84R20444 JXC-F
By: Frullo, Huberty, Phelan, Deshotel, Otto, H.B. No. 1535
et al.
Substitute the following for H.B. No. 1535:
By: Huberty C.S.H.B. No. 1535
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to rates of and certificates of convenience and necessity
for certain non-ERCOT electric utilities; authorizing a surcharge.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Subchapter C, Chapter 36, Utilities Code, is
amended by adding Section 36.112 to read as follows:
Sec. 36.112. COST RECOVERY AND RATE ADJUSTMENT STANDARDS
AND PROCEDURES FOR CERTAIN NON-ERCOT UTILITIES. (a) This section
applies only to an electric utility that operates solely outside of
ERCOT.
(b) In establishing the base rates of the electric utility
under this subchapter or Subchapter D, the regulatory authority
shall determine the utility's revenue requirement based on, at the
election of the utility:
(1) information submitted for a test year; or
(2) information submitted for a test year, updated to
include information that reflects the most current actual or
estimated information regarding increases or decreases in the
utility's cost of service, including expenses, capital investment,
cost of capital, and sales.
(c) An electric utility that elects to provide updated
information under Subsection (b)(2) must provide the information
for a period ending not later than the 30th day before the date the
applicable rate proceeding is filed.
(d) An electric utility that includes estimated information
in the initial filing of a proceeding shall supplement the filing
with actual information not later than the 45th day after the date
the initial filing was made. The regulatory authority shall extend
the deadline for concluding the rate proceeding for a period of time
equal to the period between the date the initial filing of the
proceeding was made and the date of the supplemental filing, except
that the extension period may not exceed 45 days.
(e) An electric utility that makes an election under
Subsection (b) is not precluded from proposing other known and
measurable adjustments to the utility's historical rate
information as permitted by this title and commission rules,
including all attendant impacts on the utility's cost of service as
determined by the commission.
(f) Without limiting the availability of known and
measurable adjustments described by Subsection (e), the regulatory
authority shall allow an affected electric utility to make a known
and measurable adjustment to include in the utility's rates the
prudent capital investment, a reasonable return on such capital
investment, depreciation expense, reasonable and necessary
operating expenses, and all attendant impacts, including any
applicable load growth, as determined by the commission, associated
with a newly constructed or acquired natural gas-fired generation
facility. The regulatory authority is only required to allow the
adjustment if the facility is in service before the date new rates
begin to be billed to the customers of the utility, regardless of
whether the investment is less than 10 percent of the utility's rate
base before the date of the adjustment.
(g) In a rate proceeding authorized by this subchapter,
notwithstanding Section 36.109(a), the final rate set in the
proceeding shall be made effective for consumption on and after the
45th day after the date the electric utility filed to initiate the
rate proceeding. The regulatory authority shall:
(1) require the electric utility to refund to
customers money collected in excess of the rate finally ordered on
or after the 45th day after the date the electric utility filed to
initiate the rate proceeding; or
(2) authorize the electric utility to surcharge bills
to recover the amount by which the money collected on or after the
45th day after the date the utility filed to initiate the rate
proceeding is less than the money that would have been collected
under the rate finally ordered.
(h) The regulatory authority may require recovery of
amounts determined under Subsection (g) over a period not to exceed
18 months, along with appropriate carrying costs. The regulatory
authority shall make any adjustments necessary to prevent
over-recovery of amounts reflected in riders in effect for the
electric utility during the pendency of the rate proceeding.
(i) A utility may not assess more than one surcharge
authorized by Subsection (g) at the same time.
SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 37, Utilities Code, is
amended by adding Section 37.058 to read as follows:
Sec. 37.058. CERTIFICATE AND DETERMINATION ISSUED TO
CERTAIN NON-ERCOT UTILITIES FOR GENERATING FACILITY. (a) This
section applies only to an electric utility that operates solely
outside of ERCOT.
(b) An electric utility may file with the commission a
request that the commission:
(1) grant a certificate for an electric generating
facility;
(2) make a public interest determination for the
purchase of an existing electric generating facility under Section
14.101; or
(3) both grant a certificate and make a determination.
(c) Notwithstanding any other law, in a proceeding
involving the purchase of an existing electric generating facility,
the commission shall issue a final order on a certificate for the
facility or making a determination on the facility required by
Section 14.101, as applicable, not later than the 181st day after
the date a request for the certificate or determination is filed
with the commission under Subsection (b). For generating facilities
granted a certificate under this subsection, notwithstanding
Section 36.053, the utility's recoverable invested capital
included in rates shall be determined by the commission.
(d) Notwithstanding any other law, in a proceeding
involving a newly constructed generating facility, the commission
shall issue a final order on a certificate for the facility not
later than the 366th day after the date a request for the
certificate is filed with the commission under Subsection (b).
SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act are not
intended to affect the exercise of municipal jurisdiction under
Chapter 33, Utilities Code.
SECTION 4. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
a proceeding before the Public Utility Commission of Texas or other
regulatory authority described by Section 11.003, Utilities Code,
that commences on or after the effective date of this Act. A
proceeding before the Public Utility Commission of Texas or other
regulatory authority described by Section 11.003, Utilities Code,
that commenced before the effective date of this Act is governed by
the law in effect on the date the proceeding commenced, and that law
is continued in effect for that purpose.
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, 2015.