LEGISLATIVE BUDGET BOARD Austin, Texas FISCAL NOTE 75th Regular Session May 22, 1997 TO: Honorable Steven Wolens, Chair IN RE: Senate Bill No. 965, Committee Report 2nd House, Substituted Committee on State Affairs By: Armbrister House Austin, Texas FROM: John Keel, Director In response to your request for a Fiscal Note on SB965 ( Relating to the powers and duties of the Public Utility Commission of Texas. ) this office has detemined the following: Biennial Net Impact to General Revenue Funds by SB965-Committee Report 2nd House, Substituted No significant fiscal implication to the State is anticipated. The bill would amend the Public Utility Regulatory Act of 1995 (PURA) to amend the powers and duties of the Public Utility Commission (PUC) and establish a statutory framework to implement various proposals from the Texas Performance Review (TPR) report, "Light Years: The Future of the Public Utility Commission on Texas." Section 1 of the bill would amend Section 1.002 of PURA to state that PUC shall ensure adequate customer service and protection, promote public awareness of changes in the electric and telecommunications markets, provide customers with information necessary to make informed choices about available options, and ensure that customers have an adequate understanding of their rights. Section 11 of the bill would add Sections 1.105 through 1.109 to PURA. Section 1.105 would require PUC to adopt procedures authorizing disposition of contested cases by use of proposed orders. Section 1.106 would require PUC to adopt procedures to dispose of contested cases by use of staff reports (detailing the information and evidence the staff would have presented in a contested case hearing). Section 1.107 would require PUC to adopt procedures to use alternative dispute resolution (ADR) to resolve a pending issue or proceeding. Section 1.108 would allow PUC to establish and ensure service quality and reliability and customer service and protection for both electric and telephone providers. Existing PUC staff would be adjusted to accommodate the increased workload created by Section 1.108 without additional cost to the state. Section 1.109 would clarify PUC's authority to educate and provide information to consumers and providers of electric and telecommunications services. Sections 14 and 15 of the bill would amend Sections 1.401 and 2.003 of PURA to require PUC to submit a report to the legislature, not later than January 15 of each odd-numbered year, on complaints received from consumers during the previous two years. This activity would be absorbed using existing PUC resources. Section 19 of the bill would add Section 2.058 to PURA to require PUC to implement reliability standards relating to the delivery of electricity to retail customers, develop rule reliability standards, and compute a reliability score for each electric utility. This could increase PUC's workload, but would not cause a significant fiscal impact. Section 24 of the bill would require PUC and the Comptroller to conduct and prepare a joint study, for submission not later than January 15, 1999, on the structure of the gross receipts tax and the potential effect of deregulation on the revenue generated by this tax during the next ten years. This workload could be absorbed using current PUC and Comptroller resources. Note: Sections 1, 11, 14, and 15 of the bill would establish a framework to implement TPR recommendations related to strengthening consumer affairs functions and case streamlining. The Comptroller estimates that if these TPR recommendations are implemented there would be a slight net savings to General Revenue because increased staffing and communications requirements needed to perform consumer education and consumer complaint functions would be offset by reduced hearings charges as a result of the use of proposed orders and ADR. PUC's estimate of the TPR report's costs are higher and its estimate of savings are lower than the Comptroller's. PUC has estimated during the appropriations process that the net cost of additional resources needed to strengthen its consumer affairs functions to fully implement the TPR recommendations would be $391,200 in FY 1998 and $332,000 in FY 1999. Because these estimates relate to increasing resources to perform functions generally authorized under current law, they are not included in this analysis. No fiscal implication to units of local government is anticipated. Source: Agencies: 304 Comptroller of Public Accounts 360 State Office of Administrative Hearings 473 Public Utility Commission of Texas 475 Office of the Public Utility Counsel LBB Staff: JK ,JD ,BK