Texas 2023 - 88th Regular

Texas Senate Bill SB983 Compare Versions

Version 1 (Old)

Version 2 (New)

Old	New	Differences
1	1	S.B. No. 983
2	2
3	3
4	4	AN ACT
5	5	relating to information maintained by certain municipally owned
6	6	utilities that provide electricity services and cable, Internet, or
7	7	broadband services.
8	8	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
9	9	SECTION 1. Sections 552.133(a), (a-1), and (b-1),
10	10	Government Code, are amended to read as follows:
11	11	(a) In this section:
12	12	(1) "Broadband service" has the meaning assigned by
13	13	Section 181.048, Utilities Code.
14	14	(2) "Public[, "public] power utility" means an entity
15	15	providing electric or gas utility services that is subject to the
16	16	provisions of this chapter.
17	17	(a-1) For purposes of this section, "competitive matter"
18	18	means a utility-related matter, including for an entity described
19	19	by Subdivision (2) a cable, Internet, or broadband service matter,
20	20	that is related to the public power utility's competitive activity,
21	21	including commercial information, and would, if disclosed, give
22	22	advantage to competitors or prospective competitors. The term:
23	23	(1) means a matter that is reasonably related to the
24	24	following categories of information:
25	25	(A) generation unit specific and portfolio fixed
26	26	and variable costs, including forecasts of those costs, capital
27	27	improvement plans for generation units, and generation unit
28	28	operating characteristics and outage scheduling;
29	29	(B) bidding and pricing information for
30	30	purchased power, generation and fuel, and Electric Reliability
31	31	Council of Texas bids, prices, offers, and related services and
32	32	strategies;
33	33	(C) effective fuel and purchased power
34	34	agreements and fuel transportation arrangements and contracts;
35	35	(D) risk management information, contracts, and
36	36	strategies, including fuel hedging and storage;
37	37	(E) plans, studies, proposals, and analyses for
38	38	system improvements, additions, or sales, other than transmission
39	39	and distribution system improvements inside the service area for
40	40	which the public power utility is the sole certificated retail
41	41	provider; and
42	42	(F) customer billing, contract, and usage
43	43	information, electric power pricing information, system load
44	44	characteristics, and electric power marketing analyses and
45	45	strategies; [and]
46	46	(2) means a matter reasonably related to information
47	47	involving the provision of cable, Internet, or broadband services
48	48	by a municipally owned utility that provided electricity services
49	49	and cable, Internet, or broadband services on or before January 1,
50	50	2003, including:
51	51	(A) a capital improvement plan;
52	52	(B) an expense related to the installation of a
53	53	facility to provide those services;
54	54	(C) bidding and pricing information for
55	55	installation of the facility;
56	56	(D) risk management information, contracts, and
57	57	strategies;
58	58	(E) plans, studies, proposals, and analyses for:
59	59	(i) system improvements, additions, or
60	60	sales; or
61	61	(ii) establishing pricing for providing
62	62	those services; and
63	63	(F) customer billing, contract, and usage
64	64	information; and
65	65	(3) does not include the following categories of
66	66	information:
67	67	(A) information relating to the provision of
68	68	distribution access service, including the terms and conditions of
69	69	the service and the rates charged for the service but not including
70	70	information concerning utility-related services or products that
71	71	are competitive;
72	72	(B) information relating to the provision of
73	73	transmission service that is required to be filed with the Public
74	74	Utility Commission of Texas, subject to any confidentiality
75	75	provided for under the rules of the commission;
76	76	(C) information for the distribution system
77	77	pertaining to reliability and continuity of service, to the extent
78	78	not security-sensitive, that relates to emergency management,
79	79	identification of critical loads such as hospitals and police,
80	80	records of interruption, and distribution feeder standards;
81	81	(D) any substantive rule or tariff of general
82	82	applicability regarding rates, service offerings, service
83	83	regulation, customer protections, or customer service adopted by
84	84	the public power utility as authorized by law;
85	85	(E) aggregate information reflecting receipts or
86	86	expenditures of funds of the public power utility, of the type that
87	87	would be included in audited financial statements;
88	88	(F) information relating to equal employment
89	89	opportunities for minority groups, as filed with local, state, or
90	90	federal agencies;
91	91	(G) information relating to the public power
92	92	utility's performance in contracting with minority business
93	93	entities;
94	94	(H) information relating to nuclear
95	95	decommissioning trust agreements, of the type required to be
96	96	included in audited financial statements;
97	97	(I) information relating to the amount and timing
98	98	of any transfer to an owning city's general fund;
99	99	(J) information relating to environmental
100	100	compliance as required to be filed with any local, state, or
101	101	national environmental authority, subject to any confidentiality
102	102	provided under the rules of those authorities;
103	103	(K) names of public officers of the public power
104	104	utility and the voting records of those officers for all matters
105	105	other than those within the scope of a competitive resolution
106	106	provided for by this section;
107	107	(L) a description of the public power utility's
108	108	central and field organization, including the established places at
109	109	which the public may obtain information, submit information and
110	110	requests, or obtain decisions and the identification of employees
111	111	from whom the public may obtain information, submit information or
112	112	requests, or obtain decisions;
113	113	(M) information identifying the general course
114	114	and method by which the public power utility's functions are
115	115	channeled and determined, including the nature and requirements of
116	116	all formal and informal policies and procedures;
117	117	(N) salaries and total compensation of all
118	118	employees of a public power utility;
119	119	(O) information publicly released by the
120	120	Electric Reliability Council of Texas in accordance with a law,
121	121	rule, or protocol generally applicable to similarly situated market
122	122	participants; [or]
123	123	(P) information related to a chilled water
124	124	program, as defined by Section 11.003, Utilities Code; or
125	125	(Q) information included in the separate books
126	126	and records required to be kept by an entity described by
127	127	Subdivision (2) as required by Section 552.915, Local Government
128	128	Code.
129	129	(b-1) Notwithstanding any contrary provision of Subsection
130	130	(b), information or records of a municipally owned utility or
131	131	municipality that operates a chilled water program are subject to
132	132	disclosure under this chapter if the information or records are
133	133	reasonably related to:
134	134	(1) a municipally owned utility's rate review process;
135	135	(2) the method a municipality or municipally owned
136	136	utility uses to set rates for retail electric service; or
137	137	(3) the method a municipality or municipally owned
138	138	utility uses to set rates for a chilled water program described by
139	139	Subsection (a-1)(3)(P) [(a-1)(2)(P)].
140	140	SECTION 2. Subchapter Z, Chapter 552, Local Government
141	141	Code, is amended by adding Section 552.915 to read as follows:
142	142	Sec. 552.915. RECORDS OF MUNICIPALLY OWNED ELECTRIC UTILITY
143	143	PROVIDING BROADBAND SERVICES. (a) In this section, "broadband
144	144	service" has the meaning assigned by Section 181.048, Utilities
145	145	Code.
146	146	(b) This section applies only to a municipally owned utility
147	147	that:
148	148	(1) provides electricity and broadband services; and
149	149	(2) provided electricity services and cable,
150	150	Internet, or broadband services on or before January 1, 2003.
151	151	(c) A municipally owned utility shall maintain separate
152	152	books and records of broadband service operations and shall ensure
153	153	that the rates charged for provision of electric service do not
154	154	include any broadband service costs or any other costs not related
155	155	to the provision of electric service.
156	156	SECTION 3. Section 552.133, Government Code, as amended by
157	157	this Act, applies only to a request for public information received
158	158	by a governmental body or an officer for public information on or
159	159	after the effective date of this Act.
160	160	SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
161	161	______________________________ ______________________________
162	162	President of the Senate Speaker of the House
163	163	I hereby certify that S.B. No. 983 passed the Senate on
164	164	April 27, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 30, Nays 1.
165	165	______________________________
166	166	Secretary of the Senate
167	167	I hereby certify that S.B. No. 983 passed the House on
168	168	May 19, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 118, Nays 25, two
169	169	present not voting.
170	170	______________________________
171	171	Chief Clerk of the House
172	172	Approved:
173	173	______________________________
174	174	Date
175	175	______________________________
176	176	Governor