By Brimer H.B. No. 2048
76R6370 CBH-F
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
1-1 AN ACT
1-2 relating to the authority of the state to obtain electricity and to
1-3 sell or convey that electricity.
1-4 BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
1-5 SECTION 1. Section 31.002(1), Utilities Code, is amended to
1-6 read as follows:
1-7 (1) "Electric utility" means a person or river
1-8 authority that owns or operates for compensation in this state
1-9 equipment or facilities to produce, generate, transmit, distribute,
1-10 sell, or furnish electricity in this state. The term includes a
1-11 lessee, trustee, or receiver of an electric utility and a
1-12 recreational vehicle park owner who does not comply with Subchapter
1-13 C, Chapter 184, with regard to the metered sale of electricity at
1-14 the recreational vehicle park. The term does not include:
1-15 (A) a municipal corporation;
1-16 (B) a qualifying facility;
1-17 (C) an exempt wholesale generator;
1-18 (D) a power marketer;
1-19 (E) a corporation described by Section 32.053 to
1-20 the extent the corporation sells electricity exclusively at
1-21 wholesale and not to the ultimate consumer; [or]
1-22 (F) this state or an agency of this state; or
1-23 (G) a person not otherwise an electric utility
1-24 who:
2-1 (i) furnishes an electric service or
2-2 commodity only to itself, its employees, or its tenants as an
2-3 incident of employment or tenancy, if that service or commodity is
2-4 not resold to or used by others;
2-5 (ii) owns or operates in this state
2-6 equipment or facilities to produce, generate, transmit, distribute,
2-7 sell, or furnish electric energy to an electric utility, if the
2-8 equipment or facilities are used primarily to produce and generate
2-9 electric energy for consumption by that person; or
2-10 (iii) owns or operates in this state a
2-11 recreational vehicle park that provides metered electric service in
2-12 accordance with Subchapter C, Chapter 184.
2-13 SECTION 2. Chapter 35, Utilities Code, is amended by adding
2-14 Subchapter D to read as follows:
2-15 SUBCHAPTER D. STATE AUTHORITY TO SELL OR CONVEY POWER
2-16 Sec. 35.101. DEFINITIONS. In this chapter:
2-17 (1) "Commissioner" means the commissioner of the
2-18 General Land Office.
2-19 (2) "Public retail customer" means an end-use customer
2-20 that is an agency of this state, an institution of higher
2-21 education, a public school district, or a political subdivision of
2-22 this state and that purchases and ultimately consumes electricity.
2-23 Sec. 35.102. STATE AUTHORITY TO SELL OR CONVEY POWER. The
2-24 commissioner, acting on behalf of the state, may sell or otherwise
2-25 convey power directly to a public retail customer regardless of
2-26 whether the public retail customer is also a wholesale customer.
2-27 Sec. 35.103. ACCESS TO TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION
3-1 SYSTEMS; RATES. (a) The state is entitled to have access to all
3-2 transmission and distribution systems of all electric utilities,
3-3 municipally owned utilities, and electric cooperative corporations
3-4 that serve public retail customers.
3-5 (b) An entity described by Subsection (a) shall provide any
3-6 utility service, including transmission, distribution, and other
3-7 services to the state at the lowest applicable rate charged for
3-8 similar service to other customers.
3-9 Sec. 35.104. RETAIL TRANSACTION LIMIT. The state may not
3-10 engage in retail transactions that exceed 2.5 percent of a retail
3-11 electric utility's total retail load in a service area.
3-12 Sec. 35.105. COSTS OF SERVING STATE AGENCY. An electric
3-13 utility, municipally owned utility, or electric cooperative
3-14 corporation may not recover from a residential customer or from any
3-15 other customer class the assigned and allocated costs of serving a
3-16 state agency, institution of higher education, public school
3-17 district, or political subdivision of this state.
3-18 Sec. 35.106. WHOLESALE CUSTOMERS. This subchapter does not
3-19 prevent the commissioner, acting on behalf of this state, from
3-20 registering as a power marketer.
3-21 SECTION 3. Sections 52.133(a), (c), and (d), Natural
3-22 Resources Code, are amended to read as follows:
3-23 (a) Each oil or gas lease covering land leased by the board,
3-24 by a board for lease [other than the Board for Lease of University
3-25 Lands], or by the surface owner of land under which the state owns
3-26 the minerals, commonly referred to as Relinquishment Act land,
3-27 which shall be subject to approval by the commissioner before it is
4-1 effective, shall include a provision granting the board authorized
4-2 to lease the land or the owner of the soil of Relinquishment Act
4-3 land and the commissioner authority to take their royalty in kind,
4-4 and the commissioner and the boards for lease may include any other
4-5 reasonable provisions that are not inconsistent with this section.
4-6 (c) The commissioner, the owner of the soil under Subchapter
4-7 F [of this chapter], or the commissioner, acting on the behalf of
4-8 and at the direction of an owner of the soil under Subchapter F [of
4-9 this chapter], the board, or a board for lease, or at the direction
4-10 of the Board for Lease of University Lands, may negotiate and
4-11 execute contracts or any other instruments or agreements necessary
4-12 to dispose of or enhance their portion of the royalty taken in
4-13 kind, including contracts for sale, purchase, transportation, and
4-14 storage and including insurance contracts or other agreements, to
4-15 secure or guarantee payment.
4-16 (d) The commissioner, the owner of the soil under Subchapter
4-17 F, or the commissioner acting on behalf of and at the direction of
4-18 an owner of the soil under Subchapter F, the board, or a board for
4-19 lease, may negotiate and execute contracts or any other instruments
4-20 or agreements necessary to convert that portion of the royalty
4-21 taken in kind into other forms of energy, including electricity.
4-22 [This section does not apply to or have any effect on the Board for
4-23 Lease of University Lands or any lease executed on university
4-24 land.]
4-25 SECTION 4. Section 53.026, Natural Resources Code, is
4-26 amended to read as follows:
4-27 Sec. 53.026. IN KIND ROYALTY. (a) The commissioner or the
5-1 commissioner acting on behalf of and at the direction of the board
5-2 or a board for lease may negotiate and execute a contract or any
5-3 other instrument or agreement necessary to dispose of or enhance
5-4 their portion of the royalty taken in kind, including contracts [a
5-5 contract] for sale, purchase, transportation, or storage.
5-6 (b) The commissioner or the commissioner acting on behalf of
5-7 and at the direction of the board or a board for lease may
5-8 negotiate and execute a contract or any other instrument or
5-9 agreement necessary to convert that portion of the royalty taken in
5-10 kind to other forms of energy, including electricity.
5-11 (c) This section shall not be construed to surrender or in
5-12 any way affect the right of the state under an existing or future
5-13 lease to receive monetary royalty from its lessee.
5-14 SECTION 5. Section 53.077, Natural Resources Code, is
5-15 amended to read as follows:
5-16 Sec. 53.077. IN KIND ROYALTY. (a) The commissioner, each
5-17 owner of the soil under this subchapter, or the commissioner acting
5-18 on the behalf of and at the direction of an owner of the soil under
5-19 this subchapter may negotiate and execute a contract or any other
5-20 instrument or agreement necessary to dispose of or enhance their
5-21 portion of the royalty taken in kind, including a contract for
5-22 sale, transportation, or storage.
5-23 (b) The commissioner, each owner of the soil under this
5-24 subchapter, or the commissioner acting on behalf of and at the
5-25 direction of the owner of the soil under this subchapter may
5-26 negotiate and execute a contract or any other instrument or
5-27 agreement necessary to convert that portion of the royalty taken in
6-1 kind to other forms of energy, including electricity.
6-2 (c) This section shall not be construed to surrender or in
6-3 any way affect the right of the state or the owner of the soil
6-4 under an existing or future lease to receive monetary royalty from
6-5 its lessee.
6-6 SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 1999.
6-7 SECTION 7. The importance of this legislation and the
6-8 crowded condition of the calendars in both houses create an
6-9 emergency and an imperative public necessity that the
6-10 constitutional rule requiring bills to be read on three several
6-11 days in each house be suspended, and this rule is hereby suspended.