39.157(e), 39.203, 39.903, 39.9035, and 39.904,
this chapter governs the transition to and the establishment of a
fully competitive electric power industry for municipally owned
utilities. With respect to the regulation of municipally owned
utilities, this chapter controls over any other provision of this
title, except for sections in which the term "municipally owned
utility" is specifically used.
SECTION 6. Section 40.004, Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 40.004. JURISDICTION OF COMMISSION. Except as
specifically otherwise provided in this chapter, the commission has
jurisdiction over municipally owned utilities only for the
following purposes:
(1) to regulate wholesale transmission rates and
service, including terms of access, to the extent provided by
Subchapter A, Chapter 35;
(2) to regulate certification of retail service areas
to the extent provided by Chapter 37;
(3) to regulate rates on appeal under Subchapters D
and E, Chapter 33, subject to Section 40.051(c);
(4) to establish a code of conduct as provided by
Section 39.157(e) applicable to anticompetitive activities and to
affiliate activities limited to structurally unbundled affiliates
of municipally owned utilities, subject to Section 40.054;
(5) to establish terms and conditions for open access
to transmission and distribution facilities for municipally owned
utilities providing customer choice, as provided by Section 39.203;
(6) to require collection of the nonbypassable fees
[fee] established under Section 39.903(b) and Section 39.9035(d);
(7) [and] to administer the renewable energy credits
program under Section 39.904(b) and the natural gas energy credits
program under Section 39.9044(b); and
(8) [(7)] to require reports of municipally owned
utility operations only to the extent necessary to:
(A) enable the commission to determine the
aggregate load and energy requirements of the state and the
resources available to serve that load; or
(B) enable the commission to determine
information relating to market power as provided by Section 39.155.
SECTION 7. Section 41.001, Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 41.001. APPLICABLE LAW. Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, except Sections 39.155, 39.157(e), 39.203,
39.903, 39.9035, and 39.904, this chapter governs the transition to
and the establishment of a fully competitive electric power
industry for electric cooperatives. Regarding the regulation of
electric cooperatives, this chapter shall control over any other
provision of this title, except for sections in which the term
"electric cooperative" is specifically used.
SECTION 8. The Public Utility Commission of Texas shall
adopt or revise, as necessary to implement this Act, rules
governing the system benefit fund and the low-income electric
customers program fund under Section 39.903, Utilities Code, as
amended by this Act, and Section 39.9035, Utilities Code, as added
by this Act, not later than January 1, 2014.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.