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Arkansas Senate Bill SB643

Arkansas 2025 Regular Session

Arkansas Senate Bill SB643 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.
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11 Stricken language would be deleted from and underlined language would be added to present law.
22 *ANS171* 04/14/2025 9:36:18 AM ANS171
33 State of Arkansas 1
44 95th General Assembly A Bill 2
55 Regular Session, 2025 SENATE BILL 643 3
66 4
77 By: Senator D. Sullivan 5
88 By: Representative McCollum 6
99 7
1010 For An Act To Be Entitled 8
1111 AN ACT TO PROVIDE TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY FOR 9
1212 PUBLIC UTILITIES; TO REQUIRE CERTAIN PUBLIC UTILITIES 10
1313 TO REPORT TO THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL; AND FOR OTHER 11
1414 PURPOSES. 12
1515 13
1616 14
1717 Subtitle 15
1818 TO PROVIDE TRANSPARENCY AND 16
1919 ACCOUNTABILITY FOR PUBLIC UTILITIES; AND 17
2020 TO REQUIRE CERTAIN PUBLIC UTILITIES TO 18
2121 REPORT TO THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. 19
2222 20
2323 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ARKANSAS: 21
2424 22
2525 SECTION 1. DO NOT CODIFY. Legislative findings and intent. 23
2626 (a) The General Assembly finds that: 24
2727 (1) Arkansas residents continue to face economic hardships due 25
2828 to spiraling inflation; 26
2929 (2) Costs continue to rise for public utility ratepayers for 27
3030 both electricity and natural gas, stretching family budgets to pay for 28
3131 critical services in this state; 29
3232 (3) Electric rates have increased four (4) times for many 30
3333 Arkansas ratepayers since 2021; 31
3434 (4) Natural gas rates increased by more than twenty -three 32
3535 percent (23%) for Summit Utilities ratepayers in 2024; 33
3636 (5) Public utilities must be good stewards of public utility 34
3737 ratepayer funds and should be transparent with how public utility ratepayer 35
3838 funds are spent; and 36 SB643
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4141 (6) A utility owned by a governmental entity is mandated to 1
4242 operate with transparency under the Freedom of Information Act of 1967, § 25 -2
4343 19-101 et seq. 3
4444 (b) It is the intent of the General Assembly that Arkansas takes 4
4545 responsibility to ensure public utility rates are established with full 5
4646 transparency and accountability. 6
4747 7
4848 SECTION 2. Arkansas Code Title 23, Chapter 3, is amended to add an 8
4949 additional subchapter to read as follows: 9
5050 10
5151 Subchapter 8 — Transparency and Accountability of Public Utilities 11
5252 12
5353 23-3-801. Definitions. 13
5454 As used in this subchapter: 14
5555 (1)(A) "Advertising" means the act of publishing, disseminating, 15
5656 soliciting, or circulating written, online, video, or audio communication 16
5757 intended to induce a person to patronize a product, service, business, or 17
5858 industry or to promote a business’s brand. 18
5959 (B) "Advertising" includes without limitation the act of: 19
6060 (i) Otherwise emphasizing desirable qualities about 20
6161 a product, service, business, or industry; or 21
6262 (ii) Influencing public opinion with respect to 22
6363 legislative, administrative, or electoral matters. 23
6464 (C) "Advertising" does not include public communication: 24
6565 (i) Required by law, rule, or order; 25
6666 (ii) The primary purpose of which is to communicate: 26
6767 (a) Service interruptions, safety measures, or 27
6868 emergency conditions; or 28
6969 (b) Employment opportunities with a public 29
7070 utility; or 30
7171 (iii) Directly related to a program approved by the 31
7272 Arkansas Public Service Commission regarding income -based service, special 32
7373 rates, or energy conservation. 33
7474 (D) "Advertising" includes a communication if any portion 34
7575 of the communication is “advertising” as defined in this section; 35
7676 (2) "Compensation" means salary, bonus, benefits, or other 36 SB643
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7979 consideration of any value; 1
8080 (3) "Covered business unit" means a division, department, or 2
8181 other organizational employee group within a public utility that performs 3
8282 activities described under this subchapter; 4
8383 (4) "Electric utility" means a public utility, an investor -owned 5
8484 utility, an electric cooperative, or any private power supplier or marketer 6
8585 that is engaged in the business of supplying electrical energy to the 7
8686 ultimate consumer or any customer classes within this state; 8
8787 (5) "Expense" means any payment, expenditure, compensation, or 9
8888 costs; 10
8989 (6) "Gas utility" means a person, or any combination of persons, 11
9090 including a lessee, trustee, or receiver of a utility that: 12
9191 (A) Owns or operates, for compensation in this state, 13
9292 equipment or facilities for storing, transmitting, distributing, selling, or 14
9393 furnishing natural gas to or for the public at retail; and 15
9494 (B) Is regulated by the commission; 16
9595 (7) "Governmental utility" means a utility that is required to 17
9696 make its records available for inspection and copy under the Freedom of 18
9797 Information Act of 1967, § 25 -19-101 et seq.; 19
9898 (8)(A) "Political influence activity" means an expense for the 20
9999 purpose of directly or indirectly influencing the possible: 21
100100 (i) Adoption, repeal, or modification of federal, 22
101101 state, or local rules, regulations, legislation, or ordinances; 23
102102 (ii) Election, recall, appointment, or removal of a 24
103103 public official; 25
104104 (iii) Adoption or rejection of initiatives or 26
105105 referenda; 27
106106 (iv) Approval, modification, or revocation of a 28
107107 public utility franchise; 29
108108 (v) Public opinion with respect to federal, state, 30
109109 or local: 31
110110 (a) Adoption, repeal, or modification of 32
111111 rules, regulations, legislation, or ordinances; 33
112112 (b) Election, recall, appointment, or removal 34
113113 of a public official; 35
114114 (c) Adoption or rejection of initiatives or 36 SB643
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117117 referenda; 1
118118 (d) Approval, modification, or revocation of a 2
119119 public utility franchise; or 3
120120 (e) Public utility rate setting; or 4
121121 (vi) Decisions of federal, state, or local 5
122122 government officials. 6
123123 (B) "Political influence activity" includes an activity 7
124124 undertaken in support of activities listed in subdivisions (8)(A)(i) — (vi) 8
125125 of this section, including research, analysis, preparation, or planning or 9
126126 any other related costs identified by the commission. 10
127127 (C) "Political influence activity" does not include: 11
128128 (i) An appearance before the commission when the 12
129129 public utility is the applicant in an uncontested proceeding; or 13
130130 (ii) An appearance before a legislative committee, 14
131131 the commission, or a state agency when the public utility’s participation has 15
132132 been specifically requested in writing by the chair of the legislative 16
133133 committee, chair of the commission, or head of the state agency; 17
134134 (9)(A) "Public utility" means: 18
135135 (i) An electric utility; or 19
136136 (ii) A gas utility. 20
137137 (B) "Public utility" does not include a governmental 21
138138 utility; and 22
139139 (10) "Public utility affiliate" means an entity that is related 23
140140 to the public utility as a subsidiary, parent, or sibling corporation, 24
141141 including without limitation by shareholding or other means of control. 25
142142 26
143143 23-3-802. Public utility rate transparency and disclosure — Political 27
144144 and investor-related expenses. 28
145145 (a)(1) On or before January 1, 2026, and annually thereafter, each 29
146146 public utility with more than three thousand (3,000) ratepayers shall provide 30
147147 a report to the Legislative Council. 31
148148 (2) The report required under subdivision (a)(1) of this section 32
149149 shall include the expenses from the previous calendar year of any direct or 33
150150 indirect costs that are recovered through rates of a public utility for: 34
151151 (A) Membership, dues, sponsorships, or contributions to a 35
152152 trade association if any portion of those contributions supports political 36 SB643
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155155 influence activities or advertising; 1
156156 (B) Charitable giving, including contributions to 2
157157 organizations qualified under 26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(3) or 26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(4), 3
158158 as they existed on January 1, 2025, and any expenses related to charitable 4
159159 giving; 5
160160 (C) Political influence activities; 6
161161 (D) Advertising; 7
162162 (E) Any compensation for an employee of a public utility, 8
163163 if any portion of that compensation is used for attempts by the employee to 9
164164 influence the decision of federal, state, or local government officials; 10
165165 (F) Contributions to a political candidate, political 11
166166 party, campaign committee, issue committee, or independent expenditure 12
167167 committee or other political expenses; 13
168168 (G) Litigation regarding existing or proposed federal, 14
169169 state, or local rules, regulations, legislation, or ordinances; 15
170170 (H) Any costs, including marketing, administration, 16
171171 customer service, or other costs, for products or services not regulated by 17
172172 the Arkansas Public Service Commission; 18
173173 (I) Penalties or fines, including tax penalties or fines, 19
174174 issued against a public utility; 20
175175 (J) Travel, lodging, or food and beverage expenses for a 21
176176 public utility’s board of directors and officers or the board of directors 22
177177 and officers of a public utility affiliate; 23
178178 (K) Any owned, leased, or chartered aircraft for the 24
179179 public utility’s board of directors and officers or the board of directors 25
180180 and officers of a public utility affiliate; 26
181181 (L) Investor relations; and 27
182182 (M) Annual compensation that is in excess of the current 28
183183 annual compensation of the Governor for an individual, including an employee 29
184184 of the public utility, a member of the public utility’s board of directors or 30
185185 officers, or a member of the board of directors or officers of a public 31
186186 utility affiliate. 32
187187 (b) The report required under subdivision (a)(1) of this section shall 33
188188 include without limitation: 34
189189 (1) An itemized list of all expenses associated with activities 35
190190 described under subdivision (a)(2) of this section, including any expenses 36 SB643
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193193 paid to: 1
194194 (A) A vendor, including a separate line item for each 2
195195 payment to a vendor for activities described under subdivision (a)(2) of this 3
196196 section; 4
197197 (B) A trade association, if any portion of those expenses 5
198198 supports political influence activities or advertising; 6
199199 (C) An organization qualified under 26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(3) 7
200200 or 26 U.S.C. § 501(c)(4), as they existed on January 1, 2025; 8
201201 (D)(i) A public utility employee in the form of 9
202202 compensation or reimbursement. 10
203203 (ii) For each employee listed under subdivision 11
204204 (b)(1)(D)(i) of this section, the list shall include: 12
205205 (a) The employee’s job title; 13
206206 (b) A job description sufficient to describe 14
207207 the employee’s responsibilities; 15
208208 (c) Each activity described under subdivision 16
209209 (a)(2) of this section in which the employee engaged; 17
210210 (d) A description sufficient to describe the 18
211211 employee's nature of that work; 19
212212 (e) The total annual compensation for the 20
213213 employee; 21
214214 (f) The percentage of annual compensation paid 22
215215 for work associated with the activities described under subdivision (a)(2) of 23
216216 this section; 24
217217 (g) The percentage of annual compensation 25
218218 recoverable from ratepayers; and 26
219219 (h) All uniform system of account codes to 27
220220 which compensation was recorded for the employee; and 28
221221 (E) Public utility affiliates, including a separate line 29
222222 item for each payment to a public utility affiliate for activities described 30
223223 under subdivision (a)(2) of this section; 31
224224 (2) A list of all expenses paid to vendors; and 32
225225 (3)(A) A list of covered business units of the public utility. 33
226226 (B) For each covered business unit, the public utility 34
227227 shall include a list of employees who work in that covered business unit. 35
228228 (C) For each employee, the public utility shall include: 36 SB643
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231231 (i) The employee’s job title; 1
232232 (ii) A job description sufficient to describe the 2
233233 employee’s responsibilities; and 3
234234 (iii) Whether or not the employee conducted an 4
235235 activity that is described under subdivision (a)(2) of this section. 5
236236 (c)(1) For an employee who conducted an activity described under 6
237237 subdivision (a)(2) of this section, the report required under subdivision 7
238238 (a)(1) of this section shall list: 8
239239 (A) Each activity described in subdivision (a)(2) of this 9
240240 section in which the employee engaged; 10
241241 (B) A description sufficient to describe the nature of 11
242242 that work; 12
243243 (C) The total annual compensation paid for work associated 13
244244 with the activities described under subdivision (a)(2) of this section; 14
245245 (D) The percentage of annual compensation recoverable from 15
246246 ratepayers; and 16
247247 (E) All uniform system of account codes to which 17
248248 compensation was recorded for the employee. 18
249249 (2) An itemized list required under subdivision (c)(1) of this 19
250250 section shall include: 20
251251 (A) The billing amount; 21
252252 (B) The billing date; 22
253253 (C) The identity of the payee; 23
254254 (D) An explanation of the expense sufficient to describe 24
255255 its purpose; and 25
256256 (E) Any other itemized information deemed relevant by the 26
257257 Legislative Council. 27
258258 28
259259 29
260260 30
261261 31
262262 32
263263 33
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266266 36