89R1100 CS-D
By: Hernandez H.B. No. 1359
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to a program to provide assistance for certain retail
electric customers; authorizing a fee.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 17.007, Utilities Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (e) to read as
follows:
(a) The Health and Human Services Commission, on request of
the commission, shall assist in:
(1) developing an automatic process for identifying
low-income customers to retail electric providers and certificated
telecommunications utilities to enable those providers and
utilities to offer customer service, discounts, bill payment
assistance, or other methods of assistance; and
(2) implementing Section 39.9035.
(e) Subsection (d) does not apply in a state fiscal biennium
in which money is available under Section 39.9035 for the process
established by this section.
SECTION 2. Section 39.002, Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 39.002. APPLICABILITY. This chapter, other than
Sections 39.151, 39.1516, 39.155, 39.157(e), 39.161, 39.162,
39.163, 39.203, 39.9035, 39.9051, 39.9052, and 39.914(e), and
Subchapters M and N, does not apply to a municipally owned utility
or an electric cooperative. Sections 39.157(e), [and] 39.203, and
39.9035 apply only to a municipally owned utility or an electric
cooperative that is offering customer choice. If there is a
conflict between the specific provisions of this chapter and any
other provisions of this title, except for Chapters 40 and 41, the
provisions of this chapter control.
SECTION 3. Subchapter Z, Chapter 39, Utilities Code, is
amended by adding Section 39.9035 to read as follows:
Sec. 39.9035. INCOME-BASED ASSISTANCE FUND. (a) In this
section, "fund" means the income-based assistance fund.
(b) The income-based assistance fund is established as a
trust fund outside the state treasury to be held by the comptroller
and administered without further appropriation by the commission as
trustee on behalf of persons eligible to receive monetary
assistance from the fund or support from programs paid for using
money in the fund.
(c) The fund is financed by a nonbypassable fee collected by
each retail electric provider and each municipally owned utility
and electric cooperative that has adopted customer choice. The
commission shall set the amount of the fee, which may not exceed 65
cents per megawatt hour. The fee must be charged to retail electric
customers based on the number of kilowatt hours used by the
customer. The commission shall set the fee biennially in a
reasonable amount necessary to produce sufficient revenue to cover
the estimated cost of administering this section during the period
for which the fee is in effect. When setting the fee for an
applicable period, the commission must consider the balance of the
fund, if any, that is available for the purposes for which the fund
may be used during that period. The commission shall publish the
fee set under this subsection and the period for which the fee will
be in effect in the Texas Register. The proceeds of the fee shall be
remitted to the comptroller for deposit to the credit of the fund.
(d) The fund consists of:
(1) revenue from the fee established under Subsection
(c);
(2) money appropriated, credited, transferred, or
deposited to the credit of the fund by the legislature;
(3) gifts, grants, or donations made to the fund; and
(4) interest or other earnings attributable to the
investment of money in the fund.
(e) Money in the fund may be used to provide funding only for
the following purposes, in the following order of priority:
(1) programs to:
(A) assist low-income electric customers by
making available the discounts described by Subsection (g); and
(B) provide one-time bill payment assistance as
described by Subsection (m) to critical care residential customers,
as defined by Section 17.002, who have received notice of an
impending service disconnection for nonpayment;
(2) customer education that provides information on
other assistance programs;
(3) administrative expenses incurred by the
commission in implementing and administering this chapter and
expenses incurred by the office under this chapter; and
(4) reimbursement to the commission and the Health and
Human Services Commission for expenses incurred in the
implementation and administration of the automatic identification
process established under Section 17.007 for customer service
discounts relating to retail electric service, including outreach
expenses the commission determines are reasonable and necessary.
(f) The commission shall adopt rules regarding programs to
assist low-income electric customers in areas where customer choice
is available. The programs may not be targeted to areas served by
municipally owned utilities or electric cooperatives that have not
adopted customer choice.
(g) Programs adopted under Subsection (f) must include a
retail electric service discount program for low-income electric
customers that the commission implements for the purpose of making
the reimbursements authorized under Subsection (j). The commission
by rule shall require electric cooperatives that have adopted
customer choice, municipally owned utilities that have adopted
customer choice, and retail electric providers to provide the
discount. The commission shall set the amount of the discount as a
fixed amount and may periodically revise the fixed amount. The
discount for electric cooperatives that have adopted customer
choice and municipally owned utilities that have adopted customer
choice must be in addition to any rate reduction that may result
from local programs for low-income electric customers of the
municipally owned utility or electric cooperative.
(h) The commission by rule shall establish eligibility
criteria for the discount program required under Subsection (g).
The criteria must provide that a customer is eligible for a discount
if identified by the Health and Human Services Commission as
eligible as a low-income customer under Section 17.007.
(i) The commission by rule shall prescribe methods of
enrolling customers eligible to receive a discount under Subsection
(g) that are compatible with the automatic identification process
established under Section 17.007. The rules must provide for
automatic enrollment as one enrollment option for customers that
have been identified as low-income customers under Section 17.007.
(j) The commission shall provide reimbursement from the
fund for each electric cooperative, municipally owned utility, or
retail electric provider that provides a discount under Subsection
(g) for the amount of the discount provided to eligible customers.
The commission shall adopt rules providing for the reimbursement.
(k) Money distributed from the fund to a municipally owned
utility or an electric cooperative shall be proportional to the
nonbypassable fee paid by the municipally owned utility or electric
cooperative, subject to the reimbursement provided by Subsection
(j). On request by a municipally owned utility or an 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.
(l) A retail electric provider may not charge the customer a
fee for receiving a discount.
(m) Programs adopted under Subsection (f) must include a
bill payment assistance program as described by Subsection
(e)(1)(B). 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. The commission
shall provide reimbursement from the fund for each electric
cooperative, municipally owned utility, or retail electric
provider that provides bill payment assistance under this
subsection for the amount of the bill payment assistance provided
to eligible customers. The commission shall adopt rules providing
for the reimbursement.
(n) The commission shall annually review and approve fund
accounts, projected revenue requirements, and proposed
nonbypassable fees.
SECTION 4. Section 40.001(a), Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) Notwithstanding any other provision of law, except
Sections 39.155, 39.157(e), [and] 39.203, and 39.9035, this chapter
governs the transition to and the establishment of a fully
competitive electric power industry for municipally owned
utilities. With respect to the regulation of municipally owned
utilities, this chapter controls over any other provision of this
title, except for sections in which the term "municipally owned
utility" is specifically used.
SECTION 5. Section 41.001, Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 41.001. APPLICABLE LAW. Notwithstanding any other
provision of law, except Sections 39.155, 39.157(e), [and] 39.203,
and 39.9035, this chapter governs the transition to and the
establishment of a fully competitive electric power industry for
electric cooperatives. Regarding the regulation of electric
cooperatives, this chapter shall control over any other provision
of this title, except for sections in which the term "electric
cooperative" is specifically used.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.