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Amend CSSB 482 (house committee printing) as follows:
(1) Strike SECTION 1 of the bill (page 1, line 5 through page 2, line 12) and SECTION 7 of the bill (page 9, lines 19-22).
(2) Strike SECTION 2 of the bill (page 2, line 13, through
page 3, line 20) and substitute the following:
SECTION 2. Section 39.051, Utilities Code, is amended by
adding Subsection (h) to read as follows:
(h) On or before January 1, 2008, a transmission and
distribution utility that is an affiliate of a power generation
company or a retail electric provider under Section 11.003(2) or
11.006 shall:
(1) have a name and logo that is distinct from the name
and logo of its affiliated power generation company or retail
electric provider;
(2) have its board of directors composed exclusively
of individuals who are not members of the board of directors of its
affiliated power generation company or retail electric provider;
(3) have a chief operating officer who is not the chief
operating officer of its affiliated power generation company or
retail electric provider;
(4) have its headquarters located in a building
separate and apart from the building or buildings in which the
headquarters of its affiliated power generation company or retail
electric provider is located;
(5) maintain an arm's-length relationship with its
affiliated power generation company or retail electric provider;
(6) enter into transactions with its affiliated power
generation company or retail electric provider only on a
commercially reasonable basis and only as approved by a majority of
the directors of its governing board of directors;
(7) prepare its separate annual financial statement in
accordance with generally accepted accounting principles showing
its assets and liabilities as separate and distinct from the assets
of its affiliated power generation company or retail electric
provider; and
(8) ensure that the commission has complete access to
all of the transmission and distribution utility's books and
records pertaining to transactions between the utility and its
affiliated power generation company or retail electric provider.
(3) In the recitation to SECTION 3 of the bill (page 3, line
22), strike "adding Subsection (i)" and substitute "amending
Subsection (h) and adding Subsection (i)".
(4) In Section 39.101, Utilities Code, as amended by SECTION
3 of the bill (page 3, between lines 22 and 23), insert the
following:
(h) A retail electric provider, power generation company,
aggregator, or other entity that provides retail electric service
may not disconnect service to a residential customer during an
extreme weather emergency in a county or on a weekend day. The
entity providing service shall defer collection of the full payment
of bills that are due during an extreme weather emergency in a
county until after the emergency is over and shall offer [work with]
customers a deferred payment plan providing for a period of not less
than five months for a customer to pay deferred amounts [to
establish a pay schedule for deferred bills]. For purposes of this
subsection, "extreme weather emergency" means [a period when]:
(1) a day for which the previous day's highest
temperature did not exceed 32 degrees Fahrenheit anywhere in the
county, and the temperature is predicted to remain at or below that
level for the next 24 hours anywhere in the county, according to the
nearest National Weather Service reports; [or]
(2) a day for which the National Weather Service
issues a heat advisory for the [any] county or when that advisory
has been issued on any one of the preceding two calendar days in the
county; or
(3) a day for which the heat index in the county
reaches 105 degrees Fahrenheit, if the National Weather Service
does not issue heat advisories for that county, or when the heat
index in that county reaches 105 degrees Fahrenheit [in the
relevant service territory, or when such an advisory has been
issued] on any one of the preceding [previous] two calendar days.
(5) Add to the bill the following SECTION, numbered
appropriately:
SECTION ____. (a) Subchapter C, Chapter 39, Utilities Code,
is amended by adding Section 39.1015 to read as follows:
Sec. 39.1015. SUSPENSION OF DISCONNECTION FOR CERTAIN
CUSTOMERS. (a) In this section:
(1) "Critical care residential customer" means a
residential electric customer for whom an interruption or
suspension of electric service will create a dangerous or
life-threatening condition.
(2) "Elderly low-income customer" means a low-income
customer who is 65 years old or older.
(3) "Low-income customer" means an electric customer:
(A) whose household income is not more than 125
percent of the federal poverty guidelines;
(B) who receives food stamps from the Health and
Human Services Commission; or
(C) who receives medical assistance from a state
agency that administers a part of the medical assistance program.
(4) "Service provider" means a retail electric
provider, power generation company, aggregator, or other entity
that provides retail electric service.
(b) During the period beginning July 1 and ending September
30 of each year a service provider:
(1) may not disconnect service or authorize the
disconnection of service to a critical care residential customer or
elderly low-income customer who contacts the service provider
regarding bill payment or in response to a disconnection notice;
(2) may not disconnect service or authorize the
disconnection of service to a low-income customer other than an
elderly low-income customer if the customer:
(A) contacts the service provider regarding bill
payment or in response to a disconnection notice; and
(B) enters into a deferred payment plan with the
service provider for the current month's electric charges and meets
the terms of any then current deferred payment plan;
(3) shall request reconnection of service or reconnect
service to a critical care residential customer or an elderly
low-income customer whose service is disconnected before or during
the period if:
(A) the customer contacts the service provider
regarding bill payment or in response to a disconnection notice; or
(B) the service provider has previously been
notified that the customer is a critical care residential customer;
(4) shall request reconnection of service or reconnect
service to a low-income customer whose service is disconnected
before or during the period if the customer enters into a deferred
payment plan with the service provider; and
(5) shall rescind a request for disconnection of
service to a critical care residential customer, elderly low-income
customer, or low-income customer made before the period begins if
the service provider is prohibited under this subsection from
disconnecting or authorizing the disconnection of the customer's
service during the period.
(c) A service provider may not disconnect service or
authorize the disconnection of a critical care residential
customer's service during the period provided by Subsection (b)
regardless of whether the customer contacts the service provider as
provided by Subsection (b) if the service provider has previously
been notified that the customer is a critical care residential
customer.
(d) A service provider shall allow a critical care
residential customer, elderly low-income customer, or low-income
customer to establish with the provider a deferred payment plan in
person or by telephone. The service provider shall confirm the
payment plan with the customer in writing. The deferred payment
plan may not include a penalty for late payments accrued during the
period provided by Subsection (b). The service provider shall
allow a critical care residential customer, elderly low-income
customer, or low-income customer to renegotiate the terms of the
deferred payment plan at least one time, regardless of whether the
customer's economic or financial circumstances have changed. For a
low-income customer other than an elderly low-income customer,
during the period provided by Subsection (b), the payment plan may
require the payment of not more than 25 percent of the then current
month's charges plus any due installments of a previous deferred
payment plan. For a low-income customer other than an elderly
low-income customer, the service provider is not required to extend
a deferred payment plan entered into under this subsection beyond
the March billing cycle following the period provided by Subsection
(b).
(e) A deferred payment plan established under Subsection
(d) for one or more electric bills that come due during the period
provided by Subsection (b) must provide:
(1) for a critical care residential customer or
elderly low-income customer, that the customer is not required to
pay more than 25 percent of the deferred electric bills as part of
the first electric bill issued after the end of the period and that
the remaining balance is to be paid in equal installments over the
next five billing cycles, unless the customer requests a lesser
number of installments; and
(2) for a low-income customer other than an elderly
low-income customer, that the customer is required to pay not more
than 25 percent of the deferred bills to initiate the agreement and
that the remaining balance is to be paid in equal installments over
the next five billing cycles, unless the customer requests a lesser
number of installments.
(f) A service provider may pursue disconnection of
electrical service for a critical care residential customer or an
elderly low-income customer only after the period provided by
Subsection (b) and only if the customer does not meet the terms of
the deferred payment plan, unless the disconnection is otherwise
prohibited. A service provider may pursue disconnection of service
for a low-income customer other than an elderly low-income customer
if the customer does not meet the terms of the deferred payment
plan, unless the disconnection is otherwise prohibited. The
service provider shall give the customer appropriate notice that
the customer has not met the terms of the plan before the service
provider disconnects or authorizes the disconnection of service.
(g) A service provider may encourage a critical care
residential customer or elderly low-income customer to make partial
payment of a deferred electric bill during the period provided by
Subsection (b), but the service provider shall clearly inform the
customer that the customer may not be disconnected for nonpayment
before October 1 following the period provided by Subsection (b).
(h) The commission by rule shall prohibit a customer who
receives a deferred payment plan under Subsection (d) and who owes a
past due deferred balance from switching to a different retail
electric provider.
(6) Add to the bill the following SECTION, numbered
appropriately:
SECTION ____. Subchapter C, Chapter 39, Utilities Code, is
amended by adding Section 39.1016 to read as follows:
Sec. 39.1016. CANCELLATION FEE. A retail electric
provider may not charge a residential customer who requests
cancellation of retail electric service provided on a
month-to-month basis a fee relating to cancellation.
(7) Strike the first sentence of Section 39.110(c),
Utilities Code, as added by SECTION 4 of the bill (page 4, lines
18-21) and substitute the following:
This section applies only to a retail electric provider that, on
December 31, 2006, had more than 250,000 residential customers in
this state and was required to offer service to residential
customers at the price to beat in accordance with Section 39.202.
(8) Add to the bill the following SECTION, numbered
appropriately:
SECTION ____. (a) The legislature finds that:
(1) the "filed rate" doctrine is at odds with the
intent of the state legislature to restructure the electric
industry in this state;
(2) the "filed rate" doctrine in a private right of
action for a violation of Section 39.157, Utilities Code, or of
Sections 15.01 through 15.26, Business & Commerce Code, is
abolished; and
(3) the deregulated wholesale and retail markets in
ERCOT are the relevant markets for the purposes of determining
standing to sue and the existence of market power abuses under
Section 39.157, Utilities Code.
(b) Section 39.157, Utilities Code, is amended by amending
Subsection (a) and adding Subsection (a-1) to read as follows:
(a) To prevent market power abuses or other violations of
this section, the [The] commission shall monitor market power
associated with the generation, transmission, distribution, and
sale of electricity in this state. On a finding that market power
abuses or other violations of this section are occurring, the
commission shall require reasonable mitigation of the market power
by ordering the construction of additional transmission or
distribution facilities, by seeking an injunction or civil
penalties as necessary to eliminate or to remedy the market power
abuse or violation as authorized by Chapter 15, by imposing an
administrative penalty as authorized by Chapter 15, or by
suspending, revoking, or amending a certificate or registration as
authorized by Section 39.356. Section 15.024(c) does not apply to
an administrative penalty imposed under this section. For purposes
of this subchapter, market power abuses are practices by persons
possessing market power that are unreasonably discriminatory or
tend to unreasonably restrict, impair, or reduce the level of
competition, including practices that tie unregulated products or
services to regulated products or services or unreasonably
discriminate in the provision of regulated services. For purposes
of this section, "market power abuses" include predatory pricing,
withholding of production, precluding entry, and collusion. A
violation of the code of conduct provided by Subsection (d) that
materially impairs the ability of a person to compete in a
competitive market shall be deemed to be an abuse of market power.
The possession of a high market share in a market open to
competition may not, of itself, be deemed to be an abuse of market
power; however, this sentence shall not affect the application of
state and federal antitrust laws.
(a-1) Notwithstanding any other law, a qualifying person
may pursue a private right of action under Section 39.158(b) or
under Sections 15.01 through 15.26, Business & Commerce Code, based
on a violation of this section, for damages or for injunctive
relief, against a power generation company, a power marketer, a
retail electric provider, or any other supplier of wholesale or
retail electricity, other than a transmission and distribution
utility, operating in ERCOT. A qualifying person is not required to
bring an administrative action before pursuing a private right of
action. In this subsection, "qualifying person" means a retail
electric provider that meets the requirements for standing to sue
for market power abuses under Sections 15.01 through 15.26,
Business & Commerce Code.
(9) Add to the bill the following SECTION, numbered
appropriately:
SECTION ____. Subchapter D, Chapter 39, Utilities Code, is
amended by adding Section 39.159 to read as follows:
Sec. 39.159. CONSIDERATION AND APPROVAL OF CERTAIN
TRANSACTIONS. (a) To protect retail customers in this state,
notwithstanding any other provision of this title, an electric
utility or transmission and distribution utility must report to the
commission not less than 120 days before the closing of any
transaction in which:
(1) the electric utility or transmission and
distribution utility will be merged or consolidated with another
electric utility or transmission and distribution utility; or
(2) at least 50 percent of the stock of the electric
utility or transmission and distribution utility will be sold.
(b) The parties to a transaction described by Subsection (a)
may not be required to obtain commission approval or to complete the
commission review process before the closing of the transaction.
(c) The commission shall review a transaction described by
Subsection (a) to determine whether the transaction is consistent
with the public interest under the standards provided by Section
14.101.
(d) If an electric utility or transmission and distribution
utility or a person seeking to acquire or merge with an electric
utility or transmission and distribution utility files with the
commission a stipulation, representation, or commitment in advance
of or as part of a filing described by this section or by Section
14.101, the commission may enforce the stipulation,
representation, or commitment to the extent that the stipulation,
representation, or commitment is consistent with the standards
provided by this section and Section 14.101.
(10) In Section 39.2021(d), Utilities Code, as added by
SECTION 5 of the bill (page 8, line 1), strike "service plan offered
to residential customers" and substitute "service plan offered by
the provider to residential customers".
(11) Add to the bill the following SECTION, numbered
appropriately:
SECTION ____. Subchapter Z, Chapter 39, Utilities Code, is
amended by adding Section 39.911 to read as follows:
Sec. 39.911. BILL FOR UTILITY SERVICES. A retail electric
provider with more than 250,000 residential customers in this state
that, on December 31, 2006, was required to offer service to
residential customers at the price to beat under Section 39.202,
shall include on the first page of a bill for services sent to a
customer the following language printed in at least 12-point type:
"To see competitor pricing and service plans, please visit the
Public Utility Commission website: www.powertochoose.com."
(12) Renumber SECTIONS accordingly.