Bill not drafted by TLC or Senate E&E.
Line and page numbers may not match official copy.
By Berlanga H.B. No. 3268
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to electricity produced from state owned land or through
1-3 conversion of state owned natural gas.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 2.0011, Public Utility Regulatory Act of
1-6 1995 (Article 1446c-0, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended
1-7 by adding Subdivisions (8) - (10) to read as follows:
1-8 (8) "Permanent School Fund (PSF) electricity" means
1-9 the PSF's share of electricity produced in any manner from PSF
1-10 lands, PSF resources, PSF easements, or other state agency lands or
1-11 easements under the administration of the GLO, including but not
1-12 limited to the conversion of state-owned natural gas to
1-13 electricity, including in-kind natural gas royalties, and in-kind
1-14 electricity royalties. In-kind royalties are payments to the GLO
1-15 in either natural gas or electricity for the production of natural
1-16 gas or electricity on PSF land or PSF easements, for deposit after
1-17 sale into the PSF or other appropriate account.
1-18 (9) "Public customers" means end-use customers of
1-19 electricity that are state and local governmental entities,
1-20 including school districts.
1-21 (10) "Public facility" means any building or set of
1-22 buildings located in a single political subdivision and served by
1-23 one or more meters or delivery points.
1-24 SECTION 2. The Public Utility Regulatory Act of 1995, Tex.
2-1 Rev. Civ. Stat. Ann. art. 1446c-0 is amended by adding a new
2-2 Section 2.058 to read as follows:
2-3 Sec. 2.058. PASS-THROUGH AND CONJUNCTIVE BILLING TARIFFS FOR
2-4 GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES. (a) The General Land Office (GLO) may act
2-5 as a power marketer and own and trade in PSF electricity. When
2-6 sold, such PSF electricity may provide value-added revenues to the
2-7 State of Texas. In order for the citizens of this State to best
2-8 benefit from PSF electricity, the General Land Office may sell
2-9 electricity to public customers, and public customers may elect to
2-10 purchase PSF electricity. In addition, it is in the public
2-11 interest for public customers to aggregate their electric loads
2-12 within and across public facilities, including loads such as those
2-13 of school districts currently served at multiple meters at a single
2-14 facility or at multiple facilities within a single school district,
2-15 when purchasing any and all electricity, including PSF electricity.
2-16 It is in the public interest for the General Land Office to serve
2-17 public customers with PSF electricity and for public customers to
2-18 aggregate their electric loads.
2-19 (b) The General Land Office may sell PSF electricity to
2-20 public customers located throughout the State of Texas. Public
2-21 customers may aggregate electric loads at public facilities.
2-22 (c) The commission shall develop and complete on or before
2-23 October 1, 1997, model pass-through and conjunctive billing tariffs
2-24 to permit public customers to aggregate electric loads at public
2-25 facilities and to purchase any and all electricity, including PSF
2-26 electricity. All public utilities shall, on or before December 1,
2-27 1997, file with the commission or the appropriate regulatory body
2-28 pass-through and conjunctive billing tariffs implementing this
2-29 section and conforming to the commission model tariffs.
2-30 (d) Any public customer may purchase any or all of its
3-1 electricity needs, either at a single meter or through aggregation,
3-2 pursuant to a conjunctive billing tariff from a certificated
3-3 electric suppliers, and/or pursuant to a pass-through and
3-4 conjunctive billing tariff for the purchase of PSF electricity.
3-5 (e) The pass-through and conjunctive billing tariff rate
3-6 shall include only the price of PSF electricity and the comparable
3-7 transmission and distribution rates for delivering the power to
3-8 public customers. The commission or the appropriate regulatory
3-9 body shall ensure that utilities provide nondiscriminatory access
3-10 to such transmission and distribution service for the General Land
3-11 Office to sell PSF electricity to public customers. The commission
3-12 or the appropriate regulatory body shall ensure that the costs of
3-13 transmission and distribution are not borne by the utility's other
3-14 customers.
3-15 (f) The commission or the appropriate regulatory body shall
3-16 ensure that all public utilities file conforming tariffs by
3-17 December 1, 1997, implementing this section, and that such
3-18 conforming tariffs shall be in effect not later than February 1,
3-19 1998. Such conforming tariffs shall be filed with appropriate
3-20 state or federal agencies having jurisdiction over the transmission
3-21 service of the entity filing the tariffs.
3-22 (g) For purposes of this section, the term "public utility"
3-23 shall include municipally-owned utilities and cooperative electric
3-24 associations.
3-25 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
3-26 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
3-27 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
3-28 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
3-29 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
3-30 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.