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79S30103 JJT-D
By: Hinojosa, West, Royce S.B. No. 18
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the system benefit fund and to eligibility for and
enrollment for benefits under the fund.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 39.903(a), Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) The system benefit fund is an account in the general
revenue fund. Money in the account may be appropriated only for the
purposes provided by this section [or other law]. Interest earned
on the system benefit fund shall be credited to the fund. Section
403.095, Government Code, does not apply to the system benefit
fund.
SECTION 2. Section 39.903(d), Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(d) The commission shall annually review and approve system
benefit fund accounts, projected revenue requirements, and
proposed nonbypassable fees. The commission shall report to the
electric utility restructuring legislative oversight committee if
the system benefit fund fee is insufficient to fund the purposes set
forth in Subsection (e) to the extent required by this section. If
the commission does not provide in any given fiscal quarter funding
for the 10 to 20 percent reduced rate prescribed by Subsection (h),
the commission shall order each transmission and distribution
utility, municipally owned utility, and electric cooperative
collecting the system benefit fund fee to cease that collection for
the remainder of the fiscal year.
SECTION 3. Section 39.903, Utilities Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (e-1) to read as follows:
(e-1) In addition to the purposes and priorities provided by
Subsection (e), the commission may use money from the system
benefit fund to educate residential and small business customers
about the available benefits of the fund. The purpose for which
money may be used under this subsection has the same priority as the
purpose prescribed by Subsection (e)(1). This subsection expires
August 31, 2008.
SECTION 4. Section 39.903(h), Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(h) The commission shall adopt rules for a retail electric
provider to determine a reduced rate for eligible customers to be
discounted off the standard retail service package as approved by
the commission under Section 39.106, or the price to beat
established by Section 39.202, whichever is lower. Municipally
owned utilities and electric cooperatives shall establish a reduced
rate for eligible customers to be discounted off the standard
retail service package established under Section 40.053 or 41.053,
as appropriate. The reduced rate for a retail electric provider
shall result in a total charge that is at least 10 percent and, if
sufficient money in the system benefit fund is available, up to 20
percent, lower than the amount the customer would otherwise be
charged. To the extent the system benefit fund is insufficient to
fund the initial 10 percent rate reduction, the commission may
increase the fee to an amount not more than 65 cents per megawatt
hour, as provided by Subsection (b). [If the fee is set at 65 cents
per megawatt hour or if the commission determines that
appropriations are insufficient to fund the 10 percent rate
reduction, the commission may reduce the rate reduction to less
than 10 percent.] For a municipally owned utility or electric
cooperative, the reduced rate shall be equal to an amount that can
be fully funded by that portion of the nonbypassable fee proceeds
paid by the municipally owned utility or electric cooperative that
is allocated to the utility or cooperative by the commission under
Subsection (e) for programs for low-income customers of the utility
or cooperative. The reduced rate for municipally owned utilities
and electric cooperatives under this section is in addition to any
rate reduction that may result from local programs for low-income
customers of the municipally owned utilities or electric
cooperatives.
SECTION 5. Section 39.903(j), Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(j) The commission shall adopt rules providing for methods
of enrolling customers eligible to receive reduced rates under
Subsection (h). The rules must provide for automatic enrollment as
one enrollment option. The Health and Human Services Commission
[Texas Department of Human Services], on request of the commission,
shall assist in the adoption and implementation of these rules. The
commission and the Health and Human Services Commission [Texas
Department of Human Services] shall enter into a memorandum of
understanding establishing the respective duties of the agencies
[commission and the department] in relation to the automatic
enrollment. The commission shall establish a goal under this
subsection of enrolling at least 95 percent of customers eligible
to receive reduced rates under Subsection (h). Not later than
December 1 of each even-numbered year, the commission shall
estimate the total number of customers who are eligible for the
reduced rates and shall compare the number of enrolled customers to
that goal. If the goal has not been met, the commission shall use
money from the fund that is available to the commission for
administrative purposes to provide education and outreach
concerning programs available under this section until the goal is
met. The commission shall prepare a report each calendar quarter
with information concerning the enrollment of customers eligible
for the reduced rates and efforts to meet the goal prescribed by
this subsection. The commission shall compile the information into
an annual report to be published for public distribution not later
than January 1 of each odd-numbered year. The commission shall send
a copy of each quarterly and annual report to each member of the
legislature and the electric utility restructuring legislative
oversight committee. In estimating under this subsection the
number of customers who are eligible for the reduced rates, the
commission shall use information provided by the Health and Human
Services Commission regarding persons who meet the definition of
"low-income electric customer," according to household income or
participation in a program described by Subsection (l). The Health
and Human Services Commission shall provide the information to the
commission each calendar quarter.
SECTION 6. Section 39.903(l), Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(l) For the purposes of this section, a "low-income electric
customer" is an electric customer:
(1) whose household income is not more than 125
percent of the federal poverty guidelines; or
(2) in whose household resides a person who:
(A) receives food stamps or medical assistance
from the Health and Human Services Commission;
(B) receives federal housing assistance; or
(C) has a child enrolled in the national school
lunch program of free or reduced-price lunches [Texas Department of
Human Services or medical assistance from a state agency
administering a part of the medical assistance program].
SECTION 7. The system benefit fund described by Section
39.903, Utilities Code, as amended by this Act, is re-created as a
separate account in the general revenue fund, and money in the
account is rededicated for the purposes described by that section.
SECTION 8. The Public Utility Commission of Texas shall
adopt rules required by Section 39.903, Utilities Code, as amended
by this Act, not later than January 1, 2008.
SECTION 9. This Act takes effect September 1, 2007.