Texas 2011 - 82nd Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB555 Compare Versions

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1	1	By: Watson S.B. No. 555
2	2	(In the Senate - Filed February 8, 2011; February 17, 2011,
3	3	read first time and referred to Committee on Natural Resources;
4	4	April 29, 2011, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
5	5	Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 7, Nays 2; April 29, 2011,
6	6	sent to printer.)
7	7	COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 555 By: Hegar
8	8
9	9
10	10	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
11	11	AN ACT
12	12	relating to the regulation of LP-gas utility companies.
13	13	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
14	14	SECTION 1. Subsection (b), Section 101.002, Utilities Code,
15	15	is amended to read as follows:
16	16	(b) Gas utilities, including LP-gas utilities, are by
17	17	definition monopolies in the areas they serve. As a result, the
18	18	normal forces of competition that regulate prices in a free
19	19	enterprise society do not operate. Public agencies regulate
20	20	utility rates, operations, and services as a substitute for
21	21	competition.
22	22	SECTION 2. Section 101.003, Utilities Code, is amended by
23	23	amending Subdivision (7) and adding Subdivision (7-a) to read as
24	24	follows:
25	25	(7) "Gas utility" includes a person or river authority
26	26	that owns or operates for compensation in this state equipment or
27	27	facilities to transmit or distribute combustible hydrocarbon
28	28	natural gas or synthetic natural gas for sale or resale in a manner
29	29	not subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory
30	30	Commission under the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. Section 717 et
31	31	seq.). The term includes a lessee, trustee, or receiver of a gas
32	32	utility. The term includes an LP-gas utility. The term does not
33	33	include:
34	34	(A) a municipal corporation;
35	35	(B) a person or river authority to the extent the
36	36	person or river authority:
37	37	(i) produces, gathers, transports, or sells
38	38	natural gas or synthetic natural gas under Section 121.004 or
39	39	121.005;
40	40	(ii) transports, delivers, stores,
41	41	distributes, or sells liquefied petroleum gas, unless the person or
42	42	river authority is an LP-gas utility as defined by this section; or
43	43	(iii) transports, delivers, or sells
44	44	natural gas or LP-gas for fuel for irrigation wells or any other
45	45	direct agricultural use;
46	46	(C) a person to the extent the person:
47	47	(i) sells natural gas or LP-gas for use as
48	48	vehicle fuel;
49	49	(ii) sells natural gas or LP-gas to a person
50	50	who later sells the natural gas or LP-gas for use as vehicle fuel;
51	51	or
52	52	(iii) owns or operates equipment or
53	53	facilities to sell or transport natural gas or LP-gas for ultimate
54	54	use as vehicle fuel;
55	55	(D) a person not otherwise a gas utility who
56	56	furnishes gas or gas service only to itself, its employees, or its
57	57	tenants as an incident of employment or tenancy, if the gas or gas
58	58	service is not resold to or used by others; or
59	59	(E) a person excluded from being considered a gas
60	60	utility under Section 121.007.
61	61	(7-a) "LP-gas utility" means a person that owns or
62	62	operates for compensation in this state equipment or facilities
63	63	consisting of a contiguous, interconnected distribution piping
64	64	system composed of pipe mains or service lines joined to one or more
65	65	storage containers supplying liquefied petroleum gas to 10 or more
66	66	residential end users who do not own or operate the distribution
67	67	piping system and who are contractually obligated to use the person
68	68	owning or operating the distribution piping system as the sole
69	69	source provider of liquefied petroleum gas. The term includes a
70	70	lessee, trustee, or receiver of an LP-gas utility. The term does
71	71	not include a person not otherwise an LP-gas utility that furnishes
72	72	LP-gas service only to itself, its employees, or its tenants as an
73	73	incident of employment or tenancy, if the LP-gas service is not
74	74	resold or used by others.
75	75	SECTION 3. Subsection (a), Section 102.001, Utilities Code,
76	76	is amended to read as follows:
77	77	(a) The railroad commission has exclusive original
78	78	jurisdiction over the rates and services of a gas utility:
79	79	(1) that distributes natural gas, LP-gas, or synthetic
80	80	natural gas in:
81	81	(A) areas outside a municipality; and
82	82	(B) areas inside a municipality that surrenders
83	83	its jurisdiction to the railroad commission under Section 103.003;
84	84	and
85	85	(2) that transmits, transports, delivers, or sells
86	86	natural gas, LP-gas, or synthetic natural gas to a gas utility that
87	87	distributes the gas to the public.
88	88	SECTION 4. Section 104.2545, Utilities Code, is amended by
89	89	adding Subsection (e) to read as follows:
90	90	(e) This section does not apply to an LP-gas utility.
91	91	SECTION 5. Section 104.258, Utilities Code, is amended to
92	92	read as follows:
93	93	Sec. 104.258. DISCONNECTION OF NATURAL GAS OR LP-GAS [GAS]
94	94	SERVICE. (a) In this section:
95	95	(1) "Extreme weather emergency" means a period during
96	96	which the previous day's highest temperature did not exceed 32
97	97	degrees Fahrenheit and the temperature is predicted to remain at or
98	98	below that level for the next 24 hours according to the nearest
99	99	National Weather Service reports.
100	100	(2) "Provider" means:
101	101	(A) a gas utility, as defined by Sections 101.003
102	102	and 121.001; [and]
103	103	(B) an LP-gas utility, as defined by Section
104	104	101.003; and
105	105	(C) an owner, operator, or manager of a mobile
106	106	home park or apartment who purchases natural gas or LP-gas through a
107	107	master meter for delivery to a dwelling unit in a mobile home park
108	108	or apartment house under Chapter 124.
109	109	(b) A provider may not disconnect natural gas or LP-gas
110	110	service to a residential customer on a weekend day unless personnel
111	111	of the provider are available on that day to take payments and
112	112	reconnect service.
113	113	(c) A provider may not disconnect natural gas or LP-gas
114	114	service to a residential customer during an extreme weather
115	115	emergency. The provider shall defer collection of the full payment
116	116	of bills that are due during an extreme weather emergency until
117	117	after the emergency is over and shall work with customers to
118	118	establish a pay schedule for deferred bills.
119	119	SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.
120	120	* * * * *