By: Seliger S.B. No. 312
(In the Senate - Filed January 4, 2011; February 2, 2011,
read first time and referred to Committee on Natural Resources;
March 9, 2011, reported favorably by the following vote: Yeas 11,
Nays 0; March 9, 2011, sent to printer.)
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the exemption of certain electric cooperatives from
certain regulations.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subdivision (7), Section 101.003, Utilities
Code, is amended 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 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; or
(F) an electric cooperative, as that term is
defined by Section 11.003, or its subsidiary, that is excluded from
regulation as a gas utility by Section 121.008.
SECTION 2. Subchapter A, Chapter 121, Utilities Code, is
amended by adding Section 121.008 to read as follows:
Sec. 121.008. CERTAIN STORAGE FACILITIES OWNED BY ELECTRIC
COOPERATIVES EXCLUDED. An electric cooperative, as that term is
defined by Section 11.003, or its subsidiary, that sells
electricity at wholesale is not a gas utility or subject to
regulation as a gas utility solely because it provides gas storage
services for hire if the gas storage facility is predominantly
operated to support the integration of renewable resources. Such a
gas storage facility may not have a working gas capacity of greater
than five billion cubic feet.
SECTION 3. Subdivision (2), Section 111.001, Natural
Resources Code, is amended to read as follows:
(2) "Public utility" means a person, association of
persons, or corporation that owns, operates, or manages crude
petroleum storage tanks or storage facilities for the public for
hire, either in connection with a pipeline, pipelines, or
otherwise. The term does not include an electric cooperative, as
that term is defined by Section 11.003, Utilities Code, or its
subsidiary, that sells electricity at wholesale and that owns or
operates an underground storage facility and provides gas storage
services to the public for hire if the gas storage facility is
predominantly operated to support the integration of renewable
resources. Such a gas storage facility may not have a working gas
capacity of greater than five billion cubic feet.
SECTION 4. Section 111.003, Natural Resources Code, is
amended by adding Subsection (c) to read as follows:
(c) The provisions of this chapter, and any common law
requirements or limitations applicable to a common carrier, do not
apply to an underground storage facility owned or operated by an
electric cooperative, as that term is defined by Section 11.003,
Utilities Code, or its subsidiary, that sells electricity at
wholesale and offers or provides gas storage services to the public
for hire if the gas storage facility is predominantly operated to
support the integration of renewable resources. Such a gas storage
facility may not have a working gas capacity of greater than five
billion cubic feet.
SECTION 5. 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, 2011.
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