By: Schwertner, Zaffirini S.B. No. 1872
(In the Senate - Filed March 8, 2023; March 20, 2023, read
first time and referred to Committee on Business & Commerce;
May 1, 2023, reported adversely, with favorable Committee
Substitute by the following vote: Yeas 10, Nays 1; May 1, 2023,
sent to printer.)
Click here to see the committee vote
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 1872 By: Schwertner
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to certain contracts for the sale, transportation, or
gathering of natural gas.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 81.060, Natural Resources Code, is
amended by adding Subsections (c) and (d) to read as follows:
(c) A confidentiality provision may not be required in a
contract between the owner or operator of a pipeline and a shipper
for the sale, transportation, or gathering of natural gas that is
entered into on or after September 1, 2023, unless the inclusion of
the confidentiality provision is requested in writing by one of the
parties to the contract before the execution of the contract.
(d) A confidentiality provision in a contract between the
owner or operator of a pipeline and a shipper for the sale,
transportation, or gathering of natural gas that was entered into
before September 1, 2023, becomes unenforceable on the date the
term of the contract expires, unless the continuation of the
confidentiality provision is requested in writing by one of the
parties to the contract before the date the term of the contract
expires.
SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 86, Natural Resources
Code, is amended by adding Section 86.045 to read as follows:
Sec. 86.045. INVESTIGATION OF USE OF FORCE MAJEURE. (a)
During a weather emergency, a purchaser of natural gas that
receives a notice from a person with which the purchaser contracted
to receive natural gas that the person can no longer make natural
gas available for delivery to the purchaser due to force majeure may
report to the commission that:
(1) the purchaser received the notice; and
(2) the purchaser reasonably believes that the person
sold the natural gas that would have otherwise been available for
delivery to the purchaser to a different purchaser at a higher price
than that provided in the original purchaser's contract.
(b) On receiving the report under Subsection (a), the
commission may investigate to determine whether a person providing
natural gas service has made a sale described by Subsection (a)(2)
in a manner that violates state law. If the commission determines
that the person has made a sale described by Subsection (a)(2) in a
manner that violates state law, the commission may notify the
attorney general. The attorney general may initiate a suit to
recover any penalties authorized by law.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
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