By: Williams S.B. No. 1492
(In the Senate - Filed March 6, 2009; March 17, 2009, read
first time and referred to Committee on Business and Commerce;
April 17, 2009, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 6, Nays 0; April 17, 2009,
sent to printer.)
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1492 By: Fraser
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the delay of retail electric competition in the areas of
the state covered by the Southeastern Electric Reliability Council
and to the recovery of certain transmission costs by electric
utilities in those areas.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subsection (a), Section 36.209, Utilities Code,
is amended to read as follows:
(a) This section applies only to an electric utility that
operates solely outside of ERCOT in areas of this state included in
the Southeastern Electric Reliability Council, the Southwest Power
Pool, or the Western Electricity Coordinating Council and that owns
or operates transmission facilities.
SECTION 2. Section 39.452, Utilities Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (b) and adding Subsection (i) to read as
follows:
(b) [Notwithstanding Subsection (a), except for adjustments
authorized by Sections 36.203, 39.454, 39.455, and 39.456, and
except for proceedings and cost recovery mechanisms authorized by
Sections 39.458-39.463, a person may not file a proceeding to
change, alter, or revoke any rate offered or charged by an electric
utility subject to this subchapter before June 30, 2007, with an
effective date no earlier than June 30, 2008. As part of a
Subchapter C, Chapter 36, rate proceeding, the] An electric utility
subject to this subchapter shall propose a competitive generation
tariff to allow eligible customers the ability to contract for
competitive generation. The commission shall approve, reject, or
modify the proposed tariff not later than September 1, 2010. The
tariffs subject to this subsection may not be considered to offer a
discounted rate or rates under Section 36.007, and the utility's
rates shall be set, in the proceeding in which the tariff is
adopted, to recover any costs unrecovered as a result of the
implementation of the tariff. The commission shall ensure that a
competitive generation tariff shall not be implemented in a manner
that harms the sustainability or competitiveness of manufacturers
that choose not to take advantage of competitive generation.
Pursuant to the competitive generation tariff, an electric utility
subject to this subsection shall purchase competitive generation
service, selected by the customer, and provide the generation at
retail to the customer. An electric utility subject to this
subsection shall provide and price retail transmission service,
including necessary ancillary services, to retail customers who
choose to take advantage of the competitive generation tariff at a
rate that is unbundled from the utility's cost of service. Such
customers shall not be considered wholesale transmission
customers. Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter,
the commission may not issue a decision relating to a competitive
generation tariff that is contrary to an applicable decision, rule,
or policy statement of a federal regulatory agency having
jurisdiction.
(i) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, if
the commission has not approved the transition to competition plan
under this section before January 1, 2009, an electric utility
subject to this subchapter shall cease all activities relating to
the transition to competition under this section. The commission
may, on its own motion or the motion of any affected person,
initiate a proceeding under Section 39.152 to certify a power
region to which the utility belongs as a qualified power region when
the conditions supporting such a proceeding exist. The commission
may not approve a plan under Subsection (g) until the expiration of
four years from the time that the commission certifies a power
region under Subsection (f).
SECTION 3. Not later than the 90th day after the effective
date of this Act, an electric utility operating in the Southeastern
Electric Reliability Council that is subject to traditional cost of
service rate regulation and on the effective date of this Act has a
transition to competition plan on file with the Public Utility
Commission of Texas shall:
(1) withdraw the plan from the commission; and
(2) cease all activities related to the plan.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2009.
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