Texas 2019 - 86th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB2116 Compare Versions

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

Old	New	Differences
1	1	2019S0307-1 03/01/19
2	2	By: Hancock S.B. No. 2116
3	3
4	4
5	5	A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
6	6	AN ACT
7	7	relating to the sale of electric power to certain public customers.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Section 52.133(d), Natural Resources Code, is
10	10	amended to read as follows:
11	11	(d) The commissioner, the owner of the soil under Subchapter
12	12	F, or the commissioner acting on behalf of and at the direction of
13	13	an owner of the soil under Subchapter F, the board, or a board for
14	14	lease may negotiate and execute contracts or any other instruments
15	15	or agreements necessary to convert that portion of the royalty
16	16	taken in kind into other forms of energy, other than [including]
17	17	electricity.
18	18	SECTION 2. Section 53.026(b), Natural Resources Code, is
19	19	amended to read as follows:
20	20	(b) The commissioner or the commissioner acting on behalf of
21	21	and at the direction of the board or a board for lease may negotiate
22	22	and execute a contract or any other instrument or agreement
23	23	necessary to convert that portion of the royalty taken in kind to
24	24	other forms of energy, other than [including] electricity.
25	25	SECTION 3. Section 53.077(b), Natural Resources Code, is
26	26	amended to read as follows:
27	27	(b) The commissioner, each owner of the soil under this
28	28	subchapter, or the commissioner acting on behalf of and at the
29	29	direction of the owner of the soil under this subchapter may
30	30	negotiate and execute a contract or any other instrument or
31	31	agreement necessary to convert that portion of the royalty taken in
32	32	kind to other forms of energy, other than [including] electricity.
33	33	SECTION 4. Section 182.022, Tax Code, is amended by adding
34	34	Subsection (d) to read as follows:
35	35	(d) Notwithstanding any other provision of this chapter, a
36	36	tax under this chapter may not be imposed on the gross receipts from
37	37	the sale of electricity to a public school district customer.
38	38	SECTION 5. Section 35.102, Utilities Code, is transferred
39	39	to Subchapter A, Chapter 101, Utilities Code, redesignated as
40	40	Section 101.009, Utilities Code, and amended to read as follows:
41	41	Sec. 101.009 [35.102]. STATE AUTHORITY TO SELL OR CONVEY
42	42	[POWER OR] NATURAL GAS. (a) In this section:
43	43	(1) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of the
44	44	General Land Office.
45	45	(2) "Public retail customer" means a retail customer
46	46	that is an agency of this state, a state institution of higher
47	47	education, a public school district, a political subdivision of
48	48	this state, a military installation of the United States, or a
49	49	United States Department of Veterans Affairs facility.
50	50	(b) The commissioner, acting on behalf of the state, may
51	51	sell or otherwise convey [power or] natural gas generated from
52	52	royalties taken in kind as provided by Sections 52.133(f), 53.026,
53	53	and 53.077, Natural Resources Code, directly to a public retail
54	54	customer [regardless of whether the public retail customer is also
55	55	classified as a wholesale customer under other provisions of this
56	56	title].
57	57	(c) [(b)] To ensure that the state receives the maximum
58	58	benefit from the sale of [power or] natural gas generated from
59	59	royalties taken in kind, the commissioner shall use all feasible
60	60	means to sell that [power or] natural gas first to public retail
61	61	customers that are military installations of the United States,
62	62	agencies of this state, institutions of higher education, or public
63	63	school districts. The remainder of the [power or] natural gas, if
64	64	any, may be sold to public retail customers that are political
65	65	subdivisions of this state or to a United States Department of
66	66	Veterans Affairs facility.
67	67	SECTION 6. Section 104.2545(d), Utilities Code, is amended
68	68	to read as follows:
69	69	(d) In this section, "public retail customer" has the
70	70	meaning assigned by Section 101.009 [35.101].
71	71	SECTION 7. (a) The heading to Subchapter D, Chapter 35,
72	72	Utilities Code, is repealed.
73	73	(b) Sections 35.101, 35.103, 35.104, 35.105, and 35.106,
74	74	Utilities Code, are repealed.
75	75	SECTION 8. The General Land Office or an entity operating
76	76	under a contract with the General Land Office may continue to
77	77	provide retail electric service in accordance with Subchapter D,
78	78	Chapter 35, Utilities Code, as that subchapter existed before the
79	79	effective date of this Act, under the terms of an agreement with a
80	80	customer entered into before the effective date of this Act, only
81	81	until the date the agreement expires. An agreement described by
82	82	this section may be extended to a date not later than January 1,
83	83	2024.
84	84	SECTION 9. The change in law made by this Act does not
85	85	affect taxes imposed before the effective date of this Act, and the
86	86	law in effect before the effective date of this Act is continued in
87	87	effect for purposes of the liability for and collection of those
88	88	taxes.
89	89	SECTION 10. (a) As soon as practicable after January 1,
90	90	2024, the Public Utility Commission of Texas, for an electric
91	91	utility regulated under Chapter 36, Utilities Code, shall provide
92	92	for the adjustment of the electric utility's billing of a public
93	93	school district customer to reflect any decrease in the utility's
94	94	tax liability to this state if the decrease is attributable to the
95	95	exemption in Section 182.022(d), Tax Code, as added by this Act. An
96	96	adjustment must be made effective at the same time as the decrease
97	97	in tax liability or as soon after that decrease occurs as is
98	98	reasonably practicable. The Public Utility Commission of Texas is
99	99	not required to provide for an adjustment if the commission enters
100	100	an order for the utility under Subchapter C or D, Chapter 36,
101	101	Utilities Code, that accounts for any decrease in the utility's tax
102	102	liability attributable to the exemption in Section 182.022(d), Tax
103	103	Code, as added by this Act. An adjustment is not a rate case under
104	104	Subchapter C or D, Chapter 36, Utilities Code.
105	105	(b) As soon as practicable after January 1, 2024, a retail
106	106	electric provider, as defined by Section 31.002, Utilities Code,
107	107	shall adjust the billing of a public school district customer to
108	108	reflect any decrease in the retail electric provider's tax
109	109	liability to this state if the decrease is attributable to the
110	110	exemption in Section 182.022(d), Tax Code, as added by this Act. An
111	111	adjustment must be made effective at the same time as the decrease
112	112	in tax liability or as soon after that decrease occurs as is
113	113	reasonably practicable.
114	114	SECTION 11. (a) Except as provided by Subsection (b) of
115	115	this section, this Act takes effect immediately if it receives a
116	116	vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
117	117	provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
118	118	Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
119	119	Act takes effect September 1, 2019.
120	120	(b) Section 182.022(d), Tax Code, as added by this Act,
121	121	takes effect January 1, 2024.