By:  Carriker                                          S.B. No. 421
                                 A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
                                        AN ACT
    1-1  relating to the requirement of notice of requests by gas utilities
    1-2  for rate increases and to the statutory procedures for approval of
    1-3  interim rates in gas utility rate cases.
    1-4        BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
    1-5        SECTION 1.  Section 5.08(a) of Article 1446e is amended to
    1-6  read as follows:
    1-7        (a)  No utility may increase its rates except by filing a
    1-8  statement of intent with the regulatory authority having original
    1-9  jurisdiction at least 35 days prior to the effective date of the
   1-10  proposed increase.  The statement of intent shall include proposed
   1-11  revisions of tariffs and schedules and a statement specifying in
   1-12  detail each proposed increase, the effect the proposed increase is
   1-13  expected to have on the revenues of the company, the classes and
   1-14  numbers of utility consumers affected, and other information
   1-15  required by the regulatory authority's rules and regulations.  A
   1-16  copy of the statement shall be mailed or delivered at the time of
   1-17  filing to the appropriate officer of each affected municipality.<,
   1-18  and> Notice shall also be given by publication of a notice to the
   1-19  public in conspicuous form and <by> place<ing> <a notice to the
   1-20  public of the proposed increase once in each week for four
   1-21  successive weeks> in a newspaper having general circulation in each
   1-22  county containing territory affected by the proposed increase.  The
   1-23  notice shall be published for four successive weeks prior to the
    2-1  effective date of the proposed increase.  In addition to newspaper
    2-2  publication, the utility shall deliver notice of the proposed
    2-3  increase to all affected utility customers by mail or bill insert
    2-4  prior to the effective date of the proposed increase and to such
    2-5  other affected persons as required by the regulatory authority's
    2-6  rules and regulations.  However, notwithstanding the above, instead
    2-7  of the publication of newspaper notice contemplated above, a gas
    2-8  utility may provide notice to the public in areas outside the
    2-9  limits of the municipalities<,> and within the limits of
   2-10  municipalities with a population of less than 2,500 according to
   2-11  the most recent federal census by mailing such notice prior to the
   2-12  effective date of the proposed increase by United States mail,
   2-13  postage prepaid, to the billing address of each directly affected
   2-14  customer<,> or by including the notice in such customer's bill in a
   2-15  conspicuous form.
   2-16        SECTION 2.  Section 3.05(e) of Article 1446e is amended to
   2-17  read as follows:
   2-18        (e)  The Railroad Commission shall hear the appeal de novo
   2-19  based on the test year presented to the municipality, adjusted for
   2-20  known changes and conditions that are measurable with reasonable
   2-21  accuracy, and its final order, which shall be entered not more than
   2-22  185 days from the date the appeal is perfected, the Railroad
   2-23  Commission shall fix such rates that the municipality should have
   2-24  fixed in the ordinance from which the appeal was taken.  In the
   2-25  event that the Railroad Commission fails to enter its final order
    3-1  within 185 days from the date the appeal is perfected, the schedule
    3-2  of rates proposed by the utility shall be deemed to have been
    3-3  approved by the Commission and effective upon the expiration of the
    3-4  185-day period.  Any rates, whether temporary or permanent, set by
    3-5  the Railroad Commission shall be prospective and observed from and
    3-6  after the applicable order of the Railroad Commission.  However,<,
    3-7  except> interim <rate> orders establishing temporary rates
    3-8  necessary to provide the utility the opportunity to avoid
    3-9  confiscation during the 185-day period may be made effective
   3-10  <beginning> on the date of filing of the <a> petition for review
   3-11  with the Railroad Commission <and ending on the date of a final
   3-12  order setting rates>.
   3-13        SECTION 3.  The importance of this legislation and the
   3-14  crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
   3-15  emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
   3-16  constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
   3-17  days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.