81R4206 TRH-D
By: Dukes H.B. No. 1194
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the regulation of propane utility companies.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 101.002(b), Utilities Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(b) Gas utilities, including propane utilities, are by
definition monopolies in the areas they serve. As a result, the
normal forces of competition that regulate prices in a free
enterprise society do not operate. Public agencies regulate
utility rates, operations, and services as a substitute for
competition.
SECTION 2. Section 101.003, Utilities Code, is amended by
amending Subdivision (7) and adding Subdivision (11-a) to read as
follows:
(7) "Gas utility" includes a person or river authority
that owns or operates for compensation in this state equipment or
facilities to transmit or distribute combustible hydrocarbon
natural gas or synthetic natural gas for sale or resale in a manner
not subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory
Commission under the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. Section 717 et
seq.). The term includes a lessee, trustee, or receiver of a gas
utility. The term includes a propane utility. The term does not
include:
(A) a municipal corporation;
(B) a person or river authority to the extent the
person or river authority:
(i) produces, gathers, transports, or sells
natural gas or synthetic natural gas under Section 121.004 or
121.005;
(ii) distributes or sells liquefied
petroleum gas; or
(iii) transports, delivers, or sells
natural gas for fuel for irrigation wells or any other direct
agricultural use;
(C) a person to the extent the person:
(i) sells natural gas for use as vehicle
fuel;
(ii) sells natural gas to a person who later
sells the natural gas for use as vehicle fuel; or
(iii) owns or operates equipment or
facilities to sell or transport natural gas for ultimate use as
vehicle fuel;
(D) a person not otherwise a gas utility who
furnishes gas or gas service only to itself, its employees, or its
tenants as an incident of employment or tenancy, if the gas or gas
service is not resold to or used by others; or
(E) a person excluded from being considered a gas
utility under Section 121.007.
(11-a) "Propane utility" means a person that owns or
operates for compensation in this state equipment or facilities to
transmit, store, or distribute propane gas for sale or resale. The
term includes a lessee, trustee, or receiver of a propane utility.
The term does not include a person not otherwise a propane utility
who furnishes propane gas service only to itself, its employees, or
its tenants as an incident of employment or tenancy, if the propane
gas service is not resold or used by others.
SECTION 3. Section 102.001(a), Utilities Code, is amended
to read as follows:
(a) The railroad commission has exclusive original
jurisdiction over the rates and services of a gas utility:
(1) that distributes natural gas, propane gas, or
synthetic natural gas in:
(A) areas outside a municipality; and
(B) areas inside a municipality that surrenders
its jurisdiction to the railroad commission under Section 103.003;
and
(2) that transmits, transports, delivers, or sells
natural gas, propane gas, or synthetic natural gas to a gas utility
that distributes the gas to the public.
SECTION 4. Section 104.2545, Utilities Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
(e) This section does not apply to a propane utility.
SECTION 5. Section 104.258, Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 104.258. DISCONNECTION OF NATURAL GAS OR PROPANE GAS
SERVICE. (a) In this section:
(1) "Extreme weather emergency" means a period during
which the previous day's highest temperature did not exceed 32
degrees Fahrenheit and the temperature is predicted to remain at or
below that level for the next 24 hours according to the nearest
National Weather Service reports.
(2) "Provider" means:
(A) a gas utility, as defined by Sections 101.003
and 121.001; [and]
(A-1) a propane utility, as defined by Section
101.003; and
(B) an owner, operator, or manager of a mobile
home park or apartment who purchases natural gas or propane gas
through a master meter for delivery to a dwelling unit in a mobile
home park or apartment house under Chapter 124.
(b) A provider may not disconnect natural gas or propane gas
service to a residential customer on a weekend day unless personnel
of the provider are available on that day to take payments and
reconnect service.
(c) A provider may not disconnect natural gas or propane gas
service to a residential customer during an extreme weather
emergency. The provider shall defer collection of the full payment
of bills that are due during an extreme weather emergency until
after the emergency is over and shall work with customers to
establish a pay schedule for deferred bills.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.