By: Anchia H.B. No. 4567
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to money used in and the continuation of the system benefit
fund
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Sec. 39.903. SYSTEM BENEFIT FUND.
(a) The system benefit fund is an account in the general
revenue fund. Money in the account may be appropriated only for the
purposes provided by this section or other law. Interest earned on
the system benefit fund shall be credited to the fund. Section
403.095, Government Code, does not apply to the system benefit
fund.
(b) The system benefit fund is financed by a nonbypassable
fee set by the commission in an amount not to exceed 65 cents per
megawatt hour and by appropriated funds. The system benefit fund
fee is allocated to customers based on the amount of kilowatt hours
used.
(c) The nonbypassable fee may not be imposed on the retail
electric customers of a municipally owned utility or electric
cooperative before the sixth month preceding the date on which the
utility or cooperative implements customer choice. Money
distributed from the system benefit fund to a municipally owned
utility or an electric cooperative shall be proportional to the
nonbypassable fee paid by the municipally owned utility or the
electric cooperative, subject to the reimbursement provided by
Subsection (i). On request by a municipally owned utility or
electric cooperative, the commission shall reduce the
nonbypassable fee imposed on retail electric customers served by
the municipally owned utility or electric cooperative by an amount
equal to the amount provided by the municipally owned utility or
electric cooperative or its ratepayers for local low-income
programs and local programs that educate customers about the retail
electric market in a neutral and nonpromotional manner.
(d) The commission shall annually review and approve system
benefit fund accounts, projected revenue requirements, and
proposed nonbypassable fees.
(e) Money in the system benefit fund may be appropriated to
provide funding solely for the following regulatory purposes, in
the following order of priority:
(1) programs to:
(A) provide bill payment assistance to
low-income electric customers who during the time of a declared
disaster that occurred in year 2021 or after and had an indexed
plan, or a variable rate plan, and have been impacted by high energy
bills as a result of the declared natural disaster; and
[(A)] (B) assist low-income electric customers
by providing the 10 percent reduced rate prescribed by Subsection
(h); and
[(B)] (C) provide one-time bill payment
assistance to electric customers who are or who have in their
households one or more seriously ill or disabled low-income persons
and who have been threatened with disconnection for nonpayment;
(2) customer education programs, administrative
expenses incurred by the commission in implementing and
administering this chapter, and expenses incurred by the office
under this chapter;
(3) programs to assist low-income electric customers
by providing the targeted energy efficiency programs described by
Subsection (f)(2);
(4) programs to assist low-income electric customers
by providing the 20 percent reduced rate prescribed by Subsection
(h); and
(5) reimbursement to the commission and the Health and
Human Services Commission for expenses incurred in the
implementation and administration of an integrated eligibility
process created under Section 17.007 for customer service discounts
relating to retail electric service, including outreach expenses
the commission determines are reasonable and necessary.
(f) Notwithstanding Section 39.106(b), the commission shall
adopt rules regarding programs to assist low-income electric
customers on the introduction of customer choice. The programs may
not be targeted to areas served by municipally owned utilities or
electric cooperatives that have not adopted customer choice. The
programs shall include:
(1) reduced electric rates as provided by Subsections
(h)-(l); and
(2) targeted energy efficiency programs to be
administered by the Texas Department of Housing and Community
Affairs in coordination with existing weatherization programs.
(g) Until customer choice is introduced in a power region,
an electric utility may not reduce, in any manner, programs already
offered to assist low-income electric customers.
(h) The commission shall adopt rules for a retail electric
provider to determine a reduced rate for eligible customers to be
discounted off the standard retail service package as approved by
the commission under Section 39.106, or the price to beat
established by Section 39.202, whichever is lower. Municipally
owned utilities and electric cooperatives shall establish a reduced
rate for eligible customers to be discounted off the standard
retail service package established under Section 40.053 or 41.053,
as appropriate. The reduced rate for a retail electric provider
shall result in a total charge that is at least 10 percent and, if
sufficient money in the system benefit fund is available, up to 20
percent, lower than the amount the customer would otherwise be
charged. To the extent the system benefit fund is insufficient to
fund the initial 10 percent rate reduction, the commission may
increase the fee to an amount not more than 65 cents per megawatt
hour, as provided by Subsection (b). If the fee is set at 65 cents
per megawatt hour or if the commission determines that
appropriations are insufficient to fund the 10 percent rate
reduction, the commission may reduce the rate reduction to less
than 10 percent. For a municipally owned utility or electric
cooperative, the reduced rate shall be equal to an amount that can
be fully funded by that portion of the nonbypassable fee proceeds
paid by the municipally owned utility or electric cooperative that
is allocated to the utility or cooperative by the commission under
Subsection (e) for programs for low-income customers of the utility
or cooperative. The reduced rate for municipally owned utilities
and electric cooperatives under this section is in addition to any
rate reduction that may result from local programs for low-income
customers of the municipally owned utilities or electric
cooperatives.
(i) A retail electric provider, municipally owned utility,
or electric cooperative seeking reimbursement from the system
benefit fund may not charge an eligible low-income customer a rate
higher than the appropriate rate determined under Subsection (h). A
retail electric provider not subject to the price to beat, or a
municipally owned utility or electric cooperative subject to the
nonbypassable fee under Subsection (c), shall be reimbursed from
the system benefit fund for the difference between the reduced rate
and the rate established under Section 39.106 or, as appropriate,
the rate established under Section 40.053 or 41.053. A retail
electric provider who is subject to the price to beat shall be
reimbursed from the system benefit fund for the difference between
the reduced rate and the price to beat. The commission shall adopt
rules providing for the reimbursement.
(j) The commission shall adopt rules providing for methods
of enrolling customers eligible to receive reduced rates under
Subsection (h). The rules must provide for automatic enrollment as
one enrollment option. The Texas Department of Human Services, on
request of the commission, shall assist in the adoption and
implementation of these rules. The commission and the Texas
Department of Human Services shall enter into a memorandum of
understanding establishing the respective duties of the commission
and the department in relation to the automatic enrollment.
(j-1) The commission shall adopt rules governing the bill
payment assistance program provided under Subsection (e)(1)(B).
The rules must provide that a customer is eligible to receive the
assistance only if the assistance is necessary to prevent the
disconnection of service for nonpayment of bills and the electric
customer is or has in the customer's household one or more seriously
ill or disabled low-income persons whose health or safety may be
injured by the disconnection. The commission may prescribe the
documentation necessary to demonstrate eligibility for the
assistance and may establish additional eligibility criteria. The
Health and Human Services Commission, on request of the commission,
shall assist in the adoption and implementation of these rules.
(k) A retail electric provider is prohibited from charging
the customer a fee for participation in the reduced rate program.
(l) For the purposes of this section, a "low-income electric
customer" is an electric customer:
(1) whose household income is not more than 125
percent of the federal poverty guidelines; or
(2) who receives food stamps from the Texas Department
of Human Services or medical assistance from a state agency
administering a part of the medical assistance program.
(m) This section expires September 1, 2024 [2017].