Texas 2017 - 85th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB1920 Compare Versions

Only one version of the bill is available at this time.

Old	New	Differences
1	1	85R6157 DMS-D
2	2	By: Kolkhorst S.B. No. 1920
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to electric industry market power rules.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Section 39.157(d), Utilities Code, is amended to
10	10	read as follows:
11	11	(d) Not later than January 10, 2000, the commission shall
12	12	adopt rules and enforcement procedures to govern transactions or
13	13	activities between a transmission and distribution utility and its
14	14	competitive affiliates to avoid potential market power abuses and
15	15	cross-subsidizations between regulated and competitive activities
16	16	both during the transition to and after the introduction of
17	17	competition. Nothing in this subsection is intended to affect or
18	18	modify the obligations or duties relating to any rules or standards
19	19	of conduct that may apply to a utility or the utility's affiliates
20	20	under orders or regulations of the Federal Energy Regulatory
21	21	Commission or the Securities and Exchange Commission. A utility
22	22	that is subject to statutes or regulations in other states that
23	23	conflict with a provision of this section may petition the
24	24	commission for a waiver of the conflicting provision on a showing of
25	25	good cause. The rules adopted under this section shall ensure that:
26	26	(1) a utility makes any products and services, other
27	27	than corporate support services, that it provides to a competitive
28	28	affiliate available, contemporaneously and in the same manner, to
29	29	the competitive affiliate's competitors and applies its tariffs,
30	30	prices, terms, conditions, and discounts for those products and
31	31	services in the same manner to all similarly situated entities;
32	32	(2) a utility does not:
33	33	(A) give a competitive affiliate or a competitive
34	34	affiliate's customers any preferential advantage, access, or
35	35	treatment regarding services other than corporate support
36	36	services; or
37	37	(B) act in a manner that is discriminatory or
38	38	anticompetitive with respect to a nonaffiliated competitor of a
39	39	competitive affiliate;
40	40	(3) a utility providing electric transmission or
41	41	distribution services:
42	42	(A) provides those services on nondiscriminatory
43	43	terms and conditions;
44	44	(B) does not establish as a condition for the
45	45	provision of those services the purchase of other goods or services
46	46	from the utility or the competitive affiliate; and
47	47	(C) does not provide competitive affiliates
48	48	preferential access to the utility's transmission and distribution
49	49	systems or to information about those systems;
50	50	(4) a utility does not release any proprietary
51	51	customer information to a competitive affiliate or any other
52	52	entity, other than an independent organization as defined by
53	53	Section 39.151 or a provider of corporate support services for the
54	54	purposes of providing the services, without obtaining prior
55	55	verifiable authorization, as determined from the commission, from
56	56	the customer;
57	57	(5) a utility, or any affiliated utility, does not[:
58	58	[(A)] communicate with a current or potential
59	59	customer about products or services offered by a competitive
60	60	affiliate in a manner that favors a competitive affiliate[;] or
61	61	[(B)] allow a competitive affiliate[, before
62	62	September 1, 2005,] to use the utility's corporate name, trademark,
63	63	brand, [or] logo, or other identifying brand feature, except that
64	64	an affiliate relationship may be disclosed in communications that
65	65	are not made for the purpose of advertising or joint marketing
66	66	[unless the competitive affiliate includes on employee business
67	67	cards and in its advertisements of specific services to existing or
68	68	potential residential or small commercial customers locating
69	69	within the utility's certificated service area a disclaimer that
70	70	states, "(Name of competitive affiliate) is not the same company as
71	71	(name of utility) and is not regulated by the Public Utility
72	72	Commission of Texas, and you do not have to buy (name of competitive
73	73	affiliate)'s products to continue to receive quality regulated
74	74	services from (name of utility)."];
75	75	(6) a utility, or any affiliated utility, does not
76	76	conduct joint advertising or promotional activities with a
77	77	competitive affiliate in a manner that favors the competitive
78	78	affiliate;
79	79	(7) a utility is a separate, independent entity from
80	80	any competitive affiliates and, except as provided by Subdivisions
81	81	(8) and (9), does not share employees, facilities, information, or
82	82	other resources, other than permissible corporate support
83	83	services, with those competitive affiliates unless the utility can
84	84	prove to the commission that the sharing will not compromise the
85	85	public interest;
86	86	(8) a utility's office space is physically separated
87	87	from the office space of the utility's competitive affiliates by
88	88	being located in separate buildings or, if within the same
89	89	building, by a method such as having the offices on separate floors
90	90	or with separate access, unless otherwise approved by the
91	91	commission;
92	92	(9) a utility and a competitive affiliate:
93	93	(A) may, to the extent the utility implements
94	94	adequate safeguards precluding employees of a competitive
95	95	affiliate from gaining access to information in a manner
96	96	inconsistent with Subsection (g) or (i), share common officers and
97	97	directors, property, equipment, offices to the extent consistent
98	98	with Subdivision (8), credit, investment, or financing
99	99	arrangements to the extent consistent with Subdivision (17),
100	100	computer systems, information systems, and corporate support
101	101	services; and
102	102	(B) are not required to enter into prior written
103	103	contracts or competitive solicitations for non-tariffed
104	104	transactions between the utility and the competitive affiliate,
105	105	except that the commission by rule may require the utility and the
106	106	competitive affiliate to enter into prior written contracts or
107	107	competitive solicitations for certain classes of transactions,
108	108	other than corporate support services, that have a per unit value of
109	109	more than $75,000 or that total more than $1 million;
110	110	(10) a utility does not temporarily assign, for less
111	111	than one year, employees engaged in transmission or distribution
112	112	system operations to a competitive affiliate unless the employee
113	113	does not have knowledge of information that is intended to be
114	114	protected under this section;
115	115	(11) a utility does not subsidize the business
116	116	activities of an affiliate with revenues from a regulated service;
117	117	(12) a utility and its affiliates fully allocate costs
118	118	for any shared services, corporate support services, and other
119	119	items described by Subdivisions (8) and (9);
120	120	(13) a utility and its affiliates keep separate books
121	121	of accounts and records and the commission may review records
122	122	relating to a transaction between a utility and an affiliate;
123	123	(14) assets transferred or services provided between a
124	124	utility and an affiliate, other than transfers that facilitate
125	125	unbundling under Section 39.051 or asset valuation under Section
126	126	39.262, are priced at a level that is fair and reasonable to the
127	127	customers of the utility and reflects the market value of the assets
128	128	or services or the utility's fully allocated cost to provide those
129	129	assets or services;
130	130	(15) regulated services that a utility provides on a
131	131	routine or recurring basis are included in a tariff that is subject
132	132	to commission approval;
133	133	(16) each transaction between a utility and a
134	134	competitive affiliate is conducted at arm's length; and
135	135	(17) a utility does not allow an affiliate to obtain
136	136	credit under an arrangement that would include a specific pledge of
137	137	assets in the rate base of the utility or a pledge of cash
138	138	reasonably necessary for utility operations.
139	139	SECTION 2. This Act takes effect September 1, 2017.