By: Hancock S.B. No. 853
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to electricity service provided by certain municipally
owned utilities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Chapter 33, Utilities Code, is amended by adding
Subchapter F to read as follows:
SUBCHAPTER F. REVIEW OF RATES OF CERTAIN MUNICIPAL UTILITIES
Sec. 33.151. APPLICABILITY. This subchapter applies only
to a municipally owned utility that provides service in the Capitol
complex, as defined by Section 443.0071, Government Code.
Sec. 33.152. REVIEW OF RATES; CUSTOMER CHOICE. (a)
Notwithstanding any other law, a group of retail customers may file
a petition for commission review of current or proposed rates of a
municipally owned utility that apply to the petitioning customers.
The petition must be signed by at least five percent of the
municipally owned utility's customers. The signature of a retail
customer of a municipally owned utility may be counted as a valid
signature only on the first filed petition on which that customer's
signature appears.
(b) The commission shall initiate a proceeding not later
than the 90th day after the petition is submitted to determine
whether the rates of the municipally owned utility are consistent
with the rates available to similarly situated customers in areas
of the state that have access to customer choice. If the commission
determines that the rates of the municipally owned utility are
consistent with the rates available to similarly situated customers
in areas of the state that have access to customer choice, the
commission shall deny the petition.
(c) For the purposes of Subsection (b), the rates of the
municipally owned utility are inconsistent with the rates available
to similarly situated customers in areas of the state that have
access to customer choice if an average rate paid by the customers
of the municipally owned utility during the most recent five years
is at least 10 percent higher than the comparable average rate paid
during the same five-year period by similarly situated customers in
areas of the state that have access to customer choice.
(d) If the commission does not deny the petition under
Subsection (b), not later than the 90th day after the date of the
determination described by Subsection (b), the municipally owned
utility shall file a rate application with the commission that
complies in all material respects with the rules and forms
prescribed by the commission. The commission for good cause may
extend the deadline for filing the rate application.
(e) The commission shall conduct a full review of the rates
applicable to the petitioning customer or group to determine
whether those rates are just and reasonable using the standards
prescribed by Chapter 36, notwithstanding the lack of consistency
between those rates and rates available to similarly situated
customers in areas of the state that have access to customer choice.
If the commission determines that the rates are just and
reasonable, the commission shall deny the petition. If the
commission determines that the rates are not just and reasonable,
the commission shall set rates for the petitioning customer or
group that are just, reasonable, and consistent with the rates
available to similarly situated customers in areas of the state
that have access to customer choice.
(f) The commission shall:
(1) allow the municipally owned utility an opportunity
to respond to a review conducted under this section; and
(2) make publicly available on the commission's
Internet website the commission's review and the utility's
response.
Sec. 33.153. LIMITATION. The commission may not conduct
more than one review under this subchapter for each municipally
owned utility.
SECTION 2. Section 40.004, Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 40.004. JURISDICTION OF COMMISSION. Except as
specifically otherwise provided in this chapter, the commission has
jurisdiction over municipally owned utilities only for the
following purposes:
(1) to regulate wholesale transmission rates and
service, including terms of access, to the extent provided by
Subchapter A, Chapter 35;
(2) to regulate certification of retail service areas
to the extent provided by Chapter 37;
(3) to regulate rates:
(A) under Subchapter F, Chapter 33, subject to
Section 40.051(c); and
(B) on appeal under Subchapters D and E, Chapter
33, subject to Section 40.051(c);
(4) to establish a code of conduct as provided by
Section 39.157(e) applicable to anticompetitive activities and to
affiliate activities limited to structurally unbundled affiliates
of municipally owned utilities, subject to Section 40.054;
(5) to establish terms and conditions for open access
to transmission and distribution facilities for municipally owned
utilities providing customer choice, as provided by Section 39.203;
(6) to administer the renewable energy credits program
under Section 39.904(b) and the natural gas energy credits program
under Section 39.9044(b);
(7) to require reports of municipally owned utility
operations only to the extent necessary to:
(A) enable the commission to determine the
aggregate load and energy requirements of the state and the
resources available to serve that load; or
(B) enable the commission to determine
information relating to market power as provided by Section 39.155;
and
(8) to evaluate and monitor the cybersecurity
preparedness of a municipally owned utility described by Section
39.1516(a)(3) or (4).
SECTION 3. Section 40.051(c), Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(c) After a decision to offer customer choice has been made,
Subchapters D, [and] E, and F, Chapter 33, do not apply to any
action taken under this chapter.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.