By: Troxclair H.B. No. 4213
 
 
 
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
 
AN ACT
  relating to rates for electricity charged by certain municipally
  owned utilities and to the use of revenue from the rates.
         BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
         SECTION 1.  Subchapter B, Chapter 40, Utilities Code, is
  amended by adding Section 40.0521 to read as follows:
         Sec. 40.0521.  RATES OF AND USE OF REVENUE BY CERTAIN
  UTILITIES NOT OFFERING CUSTOMER CHOICE. (a)  This section applies
  only to a municipally owned utility that is governed directly by the
  governing body of the municipality and is owned by a municipality
  with a population of more than 750,000.
         (b)  This section does not require a municipally owned
  utility to implement or opt for customer choice.
         (c)  In the case of a conflict between this section and
  another provision of law, this section prevails.
         (d)  A municipally owned utility may not:
               (1)  directly or indirectly subsidize wholesale
  competitive activities through rates charged for the provision of
  retail electric service that include fixed or variable costs
  reasonably attributable to the operation and maintenance of
  municipally owned utility assets that generate energy for sale at
  wholesale; or
               (2)  charge rates for the provision of retail electric
  service that exceed 50 percent of the average rates available to
  similarly situated customers in areas of the state that have access
  to customer choice.
         (e)  The commission by rule shall require a municipally owned
  utility to submit to the commission information to allow the
  commission to determine whether the municipally owned utility is
  complying with the requirements of Subsection (d).  The commission
  shall notify the municipal governing body if the commission
  determines that the municipally owned utility is not complying with
  the requirements of Subsection (d).
         (f)  A municipal governing body that receives notice from the
  commission under Subsection (e):
               (1)  shall require the municipally owned utility to
  comply with Subsection (d); and
               (2)  may, in a manner consistent with Section
  40.055(a)(4), reasonably determine the amount of the municipally
  owned utility's stranded investment and calculate and establish for
  the municipally owned utility a non-bypassable charge reflecting
  stranded costs properly attributable to the municipally owned
  utility's retail electric service customers.
         (g)  The relevant date for identifying stranded investment
  under Subsection (f) is November 30, 2010, instead of the date
  specified in Section 40.055(a)(4).  The amount and duration of the
  charge under Subsection (f) must:
               (1)  be calculated in a similar manner to that
  prescribed by Subchapter F, Chapter 39;
               (2)  include the calculation of nuclear
  decommissioning costs as allowed by Sections 39.205 and 39.206; and
               (3)  consider the municipally owned utility's capital
  and debt structure.
         (h)  A person affected by a determination made under this
  section by a municipal governing body may appeal the determination
  to the commission by filing with the commission a petition for
  review not later than the 30th day after the date of the
  determination.  An appeal under this section is de novo. The
  commission shall enter a final order:
               (1)  approving the determination of the municipal
  governing body; or
               (2)  substituting the commission's own determination.
         (i)  A municipally owned utility may use the net proceeds of
  its wholesale competitive activities for utility debt repayment,
  reduction of purchased power costs, or vegetation management.  The
  municipally owned utility shall:
               (1)  document and book the underlying transactions in
  auditable form; and
               (2)  on at least an annual basis as part of the
  budgeting process, disclose to the public the net amount of the
  proceeds and the intended uses of the proceeds.
         SECTION 2.  A municipally owned utility described by Section
  40.0521, Utilities Code, as added by this Act, that does not comply
  with Section 40.0521, Utilities Code, as added by this Act, on the
  effective date of this Act shall comply with Section 40.0521,
  Utilities Code, as added by this Act, not later than March 1, 2024.
         SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2023.