By: Patterson S.B. No. 1716
97S0853/1
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
1-1 relating to electricity produced from state-owned land or through
1-2 conversion of state-owned natural gas.
1-3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-4 SECTION 1. Section 2.0011, Public Utility Regulatory Act of
1-5 1995 (Article 1446c-0, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended
1-6 by adding Subdivisions (8), (9), and (10) to read as follows:
1-7 (8) "Permanent School Fund electricity" or "PSF
1-8 electricity" means the permanent school fund's share of electricity
1-9 produced in any manner from permanent school fund lands, resources,
1-10 or easements or other state agency lands or easements under the
1-11 administration of the General Land Office, 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
1-15 General Land Office in natural gas or electricity for the
1-16 production of natural gas or electricity on permanent school fund
1-17 land or easements, with deposit of proceeds after sale into the
1-18 permanent school fund or other appropriate account.
1-19 (9) "Public customers" means end-use customers of
1-20 electricity that are state and local governmental entities,
1-21 including school districts.
1-22 (10) "Public facility" means any building or set of
1-23 buildings located in a single political subdivision and served by
2-1 one or more meters or delivery points.
2-2 SECTION 2. The Public Utility Regulatory Act of 1995
2-3 (Article 1446c-0, Vernon's Texas Civil Statutes), is amended by
2-4 adding Section 2.058 to read as follows:
2-5 Sec. 2.058. PASS-THROUGH AND CONJUNCTIVE BILLING TARIFFS FOR
2-6 GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES. (a) The General Land Office may act as a
2-7 power marketer and own and trade in PSF electricity. When sold,
2-8 such PSF electricity may provide value-added revenues to the State
2-9 of Texas. In order for the citizens of this state to best benefit
2-10 from PSF electricity, the General Land Office may sell electricity
2-11 to public customers and public customers may elect to purchase PSF
2-12 electricity. In addition, it is in the public interest for public
2-13 customers to aggregate their electric loads within and across
2-14 public facilities, including loads such as those of school
2-15 districts currently served at multiple meters at a single facility
2-16 or at multiple facilities within a single school district, when
2-17 purchasing any and all electricity, including PSF electricity. It
2-18 is in the public interest for the General Land Office to serve
2-19 public customers with PSF electricity and for public customers to
2-20 aggregate their electric loads.
2-21 (b) The General Land Office may sell PSF electricity to
2-22 public customers located throughout the State of Texas. Public
2-23 customers may aggregate electric loads at public facilities.
2-24 (c) The commission shall develop and complete on or before
2-25 October 1, 1997, model pass-through and conjunctive billing tariffs
3-1 to permit public customers to aggregate electric loads at public
3-2 facilities and to purchase any and all electricity, including PSF
3-3 electricity. All public utilities shall, on or before December 1,
3-4 1997, file with the commission or the appropriate regulatory body
3-5 pass-through and conjunctive billing tariffs implementing this
3-6 section and conforming to the commission's model tariffs.
3-7 (d) Any public customer may purchase any or all of its
3-8 electricity needs either at a single meter or through aggregation,
3-9 pursuant to a conjunctive billing tariff from a certificated
3-10 electric supplier or to a pass-through and conjunctive billing
3-11 tariff for the purchase of PSF electricity.
3-12 (e) The pass-through and conjunctive billing tariff rate
3-13 shall include only the price of PSF electricity and the comparable
3-14 transmission and distribution rates for delivering the power to
3-15 public customers. The commission or the appropriate regulatory
3-16 body shall ensure that utilities provide nondiscriminatory access
3-17 to such transmission and distribution service for the General Land
3-18 Office to sell PSF electricity to public customers. The commission
3-19 or the appropriate regulatory body shall ensure that the costs of
3-20 transmission and distribution are not borne by the utility's other
3-21 customers.
3-22 (f) The commission or the appropriate regulatory body shall
3-23 ensure that all public utilities file conforming tariffs by
3-24 December 1, 1997, implementing this section and that such
3-25 conforming tariffs shall be in effect not later than February 1,
4-1 1998. Such conforming tariffs shall be filed with appropriate
4-2 state or federal agencies having jurisdiction over the transmission
4-3 service of the entity filing the tariffs.
4-4 (g) For purposes of this section, the term "public utility"
4-5 shall include municipally owned utilities.
4-6 SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 1997.
4-7 SECTION 4. The importance of this legislation and the
4-8 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
4-9 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
4-10 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
4-11 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.