81R2041 JJT-D
By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 464
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
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 [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]. The commission shall provide for the fund to be held by
a financial institution eligible to be a depository for state funds
under Chapter 404, Government Code. Interest earned on the [system
benefit] fund shall be credited to the fund. Money in the fund may
be disbursed from the fund only as provided by this section.
[Section 403.095, Government Code, does not apply to the system
benefit fund.]
(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 [system benefit] fund established under Subsection
(a) is financed by a nonbypassable fee set by the commission in an
amount not to exceed 65 cents per megawatt hour and [. The system
benefit fund fee is] allocated to customers based on the amount of
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 [annually] review and
approve [system benefit] fund accounts, projected revenue
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. [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 used
[appropriated to provide funding] solely for programs to [the
following regulatory purposes, in the following order of priority]:
(1) [programs to:
[(A)] assist low-income electric customers by
providing the 10 to 20 percent reduced rate prescribed by
Subsection (h), using all money available in the fund that is not
otherwise dedicated by or used under this section; [and]
(2) [(B)] provide [one-time] bill payment assistance
to low-income 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 and
who have one or more persons in their households for whom an
interruption or suspension of service will create a dangerous or
life-threatening condition, using at least two percent of the
fund's annual receipts;
[(2) customer education programs, administrative
expenses incurred by the commission in implementing and
administering this chapter, and expenses incurred by the office
under this chapter;]
(3) [programs to] assist low-income electric
customers by providing the targeted energy efficiency programs
described by Subsection (f)(2), using at least 12.5 percent of the
fund's annual receipts;
(4) educate customers, using not more than 3.5 percent
of the fund's annual receipts; and
(5) pay administrative expenses of administering this
section [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].
(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 [, 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 that is at least 10 percent and, if sufficient money in the
[system benefit] fund is available, up to 20 percent, lower than the
amount the customer would otherwise be charged. [To the extent the
system benefit fund is insufficient to 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
(b).] If the fee is set at 65 cents per megawatt hour and [or if]
the commission determines that revenues anticipated to be due to
the fund [appropriations] are insufficient to fund the 10 percent
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 [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 (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 established
under Section 39.106 or the rate plan under which the customer is
receiving service, as appropriate [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 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 [Texas Department of] Human
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 [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. 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 [program] provided under Subsection
(e)(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 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.
(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:
(1) whose household income is not more than 125
percent of the federal poverty guidelines; or
(2) whose household includes at least one person who,
based on household income, qualified for and participates in at
least one of the following public assistance programs for persons
with low incomes:
(A) [who receives] food stamps, [from the Texas
Department of Human Services or] medical assistance, or the
children's health insurance program, as approved by the Health and
Human Services Commission;
(B) federal housing assistance;
(C) the national school lunch program for free or
reduced-price lunches; or
(D) lifeline telephone service [from a state
agency administering a part of the medical assistance program].
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, 2009.