LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD Austin, Texas FISCAL NOTE 74th Regular Session April 4, 1995 TO: Honorable Curtis Seidlits, Chair IN RE: House Bill No. 1484 Committee on State Affairs By: Oliveira House of Representatives Austin, Texas FROM: John Keel, Director In response to your request for a Fiscal Note on House Bill No. 1484 (Relating to authority of an electric cooperative corporation to form and participate in a joint powers agency with a public entity.) this office has determined the following: The bill would authorize a municipal power agency to be composed of municipalities and electric cooperatives. Implementation of the bill would have no fiscal implications for state costs or revenues. Municipal power agencies are not directly regulated by the Public Utility Commission, although the rates of a city member would be subject to the Commission's appellate rate authority. Creation of a new power agency with a cooperative member would not remove the cooperative from Commission regulation. Additionally, since the bill would affect only public entities, no impact on the gross receipts tax for utility companies is anticipated. The bill would have minimal impacts on municipalities since most do not own an electric utility. Although the bill would probably improve operating efficiencies in some regions of the state to the extent that local electric service costs may be reduced, data for estimating potential improvements are unavailable. No fiscal implication to the State is anticipated. The fiscal implication to units of local government cannot be determined. Source: Public Utility Commission LBB Staff: JK, RM, DF