Texas 2011 - 82nd Regular

Texas House Bill HB519 Compare Versions

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1	1	82R7356 JJT-D
2	2	By: Turner, Miles H.B. No. 519
3	3	Substitute the following for H.B. No. 519:
4	4	By: Oliveira C.S.H.B. No. 519
5	5
6	6
7	7	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
8	8	AN ACT
9	9	relating to financing programs for low-income electric customers
10	10	and certain other electric customers.
11	11	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
12	12	SECTION 1. Section 17.007, Utilities Code, is amended to
13	13	read as follows:
14	14	Sec. 17.007. ELIGIBILITY PROCESS FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE
15	15	DISCOUNTS. The commission by rule shall provide for an integrated
16	16	eligibility process for customer service discounts, including
17	17	discounts under Sections 39.9035 [39.903] and 55.015.
18	18	SECTION 2. Section 39.002, Utilities Code, is amended to
19	19	read as follows:
20	20	Sec. 39.002. APPLICABILITY. This chapter, other than
21	21	Sections 39.155, 39.157(e), 39.203, 39.903, 39.9035, 39.904,
22	22	39.9051, 39.9052, and 39.914(e), does not apply to a municipally
23	23	owned utility or an electric cooperative. Sections 39.157(e),
24	24	39.203, and 39.904, however, apply only to a municipally owned
25	25	utility or an electric cooperative that is offering customer
26	26	choice. If there is a conflict between the specific provisions of
27	27	this chapter and any other provisions of this title, except for
28	28	Chapters 40 and 41, the provisions of this chapter control.
29	29	SECTION 3. Subchapter Z, Chapter 39, Utilities Code, is
30	30	amended by amending Section 39.903 and adding Section 39.9035 to
31	31	read as follows:
32	32	Sec. 39.903. SYSTEM BENEFIT FUND. (a) The system benefit
33	33	fund is an account in the general revenue fund. Money in the
34	34	account may be appropriated only for the purposes provided by this
35	35	section [or other law]. Interest earned on the system benefit fund
36	36	shall be credited to the fund. Section 403.095, Government Code,
37	37	does not apply to the system benefit fund.
38	38	(b) The system benefit fund is financed by a nonbypassable
39	39	system benefit fund fee set by the commission in an amount not to
40	40	exceed two [65] cents per megawatt hour. The system benefit fund
41	41	fee is allocated to customers based on the amount of kilowatt hours
42	42	used.
43	43	(c) The nonbypassable fee may not be imposed on the retail
44	44	electric customers of a municipally owned utility or electric
45	45	cooperative before the sixth month preceding the date on which the
46	46	utility or cooperative implements customer choice. Money
47	47	distributed from the system benefit fund to a municipally owned
48	48	utility or an electric cooperative shall be proportional to the
49	49	nonbypassable fee paid by the municipally owned utility or the
50	50	electric cooperative[, subject to the reimbursement provided by
51	51	Subsection (i)]. On request by a municipally owned utility or
52	52	electric cooperative, the commission shall reduce the
53	53	nonbypassable fee imposed on retail electric customers served by
54	54	the municipally owned utility or electric cooperative by an amount
55	55	equal to the amount provided by the municipally owned utility or
56	56	electric cooperative or its ratepayers for [local low-income
57	57	programs and] local programs that educate customers about the
58	58	retail electric market in a neutral and nonpromotional manner. The
59	59	commission shall adopt rules providing for reimbursements from
60	60	appropriated system benefit fund money for activities authorized
61	61	for funding under this section.
62	62	(d) The commission shall annually review and approve system
63	63	benefit fund accounts, projected revenue requirements, and
64	64	proposed nonbypassable fees. The commission shall report to the
65	65	electric utility restructuring legislative oversight committee if
66	66	the system benefit fund fee is insufficient to fund the purposes set
67	67	forth in Subsection (e) to the extent required by this section.
68	68	(e) Money in the system benefit fund may be appropriated to
69	69	provide funding solely for the following regulatory purposes [, in
70	70	the following order of priority]:
71	71	(1) [programs to:
72	72	[(A) assist low-income electric customers by
73	73	providing the 10 percent reduced rate prescribed by Subsection (h);
74	74	and
75	75	[(B) provide one-time bill payment assistance to
76	76	electric customers who are or who have in their households one or
77	77	more seriously ill or disabled low-income persons and who have been
78	78	threatened with disconnection for nonpayment;
79	79	[(2)] customer education programs;
80	80	(2) [,] administrative expenses incurred by the
81	81	commission in implementing and administering this chapter;
82	82	(3) [, and] expenses incurred by the office under this
83	83	chapter; and
84	84	(4) [(3) programs to assist low-income electric
85	85	customers by providing the targeted energy efficiency programs
86	86	described by Subsection (f)(2);
87	87	[(4) programs to assist low-income electric customers
88	88	by providing the 20 percent reduced rate prescribed by Subsection
89	89	(h); and
90	90	[(5)] reimbursement to the commission and the Health
91	91	and Human Services Commission for expenses incurred in the
92	92	implementation and administration of an integrated eligibility
93	93	process created under Section 17.007 for customer service discounts
94	94	relating to retail electric service, including outreach expenses
95	95	the commission determines are reasonable and necessary.
96	96	Sec. 39.9035. LOW-INCOME ELECTRIC CUSTOMERS PROGRAM FUND.
97	97	(a) The commission shall adopt and enforce rules requiring
98	98	transmission and distribution utilities to establish a low-income
99	99	electric customers program fund under commission oversight. The
100	100	rules must provide for:
101	101	(1) the fund to be established as a trust fund outside
102	102	of the state treasury;
103	103	(2) the fund to be held by an administrator selected by
104	104	the transmission and distribution utilities in accordance with
105	105	standards adopted by the commission; and
106	106	(3) any interest earned on money in the fund to be
107	107	credited to the fund.
108	108	(b) The administrator serves as trustee of the fund for the
109	109	benefit of low-income electric customer programs described by this
110	110	section, and in accordance with commission rules, the administrator
111	111	may make any payments or reimbursements from the fund to further the
112	112	programs. Commission rules must prescribe the maximum percentage
113	113	of money available in the fund that may be used for the expenses of
114	114	administering the fund and for annual independent auditing of the
115	115	fund and expenditures and other transactions related to the fund.
116	116	The commission or its agents may at any time examine any records
117	117	related to the fund or investigate any fund-related expenditures or
118	118	expenses. The administrator and each transmission and distribution
119	119	utility shall fully cooperate with any investigation regarding the
120	120	fund conducted by the commission or its agents.
121	121	(c) The commission by rule shall impose a nonbypassable
122	122	low-income electric customers program fund fee to be set by the
123	123	commission in an amount not to exceed 63 cents per megawatt hour,
124	124	allocated to customers based on the amount of kilowatt hours used.
125	125	(d) The commission shall provide for a nonbypassable fee in
126	126	the same amount as the fee imposed under Subsection (c) to be
127	127	imposed on the retail electric customers of a municipally owned
128	128	utility or electric cooperative beginning on the first day of the
129	129	sixth month preceding the date on which the utility or cooperative
130	130	implements customer choice.
131	131	(e) Commission rules adopted under this section must
132	132	provide that the low-income electric customers program fund fees
133	133	collected for the programs described by this section are collected
134	134	through the rates of the transmission and distribution service
135	135	providers and deposited into the low-income electric customers
136	136	program fund.
137	137	(f) Money in the low-income electric customers program fund
138	138	may be spent only for the following regulatory purposes and must be
139	139	allocated as follows:
140	140	(1) not more than 85 percent of the money available in
141	141	the fund must be used to provide a reduced rate that results in a
142	142	discount for low-income electric customers that is equal to 10 to 20
143	143	percent of the rate for the standard retail service package
144	144	approved by the commission under Section 39.106;
145	145	(2) not more than 4 percent of the money available in
146	146	the fund must be used for bill payment assistance for electric
147	147	customers designated under commission rules as critical care
148	148	residential customers; and
149	149	(3) not less than 11 percent of the money available in
150	150	the fund must be used to finance low-income electric customer
151	151	weatherization programs to be operated by a statewide network of
152	152	federal weatherization program providers under federal
153	153	weatherization program guidelines. [Notwithstanding Section
154	154	39.106(b), the commission shall adopt rules regarding programs to
155	155	assist low-income electric customers on the introduction of
156	156	customer choice. The programs may not be targeted to areas served
157	157	by municipally owned utilities or electric cooperatives that have
158	158	not adopted customer choice. The programs shall include:
159	159	[(1) reduced electric rates as provided by Subsections
160	160	(h)-(l); and
161	161	[(2) targeted energy efficiency programs to be
162	162	administered by the Texas Department of Housing and Community
163	163	Affairs in coordination with existing weatherization programs.]
164	164	(g) [Until customer choice is introduced in a power region,
165	165	an electric utility may not reduce, in any manner, programs already
166	166	offered to assist low-income electric customers.
167	167	[(h)] The commission shall adopt rules for a retail electric
168	168	provider to determine a reduced rate for eligible customers to be
169	169	discounted off the standard retail service package as approved by
170	170	the commission under Section 39.106 and shall require a retail
171	171	electric provider to apply the same reduction to any rate plan under
172	172	which an eligible low-income electric customer is receiving service
173	173	[, or the price to beat established by Section 39.202, whichever is
174	174	lower]. Municipally owned utilities and electric cooperatives
175	175	shall establish a reduced rate for eligible customers to be
176	176	discounted off the standard retail service package established
177	177	under Section 40.053 or 41.053, as appropriate. The reduced rate
178	178	for a retail electric provider shall result in a discount available
179	179	during each month of the year that is equal to [total charge that
180	180	is] at least 10 percent and, if sufficient money in the low-income
181	181	electric customers program [system benefit] fund is available, up
182	182	to 20 percent, of the rate for the standard retail service package
183	183	approved by the commission under Section 39.106 [lower than the
184	184	amount the customer would otherwise be charged]. To the extent the
185	185	low-income electric customers program [system benefit] fund is
186	186	insufficient to pay for [fund] the initial 10 percent discount
187	187	[rate reduction], the commission shall [may] increase the fee to an
188	188	amount not to exceed the maximum amount [more than 65 cents per
189	189	megawatt hour, as] provided by Subsection (c) [(b)]. If the fee is
190	190	set at that maximum amount and [65 cents per megawatt hour or if]
191	191	the commission determines that revenues anticipated to be due for
192	192	deposit to the fund are [appropriations are] insufficient to pay
193	193	for [fund] the 10 percent discount [rate reduction], the commission
194	194	shall [may] reduce the discount to an amount that is less than 10
195	195	percent of the rate of the standard retail service package. The
196	196	commission shall provide for a discount of at least 10 percent for
197	197	any period for which the commission determines that revenues
198	198	anticipated to be due for deposit to the fund are sufficient to pay
199	199	for the discount [rate reduction to less than 10 percent]. For a
200	200	municipally owned utility or electric cooperative, the reduced rate
201	201	shall be equal to an amount that can be fully funded by that portion
202	202	of the nonbypassable fee proceeds paid by the municipally owned
203	203	utility or electric cooperative that is allocated to the utility or
204	204	cooperative by the commission under Subsection (f) [(e)] for
205	205	programs for low-income customers of the utility or cooperative.
206	206	The reduced rate for municipally owned utilities and electric
207	207	cooperatives under this section is in addition to any rate
208	208	reduction that may result from local programs for low-income
209	209	customers of the municipally owned utilities or electric
210	210	cooperatives.
211	211	(h) [(i)] A retail electric provider, municipally owned
212	212	utility, or electric cooperative seeking reimbursement from the
213	213	low-income electric customers program [system benefit] fund may not
214	214	charge an eligible low-income customer a rate higher than the
215	215	appropriate rate determined under Subsection (g) [(h)]. Commission
216	216	rules must provide for [A retail electric provider not subject to
217	217	the price to beat, or] a municipally owned utility or electric
218	218	cooperative subject to the nonbypassable fee under Subsection (d)
219	219	to [(c), shall] be reimbursed from the [system benefit] fund for the
220	220	difference between the reduced rate and the rate established under
221	221	[Section 39.106 or, as appropriate, the rate established under]
222	222	Section 40.053 or 41.053, as appropriate. A retail electric
223	223	provider [who is subject to the price to beat] shall be reimbursed
224	224	from the [system benefit] fund for the difference between the
225	225	reduced rate and the rate plan under which the customer is receiving
226	226	service [the price to beat]. The commission shall adopt rules
227	227	providing for the reimbursement.
228	228	(i) [(j)] The commission shall adopt rules providing for
229	229	methods of enrolling customers eligible to receive the reduced
230	230	rates determined under Subsection (g) [(h)]. The rules must
231	231	provide for automatic enrollment as one enrollment option. The
232	232	Health and [Texas Department of] Human Services Commission, on
233	233	request of the commission, shall assist in the adoption and
234	234	implementation of these rules. The commission and the Health and
235	235	[Texas Department of] Human Services Commission shall enter into a
236	236	memorandum of understanding establishing the respective duties of
237	237	the agencies [commission and the department] in relation to the
238	238	automatic enrollment. Rules adopted under this section must
239	239	provide that:
240	240	(1) an electric customer eligible for the reduced
241	241	rates determined under Subsection (g) is also eligible for reduced
242	242	rates for telecommunications services offered for low-income
243	243	customers; and
244	244	(2) a customer eligible for reduced rates for
245	245	telecommunications services offered for low-income customers is
246	246	also eligible for the reduced rates established under Subsection
247	247	(g).
248	248	(j) [(j-1)] The commission shall adopt rules governing the
249	249	bill payment assistance program provided under Subsection (f)(2)
250	250	[(e)(1)(B)]. The rules must provide that a customer is eligible to
251	251	receive the assistance only if the assistance is necessary to
252	252	prevent the disconnection of service for a customer designated
253	253	under commission rules as a critical care residential customer
254	254	[nonpayment of bills and the electric customer is or has in the
255	255	customer's household one or more seriously ill or disabled
256	256	low-income persons whose health or safety may be injured by the
257	257	disconnection]. The commission may prescribe the documentation
258	258	necessary to demonstrate eligibility for the assistance and may
259	259	establish additional eligibility criteria. Money distributed to a
260	260	retail electric provider for bill payment assistance must be
261	261	proportional to the number of critical care residential customers
262	262	the provider serves for whom eligibility is established under
263	263	commission rules. The Health and Human Services Commission, on
264	264	request of the commission, shall assist in the adoption and
265	265	implementation of [these] rules under this subsection.
266	266	(k) A retail electric provider is prohibited from charging
267	267	the customer a fee for participation in the reduced rate program.
268	268	(l) For the purposes of this section, a "low-income electric
269	269	customer" is an electric customer:
270	270	(1) whose household income is not more than 125
271	271	percent of the federal poverty guidelines; or
272	272	(2) who receives supplemental nutrition assistance
273	273	[food stamps] from the Health and [Texas Department of] Human
274	274	Services Commission or medical assistance from a state agency
275	275	administering a part of the medical assistance program.
276	276	SECTION 4. Section 39.905(f), Utilities Code, is amended to
277	277	read as follows:
278	278	(f) Unless funding is provided under Section 39.9035
279	279	[39.903], each unbundled transmission and distribution utility
280	280	shall include in its energy efficiency plan a weatherization
281	281	[targeted low-income energy efficiency] program as described by
282	282	Section 39.9035(f)(3) [39.903(f)(2)], and the savings achieved by
283	283	the program shall count toward the transmission and distribution
284	284	utility's energy efficiency goal. The commission shall determine
285	285	the appropriate level of funding to be allocated to both the
286	286	required weatherization programs [targeted] and standard offer
287	287	low-income energy efficiency programs in each unbundled
288	288	transmission and distribution utility service area. The total
289	289	expenditures for both the required weatherization programs
290	290	[targeted] and standard offer low-income energy efficiency
291	291	programs will be based on the amount spent by the transmission and
292	292	distribution utility on the commission's hard-to-reach program in
293	293	calendar year 2003. This level of funding for the required
294	294	weatherization programs and low-income energy efficiency programs
295	295	shall be provided from money approved by the commission for the
296	296	transmission and distribution utility's energy efficiency
297	297	programs. The state agency that administers the federal
298	298	weatherization assistance program shall provide reports as
299	299	required by the commission to provide the most current information
300	300	available on energy and peak demand savings achieved in each
301	301	transmission and distribution utility service area.
302	302	SECTION 5. Section 40.001(a), Utilities Code, is amended to
303	303	read as follows:
304	304	(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, except
305	305	Sections 39.155, 39.157(e), 39.203, 39.903, 39.9035, and 39.904,
306	306	this chapter governs the transition to and the establishment of a
307	307	fully competitive electric power industry for municipally owned
308	308	utilities. With respect to the regulation of municipally owned
309	309	utilities, this chapter controls over any other provision of this
310	310	title, except for sections in which the term "municipally owned
311	311	utility" is specifically used.
312	312	SECTION 6. Section 40.004, Utilities Code, is amended to
313	313	read as follows:
314	314	Sec. 40.004. JURISDICTION OF COMMISSION. Except as
315	315	specifically otherwise provided in this chapter, the commission has
316	316	jurisdiction over municipally owned utilities only for the
317	317	following purposes:
318	318	(1) to regulate wholesale transmission rates and
319	319	service, including terms of access, to the extent provided by
320	320	Subchapter A, Chapter 35;
321	321	(2) to regulate certification of retail service areas
322	322	to the extent provided by Chapter 37;
323	323	(3) to regulate rates on appeal under Subchapters D
324	324	and E, Chapter 33, subject to Section 40.051(c);
325	325	(4) to establish a code of conduct as provided by
326	326	Section 39.157(e) applicable to anticompetitive activities and to
327	327	affiliate activities limited to structurally unbundled affiliates
328	328	of municipally owned utilities, subject to Section 40.054;
329	329	(5) to establish terms and conditions for open access
330	330	to transmission and distribution facilities for municipally owned
331	331	utilities providing customer choice, as provided by Section 39.203;
332	332	(6) to require collection of the nonbypassable fees
333	333	[fee] established under Section 39.903(b) and Section 39.9035(d);
334	334	(7) [and] to administer the renewable energy credits
335	335	program under Section 39.904(b) and the natural gas energy credits
336	336	program under Section 39.9044(b); and
337	337	(8) [(7)] to require reports of municipally owned
338	338	utility operations only to the extent necessary to:
339	339	(A) enable the commission to determine the
340	340	aggregate load and energy requirements of the state and the
341	341	resources available to serve that load; or
342	342	(B) enable the commission to determine
343	343	information relating to market power as provided by Section 39.155.
344	344	SECTION 7. Section 41.001, Utilities Code, is amended to
345	345	read as follows:
346	346	Sec. 41.001. APPLICABLE LAW. Notwithstanding any other
347	347	provision of law, except Sections 39.155, 39.157(e), 39.203,
348	348	39.903, 39.9035, and 39.904, this chapter governs the transition to
349	349	and the establishment of a fully competitive electric power
350	350	industry for electric cooperatives. Regarding the regulation of
351	351	electric cooperatives, this chapter shall control over any other
352	352	provision of this title, except for sections in which the term
353	353	"electric cooperative" is specifically used.
354	354	SECTION 8. The Public Utility Commission of Texas shall
355	355	adopt or revise, as necessary to implement this Act, rules
356	356	governing the system benefit fund and the low-income electric
357	357	customers program fund under Section 39.903, Utilities Code, as
358	358	amended by this Act, and Section 39.9035, Utilities Code, as added
359	359	by this Act, not later than September 1, 2012.
360	360	SECTION 9. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of this
361	361	section, this Act takes effect September 1, 2013.
362	362	(b) Section 8 of this Act takes effect September 1, 2011.