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Senate Bill 1580 |
Senate Author: Hancock et al. |
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Effective: 6-18-21 |
House Sponsor: Paddie |
Senate Bill 1580 amends the Utilities Code to allow electric cooperatives to use securitization financing to recover extraordinary costs and expenses incurred due to Winter Storm Uri over a 30‑year period in order to reduce costs relative to conventional financing methods. Among other provisions, the bill requires a cooperative that owes ERCOT amounts incurred as a result of operations during the storm to use all means necessary to securitize and fully repay the amount owed. The bill requires that nonbypassable securitized charges be collected and allocated among a cooperative's customers in the manner provided by the adopted financing order and establishes that a financing order remains in effect and unabated notwithstanding the bankruptcy of the applicable cooperative, its successors, or assignees.
Senate Bill 1580 requires the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) to require that all market participants pay or make provision for the full and prompt payment of amounts owed to ERCOT calculated solely according to the protocols in effect during Winter Storm Uri to qualify, or to continue to qualify, as a market participant in the ERCOT power region and prohibits the PUC from allowing ERCOT to accept a defaulting market participant's loads or generation for scheduling in the ERCOT power region, or allowing a defaulting market participant to be a market participant in the ERCOT power region for any purpose, until all amounts owed to ERCOT are paid in full.