Floor Packet Page No. 73
      Amend CSSB 7 by adding the following appropriately numbered
SECTION  to the bill and renumbering SECTIONS appropriately:
      SECTION ____.  Subchapter C, Chapter 161, Utilities Code, is
amended by  adding Section 161.126 to read as follows:
      Sec. 161.126.  ADDITIONAL PURPOSES AND POWERS OF BORDER
ELECTRIC COOPERATIVE.  (a)  In addition to the other powers
provided by this subchapter, an electric cooperative that serves
retail customers in a county that is contiguous to an international
border may provide, directly or through an affiliate, the following
services within any portion of the electric cooperative's retail
electric service area or areas contiguous to its retail electric
service area:
            (1)  rural community utility and utility-related
services, including:
                  (A)  water and sewer services, subject to
compliance with the requirements of a public utility under Chapter
13, Water Code;
                  (B)  Internet services; and
                  (C)  telephone answering services and other
communications services, excluding telecommunications services
governed by  Subtitle C, Title 2;
            (2)  management or operating services to or for another
electric cooperative or another entity engaged in purposes
authorized by  this subchapter; and
            (3)  economic and industrial development promotion
through participation as a borrower or lender under a federal
program.
      (b)  This section does not authorize an electric cooperative
to provide retail electric service to an area other than an area
the cooperative is authorized to serve under a certificate issued
under Chapter 37.
      (c)  The electric cooperative has all powers, including the
power to borrow money, necessary or appurtenant to the purposes and
powers provided by Subsection (a).
      (d)  The additional purposes and powers provided under this
section for an electric cooperative described by Subsection (a)
may not be construed to limit the general purposes and powers
granted to an electric cooperative under Section 161.121.