Bill Text: TX SB69 | 2011-2012 | 82nd Legislature | Introduced
Bill Title: Relating to reconstituting the system benefit fund as a trust fund and to uses of the fund.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 2-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2011-03-21 - Co-author authorized [SB69 Detail]
Download: Texas-2011-SB69-Introduced.html
82R1330 RWG-D | ||
By: Zaffirini | S.B. No. 69 |
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relating to reconstituting the system benefit fund as a trust fund | ||
and to uses of the fund. | ||
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: | ||
SECTION 1. Section 39.903, Utilities Code, is amended by | ||
amending Subsections (a), (b), (d), (e), (h), (i), (j), (j-1), and | ||
(l) and adding Subsections (a-1), (j-2), and (j-3) to read as | ||
follows: | ||
(a) The commission shall establish a system benefit fund as | ||
a trust fund outside of the state treasury to be used [ |
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a financial institution eligible to be a depository for state funds | ||
under Chapter 404, Government Code. Interest earned on the [ |
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be disbursed from the fund only as provided by this section [ |
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(a-1) The commission shall include in the report the | ||
commission submits under Section 2101.011, Government Code, | ||
information regarding the system benefit fund as if the fund were a | ||
fund subject to Subsection (c) of that section. | ||
(b) The [ |
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(a) is financed by a nonbypassable fee set by the commission in an | ||
amount not to exceed 65 cents per megawatt hour and [ |
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kilowatt hours used. An electric utility shall remit to the fund | ||
the fees received from retail electric providers in accordance with | ||
procedures prescribed by commission rule. | ||
(d) The commission annually shall [ |
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approve [ |
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requirements, and proposed nonbypassable fees. The commission by | ||
rule shall adopt payment schedules, reporting requirements, and | ||
review procedures, including a method for administrative review, as | ||
the commission determines is necessary to ensure that the fund is | ||
funded and that disbursements from the fund are properly made. | ||
Electric utilities and retail electric providers shall file regular | ||
reports as required by commission rule. Municipally owned | ||
utilities and electric cooperatives that implement customer choice | ||
are subject to commission rules adopted under this section. All | ||
records and reports related to the rate reduction program under | ||
Subsection (h) are subject to audit on commission request. The | ||
commission may require an electric utility or retail electric | ||
provider to provide additional information as necessary to assess | ||
contributions to and disbursements from the fund, and that | ||
information submitted is not subject to disclosure under Chapter | ||
552, Government Code. The commission shall issue monthly reports | ||
on compliance with reporting requirements and quarterly reports of | ||
revenues to and expenditures from the fund. The reports must be | ||
made available on the commission's Internet website. [ |
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(e) Money in the [ |
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regulatory purposes, in the following order of priority: | ||
(1) programs to[ |
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providing the 10 to 20 percent reduced rate prescribed by | ||
Subsection (h); [ |
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(2) programs to assist low-income electric customers | ||
by providing the targeted energy efficiency programs described by | ||
Subsection (f)(2), using at least 10 percent of the fund's annual | ||
receipts [ |
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(3) programs to provide bill payment assistance to | ||
electric customers who have been threatened with disconnection for | ||
nonpayment and who are or who have in their households one or more | ||
seriously ill or disabled low-income persons whose health or safety | ||
may be injured by the disconnection, using at least five percent of | ||
the fund's annual receipts [ |
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(4) customer education programs, administrative | ||
expenses incurred by the commission in administering this chapter, | ||
and expenses incurred by the office under this chapter, using not | ||
more than three percent of the fund's annual receipts [ |
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(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. | ||
(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 customer is receiving service. A | ||
retail electric provider may not establish a rate plan that is | ||
available only to a low-income customer eligible for a reduced rate | ||
under this subsection [ |
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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 that is at least 10 percent and, if sufficient money in the | ||
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amount the customer would otherwise be charged. [ |
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the commission determines that revenues anticipated to be due to | ||
the fund [ |
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rate reduction, the commission may reduce the rate 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 (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 system | ||
benefit fund may not charge an eligible low-income customer a rate | ||
higher than the appropriate rate determined under Subsection (h). | ||
A [ |
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municipally owned utility or electric cooperative subject to the | ||
nonbypassable fee under Subsection (c)[ |
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the system benefit fund for the difference between the reduced rate | ||
and the rate established under [ |
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appropriate. A retail electric provider [ |
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the difference between the reduced rate and the rate established | ||
under Section 39.106 or the rate plan under which the customer is | ||
receiving service, as appropriate [ |
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commission shall adopt rules providing for the reimbursement. | ||
(j) The commission shall adopt rules providing for methods | ||
of enrolling customers eligible to receive reduced rates under | ||
Subsection (h), including methods for a customer to self-enroll | ||
through the commission or through an administrator designated by | ||
the commission. The rules must provide for automatic enrollment as | ||
one enrollment option. The Health and [ |
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Services Commission and other governmental entities, on request of | ||
the commission, shall assist in the adoption and implementation of | ||
these rules. The commission and the Health and [ |
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understanding establishing the respective duties of the agencies | ||
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enrollment. An electric customer who self-enrolls for the rate | ||
reduction program under Subsection (h) is eligible for a period of | ||
13 months after the date the customer's eligibility is established. | ||
The commission annually shall audit the status of an appropriate | ||
sample of customers who self-enroll. | ||
(j-1) The commission shall adopt rules governing the bill | ||
payment assistance programs [ |
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(e)(3) [ |
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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. | ||
(j-2) The commission, in the terms of a contract governing | ||
the actions of a contractor trustee managing the fund, shall | ||
establish limits on allowable costs to the fund for auditing and | ||
administering the fund, allowable costs to the fund for | ||
administering programs under this section, and allowable costs for | ||
enrolling customers in the rate reduction program under Subsection | ||
(h). | ||
(j-3) The commission annually shall issue a projection of | ||
revenues and expenses for the fund and programs under this section. | ||
If the commission determines during an even-numbered year that the | ||
fund will be insufficient to fund the minimum rate reduction under | ||
Subsection (h) for the following state fiscal biennium, on or | ||
before January 15 of the next odd-numbered year the commission | ||
shall issue a report to the legislature concerning the sufficiency | ||
of the fund. | ||
(l) For the purposes of this section, a "low-income electric | ||
customer" is an electric customer who qualifies for lifeline | ||
telephone service under Section 55.015[ |
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SECTION 2. The Public Utility Commission of Texas shall | ||
adopt rules under Section 39.903, Utilities Code, and reinstate the | ||
low-income discount program under Subsection (h) of that section, | ||
as amended by this Act, as soon as is practicable. Fees for the | ||
system benefit fund collected under Section 39.903, Utilities Code, | ||
before the effective date of this Act shall be remitted to the | ||
comptroller of public accounts for deposit in the general revenue | ||
fund. Fees for the system benefit fund collected under Section | ||
39.903, Utilities Code, after the effective date of this Act shall | ||
be remitted to the Public Utility Commission of Texas not later than | ||
31 days after the fees are collected until the commission adopts | ||
rules governing the remittance of the fees to the trust fund | ||
established under that section, as amended by this Act. The Public | ||
Utility Commission of Texas shall hold fees remitted to it under | ||
this section in trust for the benefit of the system benefit fund | ||
until that fund is established as provided by this Act and shall | ||
transfer those fees to the fund on the date the fund is established. | ||
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011. |