SRC-LBB S.B. 731 78(R)   BILL ANALYSIS


Senate Research Center   S.B. 731
78R4658 MTB-FBy: Brimer
Business & Commerce
4/1/2003
As Filed


DIGEST AND PURPOSE 

Currently, a retail electric provider (REP) is required to register with a
municipality as a condition of providing retail electric service to
residents of the municipality and the municipality may charge a reasonable
fee for registration.  This has created numerous municipal registration
and fee requirements for REPs.  As proposed, S.B. 731 requires the Public
Utility Commission to adopt standard requirements for REPs to register
with municipalities. 

RULEMAKING AUTHORITY

Rulemaking authority is expressly granted to the Public Utility Commission
of Texas in SECTION 1 (Section 17.051, Utilities Code) of this bill. 

SECTION BY SECTION ANALYSIS

SECTION 1.  Amends Section 17.051, Utilities Code, by amending Subsection
(b) and by adding Subsection (c), as follows: 

(b)  Requires the rules adopted under Subsections (a) and (c) to be
consistent with and no less effective than federal law and prohibits the
disclosure of highly sensitive competitive or trade secret information. 

(c)  Requires the Public Utility Commission of Texas to adopt rules
governing the local registration of retail electric providers under
section 39.358. 

SECTION 2.  Effective date:  September 1, 2003.