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79R728 JJT-F
By: Zaffirini S.B. No. 102
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the purposes for which the system benefit fund may be
used.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 39.903(e), Utilities Code, as amended by
Chapters 1394, 1451, and 1466, Acts of the 78th Legislature,
Regular Session, 2003, is reenacted and amended to read as follows:
(e) Money in the system benefit fund may be appropriated to
provide funding solely for the following regulatory purposes, [and]
in the following order of priority:
(1) programs to assist low-income electric customers
by providing the 10 percent reduced rate prescribed by Subsection
(h);
(2) customer education programs, administrative
expenses incurred by the commission in implementing and
administering this chapter, and expenses incurred by the office
under this chapter;
(3) programs to assist low-income electric customers
by providing the targeted energy efficiency programs described by
Subsection (f)(2);
(4) a bill payment assistance program to provide an
additional rate reduction for electric service customers who are or
who have in their households one or more seriously ill or disabled
low-income persons [the school funding loss mechanism provided by
Section 39.901];
(5) programs to assist low-income electric customers
by providing the 20 percent reduced rate prescribed by Subsection
(h); and
(6) reimbursement to the commission and the Health and
Human Services Commission [Texas Department of Human Services] for
expenses incurred in the implementation and administration of an
integrated eligibility process created under Section 17.007 for
customer service discounts relating to retail electric service,
including outreach expenses the commission determines are
reasonable and necessary.
SECTION 2. 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. The commission
shall adopt bill payment assistance program rules for a retail
electric provider to determine an additional reduced rate for an
eligible electric service customer who is or who has in the
customer's household a seriously ill or disabled low-income person.
For the first year after the rules are implemented, the amount of
the reduced rates may not exceed $1,200 annually for each eligible
electric service customer. The commission annually shall adjust
the amount of the reduced rates according to changes in the price to
beat or provider of last resort rates, as applicable. 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 and the additional rate
reduction for eligible electric service customers who are or have
in their households seriously ill or disabled low-income persons,
the commission may increase the fee to an amount not more than 65
cents per megawatt hour, as provided by Subsection (b). 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 3. Section 39.903(i), Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(i) A retail electric provider, municipally owned utility,
or electric cooperative seeking reimbursement from the system
benefit fund may not charge an eligible low-income customer or an
eligible electric service customer who is or has in the customer's
household a seriously ill or disabled low-income person a rate
higher than the appropriate rate determined under Subsection (h).
A retail electric provider not subject to the price to beat, or a
municipally owned utility or electric cooperative subject to the
nonbypassable fee under Subsection (c), shall be reimbursed from
the system benefit fund for the difference between the reduced rate
and the rate established under Section 39.106 or, as appropriate,
the rate established under Section 40.053 or 41.053. A retail
electric provider who is subject to the price to beat shall be
reimbursed from the system benefit fund for the difference between
the reduced rate and the price to beat. The commission shall adopt
rules providing for the reimbursement.
SECTION 4. Section 39.903(l), Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(l) For the purposes of this section:
(1) "Low-income [, a "low-income] electric customer"
means [is] an electric customer:
(A) [(1)] whose household income is not more than
125 percent of the federal poverty guidelines; or
(B) in whose household resides a person [(2)]
who receives food stamps or medical assistance from the Health and
[Texas Department of] Human Services Commission and whose household
income does not exceed the income eligibility requirements for the
qualifying program [or medical assistance from a state agency
administering a part of the medical assistance program].
(2) "Seriously ill or disabled person" means a person
for whom an interruption or suspension of electric service will:
(A) cause the person to become seriously ill or
more seriously ill; or
(B) create a life-threatening or other dangerous
condition.
SECTION 5. Section 39.901, Utilities Code, is repealed.
SECTION 6. The Public Utility Commission of Texas shall
adopt the rules required by Section 39.903, Utilities Code, as
amended by this Act, not later than January 1, 2006.
SECTION 7. This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.