Bill Text: MS SB2455 | 2024 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Public Service Commission; restructure to include Public Utilities Staff.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Failed) 2024-03-05 - Died In Committee [SB2455 Detail]
Download: Mississippi-2024-SB2455-Introduced.html
MISSISSIPPI LEGISLATURE
2024 Regular Session
To: Government Structure
By: Senator(s) Parks
Senate Bill 2455
AN ACT TO RECONSTITUTE THE MISSISSIPPI PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION FROM AN ELECTED COMMISSION TO AN APPOINTED COMMISSION; TO CONSOLIDATE THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION WITH THE MISSISSIPPI PUBLIC UTILITIES STAFF; TO ESTABLISH THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR AS THE HEAD OF THE RECONSTITUTED COMMISSION; TO AMEND SECTION 77-1-1, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO RECONSTITUTE THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION, TO STIPULATE THAT COMMISSIONERS BE APPOINTED RATHER THAN ELECTED, TO SET NEW TERM LIMITS, TO FURTHER DEFINE THE ROLE OF COMMISSIONERS, AND TO ESTABLISH THE FOUR DIVISIONS OF THE PUBLIC UTILITIES STAFF; TO AMEND SECTION 77-1-15, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO EXPAND THE ROLE OF THE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY OF THE COMMISSION TO ALSO SERVE THE PUBLIC UTILITIES STAFF AND TO PROVIDE FOR ADDITIONAL RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE SECRETARY; TO AMEND SECTION 77-2-1, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO INCLUDE THE NEW DIVISIONS OF THE STAFF; TO AMEND SECTION 77-2-7, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO STIPULATE THAT THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF THE COMMISSION IS REMOVABLE ONLY FOR CAUSE AND IS THE CHIEF ADMINISTRATIVE AND POLICY OFFICER OF THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION STAFF; TO CREATE WITHIN THE ATTORNEY GENERAL'S OFFICE THE OFFICE OF CONSUMER ADVOCATE TO REPRESENT THE INTERESTS OF CONSUMERS BEFORE THE PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION AND TO ESTABLISH THE DUTIES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF THE OFFICE OF CONSUMER ADVOCATE; TO AMEND SECTION 77-3-11, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO ALLOW THE COMMISSION TO REQUIRE A FILING FEE FOR CERTAIN RENEWABLE PROJECTS; TO AMEND SECTION 77-3-87, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO ALLOW THE COMMISSION TO RETAIN FUNDS COLLECTED VIA FILING FEE; TO AMEND SECTION 77-3-37, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO REFLECT THE COMMISSION'S AUTHORITY TO REQUIRE A FILING FEE; TO AMEND SECTIONS 23-15-193, 23-15-297, 25-3-31, 23-15-333, 23-15-367, 25-3-41, 77-1-25, 77-3-3, 77-3-91, 77-3-111, 77-11-305 AND 77-13-3, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO CONFORM; TO AMEND SECTION 77-1-51, MISSISSIPPI CODE OF 1972, TO EXTEND THE DATE OF REPEAL; AND FOR RELATED PURPOSES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF MISSISSIPPI:
SECTION 1. From and after July 1, 2025, the Mississippi Public Service Commission established in Section 77-1-1 et seq., Mississippi Code of 1972, shall be continued and reconstituted as follows:
(a) The Mississippi Public Service Commission shall be reconstituted from an elected commission to an appointed commission as specifically provided in Section 77-1-77, as amended by this act.
(b) The Public Utilities Staff shall be consolidated with the Public Service Commission and shall be reconstituted as a support unit with four (4) divisions. The staff shall have the responsibilities specifically established in Sections 77-1-1 and 77-2-1, as amended by this act.
(c) The executive director shall be responsible for the overall direction and management of the combined Mississippi Public Service Commission and the four (4) new divisions of the Mississippi Public Utilities Staff, with the duties and responsibilities specifically established in Section 77-2-7, as amended by this act.
(d) On or before July 1, 2025, the Mississippi Public Utilities Staff and any other agency affected by this consolidation shall transfer to the Public Service Commission the employees, equipment, inventory, information technology equipment, state and federal funding, and any other resources necessary to implement the consolidation herein described. The Public Service Commission shall consult with the Bureau of Building, Grounds and Real Property of the Department of Finance and Administration for the effective transfer of office space and equipment to facilitate said consolidation.
SECTION 2. Section 77-1-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
77-1-1. (1) A
public service commission, hereinafter referred to in this chapter as the
commission, is hereby created, consisting of three (3) members, * * *
who shall devote their entire time to the duties of the office. The Governor
shall appoint the members of the commission, by and with the consent of the Mississippi
State Senate, one (1) for a term of two (2) years, one (1) for a term of four (4)
years, and one (1) for a term of six (6) years. Upon the expiration of each term
as set forth above, the Governor shall appoint a successor for a term of six (6)
years, and thereafter the term of office of each commissioner shall be for six (6)
years. Each commissioner shall hold at least a bachelor's degree. One (1) member
shall be a person who by reason of his or her previous vocation or affiliation can
be classed as a representative of utilities professions. One (1) member shall be
an attorney-at-law of recognized ability with at least five (5) years of active
practice in Mississippi prior to his or her appointment. One (1) member shall be
a person who by reason of his or her previous vocation or affiliation can be classed
as a representative of financial professions.
The commissioners shall each receive a yearly salary fixed by the Legislature, payable monthly.
The commissioners shall each possess the qualifications prescribed for the Secretary of State. The commissioners shall not operate, own any stock in, or be in the employment of any telephone company, gas or electric utility company, or any other public utility that shall come under their jurisdiction or supervision.
(2) The commissioners' personal staffs shall not consist of more than one (1) administrative assistant and one (1) law clerk or attorney advisor. The commission's staff shall operate as outlined in Section 77-3-8.
(3) The commissioners shall have the authority to meet and deliberate as necessary to determine or otherwise dispose of any matter presented to them.
(4) (a) The Mississippi Public Utilities Staff, as now consolidated with the Mississippi Public Service Commission, shall consist of four (4) divisions: The executive secretary of the commission as established in Section 77-1-15, the Customer Complaint Division, the Legal Division, and the Division of Rates, Tariffs and Applications.
(b) There is hereby created within the Mississippi Public Utilities Staff the Customer Complaint Division. The Customer Complaint Division shall be headed by a director. It shall be the responsibility of the director, on behalf of the Customer Complaint Division, to centralize all customer complaints made to the Public Service Commission.
(c) There is hereby created within the Mississippi Public Utilities Staff the Legal Division. The Legal Division shall be headed by an attorney-at-law of recognized ability with at least five (5) years of active practice in Mississippi prior to his or her appointment, serving as general counsel. The Legal Division shall be comprised of two (2) sections:
(i) The Administrative Law section shall be comprised of administrative law judges, who shall hear all initial cases and prepare an initial decision to be referred to and considered by the Public Service Commission; and
(ii) The Staff Attorney section shall be comprised of staff attorneys to advise on cases and complaints as deemed necessary.
(d) There is hereby created within the Mississippi Public Utilities Staff the Division of Rates, Tariffs and Applications. The Division of Rates, Tariffs and Applications shall be headed by a director and comprised of accountants, utility analysts, economic and financial analysts, and other specialized staff as deemed necessary to address the docket of the Public Service Commission.
(5) Any reference in this chapter or in any other provision of law to the "Public Service Commission" means the consolidated Public Service Commission and Mississippi Public Utilities Staff.
SECTION 3. Section 77-1-15, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
77-1-15. (1) There shall be an executive secretary of the commission and Mississippi Public Utilities Staff, hereinafter referred to in this chapter as the secretary, to be appointed by the commission, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, for the term of the commissioners. The secretary must have the same qualifications as the commissioners and shall be subject to the same disqualifications and to like penalties, except that he or she shall not be liable to impeachment. He or she shall receive a salary fixed by the Legislature. He or she shall take the oath of office and shall be removable at the pleasure of the commission, which may fill any vacancy until the Senate confirms a successor. The secretary shall make bond as provided for other state officers, in the sum of Ten Thousand Dollars ($10,000.00), conditioned upon the faithful performance of the duties of his office.
(2) The secretary shall collect all fees and penalties collected by or paid to the commission, and shall cover the same into the State Treasury.
(3) The secretary * * * shall be the custodian of
all records, documents, and the seal of the commission. He or she shall
issue all citations, subpoenas and other rightful orders and documents, maintain
the docket of the commission, ensure all filings comply with the policies and procedures
of the commission and the law, oversee and organize all commission hearings,
and perform all other duties usually required of such officer, and as required
by the commission.
(4) It shall be the duty and responsibility of the secretary to supervise and manage the offices and staff of the consolidated Public Service Commission and Public Utilities Staff and formulate written policies and procedures for the effective and efficient operation of the office and present these policies and procedures to the board for promulgation. It shall also be the duty and responsibility of the secretary to supervise and manage the official commission webpage, as well as information technology systems and systems mapping.
(5) From and after July 1, 2016, the expenses of this agency shall be defrayed by appropriation from the State General Fund and all user charges and fees authorized under this section shall be deposited into the State General Fund as authorized by law.
(6) From and after July 1, 2016, no state agency shall charge another state agency a fee, assessment, rent or other charge for services or resources received by authority of this section.
(7) From and after July 1, 2025, the office of the executive secretary shall serve as a division of the Public Utilities Staff, as stipulated in Section 77-2-1.
SECTION 4. Section 77-2-1, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
77-2-1. There is hereby
established a Public Utilities Staff, which shall * * * operate
in tandem with the Public Service Commission and the Public Service Commission
staff as stipulated in Section 1 of this act. Such staff shall consist
of the personnel positions of the executive director, the economic and planning
division, legal division, engineering division and accounting division with a
State Personnel Board organizational code of twenty thousand (20,000) or larger
which were formerly authorized and appropriated under the provisions of Section
77-3-8, Mississippi Code of 1972. * * * The Public
Utilities Staff shall consist of four (4) divisions as established in Section 77-1-1:
The executive secretary of the commission as established in Sections 77-1-1 and
77-1-15, the Customer Complaint Division, the Legal Division, and the Division of
Rates, Tariffs and Applications. The Public Utilities Staff shall
represent the broad interests of the State of Mississippi by balancing the
respective concerns of the residential, commercial or industrial ratepayers,
and the state and its agencies and departments, and the public utilities. The
staff shall consist of a sufficient number of professional, administrative,
technical, clerical and other personnel as may be necessary for the staff to
perform its duties and responsibilities as hereinafter provided. All such
personnel shall be competitively appointed by the executive director and shall
be dismissed only for cause in accordance with the rules and regulations of the
State Personnel Board. All equipment, supplies, records and any funds appropriated
by the Legislature to the Public Service Commission for and on behalf of the
Public Utilities Staff shall be * * * transferred to
the Public Service Commission on or before July 1, 2025.
Notwithstanding any provision of this chapter to the contrary, the personnel positions of the data processing division and the gas pipeline safety division of the Public Utilities Staff shall be the Public Service Commission staff positions authorized under Section 77-3-8, and shall be under the control and supervision of the Public Service Commission from and after March 15, 1991. However, the Public Service Commission staff shall continue to provide at no cost administrative support in the nature of data processing and bookkeeping to the Public Utilities Staff in order to avoid duplication of services.
SECTION 5. Section 77-2-7, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
77-2-7. (1) An executive director
of the consolidated Public Utilities Staff and Public Service Commission
shall be appointed, on or before July 1, 1990, by the Governor, with the advice
and consent of the Senate, to serve for a term of six (6) years. Whenever any vacancy
shall occur in the position of executive director, the Governor shall appoint an
executive director, as provided herein, to fill the unexpired term. The executive
director shall * * * be removable only for cause.
(2) The executive director of
the * * *
Public Service Commission shall hold at least a bachelors degree and shall
have extensive managerial experience with a thorough knowledge of public utility
economics and the principles of utility service and rate construction. The executive
director * * * shall possess the ability to analyze quantitative and
qualitative data and to develop and adjust regulatory strategies or policies to
attain commission objectives. The salary of the executive director shall be set
by the Personnel Board and shall be such that it is comparable to salaries of those
holding similar positions in other state and federal agencies and commensurate with
the duties and responsibilities imposed on this official position which affects
the broad interests of the State of Mississippi. The executive director shall
be the Chief Administrative and Policy Officer of the Public Service Commission
Staff and shall oversee the four (4) divisions of the Public Utilities Staff as
established in Section 77-1-1. Nothing herein shall be construed to prevent
reappointment of the executive director for consecutive terms.
SECTION 6. (1) There is hereby established within the Attorney General's Office the Office of Consumer Advocate to represent the interests of consumers before the Mississippi Public Service Commission.
(2) The office shall consist of the following:
(a) An independent consumer advocate, appointed by the governor with the consent of the senate, who shall be a qualified attorney admitted to practice in this state. The consumer advocate shall serve for a term of four (4) years and until a successor is appointed and qualified and shall be removable only for cause; and
(b) Additional staff people appointed by the consumer advocate as necessary to carry out the responsibilities of the office.
(3) The consumer advocate shall have the power and duty to petition for, initiate, appear, intervene in or suspend any proceeding concerning rates, charges, tariffs and consumer services before the Public Service Commission to represent the interests of residential utility consumers.
SECTION 7. Section 77-3-11, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
77-3-11. (1) No person shall
construct, acquire, extend or operate equipment for manufacture, mixing, generating,
transmitting or distributing natural or manufactured gas, or mixed gas, or water,
for any intrastate sale to or for the public for compensation, or for the operation
of a public utility operating a business and equipment or facilities as contemplated
by * * * Section 77-3-3(d)(iii), without first having
obtained from the commission a certificate that the present or future public convenience
and necessity require or will require the operation of such equipment or facility.
(2) No person shall construct, acquire, extend or operate equipment for manufacture, generating, transmitting or distributing electricity for any intrastate or interstate sale to or for the public for compensation without first having obtained from the commission a certificate that the present and future public convenience and necessity require or will require the operation of such equipment or facility. Provided, however, nothing herein contained shall be construed to require a joint municipal electric power agency organized in accordance with the provisions of Section 77-5-201 et seq., Mississippi Code of 1972, to obtain any permit, license, certificate or approval from the Mississippi Public Service Commission.
(3) No person shall construct, acquire, extend or operate equipment or facilities for collecting, transmitting, treating or disposing of sewage, or otherwise operating an intrastate sewage disposal service, to or for the public for compensation, without first having obtained from the commission a certificate that the present or future public convenience and necessity require or will require the operation of such equipment or facilities.
(4) However, nothing herein shall be construed to require any certificate of convenience and necessity from the commission for the production and gathering of natural gas, the sale of natural gas in or within the vicinity of the field where produced, the distribution or sale of liquefied petroleum gas, the sale of natural gas to the ultimate consumer for use as a motor vehicle fuel, or for the facilities and equipment utilized in any such operations.
(5) Upon complaints filed by not less than ten percent (10%) of the total subscribers or three thousand five hundred (3,500) subscribers of a public utility, whichever is less, then the commission shall hold a hearing on the adequacy of service as contemplated in Section 77-3-21.
(6) The commission may require a filing fee for review and certification of renewable projects which must be approved by the commission before the commencement of the project.
( * * *7) With respect to any facility or contract
for a facility serving a customer under Section 22 of * * * Senate Bill No. 2001, 2024 Second
Extraordinary Session, nothing in this section shall supersede the
provisions of Section 22 of * * * Senate Bill No. 2001, 2024 Second
Extraordinary Session.
SECTION 8. Section 77-3-87, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
77-3-87. All reasonable and
necessary expenses of the administration of the duties imposed on the public
utilities staff and on the commission by Title 77, Mississippi Code of 1972,
excluding the reasonable and necessary expenses of the administration and
enforcement by the commission of the laws of this state pursuant to Chapters 7
and 9, Title 77, Mississippi Code of 1972, shall be provided as follows: There
is hereby levied a tax upon (a) all utilities, the rates of which are subject
to regulation by the provisions of this chapter and upon (b) all utilities not
subject to such rate regulation which furnish to the ultimate consumer utility
services of the type described by subparagraph (i) of paragraph (d) of Section
77-3-3 and otherwise subject to regulation by the provisions of this chapter,
such levy to be effective on the first day of each year and to be calculated as
follows: The rate of the tax shall be one hundred sixty-four thousandths of
one percent (164/1000 of 1%) per year, of the gross revenues from the
intrastate operations of the utilities taxed under this section. The rate of
the tax for electric power associations and rural electrification authorities shall
be ninety thousandths of one percent (90/1000 of 1%) per year of the gross revenues
from the intrastate operations of electric power associations and rural electrification
authorities taxed under this section. Effective July 1, 2017, the sum of all taxes
levied by this section shall not exceed the total legislative appropriation of
monies for the Public Utilities staff and the Public Service Commission for the
ensuing fiscal year. The commission and the executive director of the * * * commission shall
certify to the Department of Revenue the amount of legislative appropriations of
monies for the regulation of utilities. The Department of Revenue shall adjust
the tax rates on a pro rata basis to generate the necessary revenues established
by such legislative appropriations. Each utility which is subject to the tax
levied by this section shall file a statement of its gross revenue by April 1
of each year showing the gross revenue for the preceding year's operation.
These statements of gross revenue shall be filed with the Department of Revenue
on forms prescribed and furnished by the Department of Revenue. The Department
of Revenue shall file a copy of these statements of gross revenue with the
public utilities staff and the commission. The Department of Revenue shall
calculate the amount of tax to be paid by each of the utilities and shall
submit a statement thereof to the respective utilities, and the amount shown
due in the statements to the utilities shall be paid by them within thirty (30)
days thereafter to the Department of Revenue. The Department of Revenue shall
furnish the public utilities staff and the commission with an itemized list
showing gross and net revenues, assessments, tax collections and other related
information for the respective utilities. The Department of Revenue shall
deposit these funds into the General Fund of the State Treasury on the same day
collected.
All administrative provisions of the Mississippi Sales Tax Law, including those which fix damages, penalties and interest for nonpayment of taxes and for noncompliance with the provisions of such chapter, and all other duties and requirements imposed upon taxpayers, shall apply to all persons liable for taxes under the provisions of this chapter, and the Commissioner of Revenue shall exercise all the power and authority and perform all the duties with respect to taxpayers under this chapter as are provided in the Mississippi Sales Tax Law except where there is a conflict, then the provisions of this chapter shall control. The term "gross revenue" as used in this section is the total amount of all revenue derived by each of the utilities from its intrastate operations, which are subject to rate regulation under the provisions of this chapter or which constitute utility services of the type described by subparagraph (i) of paragraph (d) of Section 77-3-3 and which are regulated by this chapter and furnished to ultimate consumers. The Department of Revenue is hereby authorized to use all tax returns of any utilities available to it and to make audits as may be deemed necessary of all records of utilities in order to correctly determine the amount of such gross revenue.
All proceeds of the above-mentioned tax are hereby allocated to the public utilities staff and to the commission in the manner provided in this section for the purpose of this chapter. In addition, the consolidated public utilities staff and commission are authorized to retain funds collected through certification filing fees in the manner provided in Section 77-3-11.
Each utility subject to the provisions of this section shall be allowed to recover, through the use of a rate adjustment clause or rider, the total amount of taxes paid by the utility pursuant to this section for the reasonable and necessary expenses of the commission and the public utilities staff.
From and after July 1, 2016, the expenses of this agency shall be defrayed by appropriation from the State General Fund and all user charges and fees authorized under this section shall be deposited into the State General Fund as authorized by law.
From and after July 1, 2016, no state agency shall charge another state agency a fee, assessment, rent or other charge for services or resources received by authority of this section.
SECTION 9. Section 77-3-37, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
77-3-37. (1) No public utility
shall make any change in any rate which has been duly established under this chapter,
except as provided in this chapter. A public utility seeking a change in any rate
or rates shall file with the secretary of the commission and the executive director * * * a notice of intent
to change rates. The commission may promulgate rules and regulations providing
for notice to customers of the filing by any public utility for a rate increase.
Routine changes in rates and schedules that do not involve any substantial revenue
adjustment may go into effect after thirty (30) days' notice to the commission or
after such shorter period of notice as the commission, for good cause shown, may
allow. In all other cases, the notice of intent shall contain a statement of the
changes proposed to be made in the rates then in force, the new level of revenues
sought, the reasons for the proposed changes and the date proposed for such changes
to become effective, which date shall not be less than thirty (30) days after the
date of filing. The proposed changes may be shown by filing new schedules, by plainly
indicating the changes upon schedules filed and in force at the time and kept open
to public inspection or by such other manner as will clearly indicate the rates
to be changed and the rates proposed. All direct testimony, exhibits and other
information which any utility will rely upon in support of the proposed changes
shall be filed concurrently with the filing of the notice of intent. Such other
data or documentation as the commission shall request shall be supplied by such
utility.
(2) The commission shall establish by rule and regulation a standard requirement list of documentation to be filed with or to be included in every notice of intent. With respect to any notice of intent involving a major change in rates as defined in subsection (8) of this section, the standard requirement list in each case shall include:
(a) A copy of its charter or articles of incorporation, if not already on file with the commission;
(b) A schedule of the present rates, fares, tolls, charges or rentals in effect, and the changes it is desired to make;
(c) A balance sheet of the utility prepared as of the last day of the latest month in which data shall be readily available;
(d) An actual operating statement setting forth revenue and expenses by account numbers for the twelve (12) months ending as the date of the balance sheet applicable to the utility filing the notice of intent;
(e) A pro forma operating statement in the same form as the actual operating statement showing estimate of revenue and expenses for the twelve-month period beginning with the effective date of the changed rates (i) without giving effect to the changed rates and (ii) giving effect to the changed rates;
(f) A pro forma operating statement in the same form as the actual operating statement for the same period giving effect to the proposed changes in rates and adjusted for known changes in the cost of operations;
(g) A statement showing the number of stations or customers by classes affected by the proposed changes in rates, the actual revenue under the old rates arising from each class and the annual amount of the proposed increase or decrease applicable to each class;
(h) A description of the utility's property, including a statement of the original cost of the property and the cost to the utility;
(i) A statement in full of the reasons why the change in rates is desired so that the commission may clearly see the justification therefor;
(j) The amount and kinds of stock authorized;
(k) The amount and kinds of stock issued and outstanding;
(l) The number and amount of bonds authorized and the number and amount issued;
(m) The rate and amount of dividends paid during the five (5) previous fiscal years, and the amount of capital stock on which dividends were paid each year;
(n) An analysis of surplus covering the period from the close of the last calendar year for which an annual report has been filed with the commission to the date of the balance sheet attached to the notice.
(3) The commission may, by rule and regulation, require the utility filing a notice of intent to change rates to supplement the above data with such other information as the commission or the public utilities staff may reasonably request.
(4) Unless the commission, upon application by a utility and for good cause shown, shall enter an order waiving one or more of the following requirements, then whenever a public utility files a notice of intent wherein an increase in the level of annual revenues in the amount of at least Fifteen Million Dollars ($15,000,000.00) is sought, the standard requirement list of documentation shall include:
(a) Guidelines or directives as to the public utility's presentation provided by a controlling affiliate, parent or holding company;
(b) Marginal cost data;
(c) Alternate rate design;
(d) Conservation effectiveness;
(e) A properly prepared, complete, detailed lead-lag study for the test year for the total company, Mississippi retail, other retail jurisdictions and Federal Energy Regulatory Commission wholesale rates in support of the public utility's total working capital requirement contained therein, including all working papers in support thereof;
(f) Direct testimony proposed to be offered at a hearing.
(5) The notice of intent for major changes in rates as defined in subsection (8) of this section shall state the test period adopted by the public utility in support of its proposed rate changes, which may be a twelve-month period beginning with the proposed effective date of the rates proposed in the notice. For the purpose of expediting the regulatory process, all public utilities shall keep the commission advised of their plans or needs for future requests for major rate changes.
(6) Within five (5) days after the notice of intent has been filed, the utility shall serve a copy of the notice of intent without documentation on all parties of record in its last proceeding in which a major change in rates was sought, and shall file a certificate of service with the commission. Thereafter, a copy of all material filed by the utility shall be furnished by the utility to those persons as may be provided for by the commission's rules and regulations.
(7) (a) When the rates in a notice of intent are suspended by commission order, the commission may issue a scheduling order which establishes deadlines for submitting data requests, responding to data requests, conducting prehearing conferences and hearings and disposing of other matters necessary for the orderly disposition of the case.
(b) The public utilities staff and all intervenors or protestants shall file all direct testimony, exhibits and other information which is to be relied upon regarding the proposed changes within eighty (80) days from the filing of such notice of intent. At the time of filing direct testimony, exhibits and other information, each party filing such documents shall serve copies of the documentation on all other parties of record and shall file a certificate of service with the commission.
(8) The commission, for good cause shown, may, except in the case of major changes, allow changes in rates to take effect at the end of thirty (30) days from the date of the filing and the notice of intent, or on the effective date set out in the notice, without requiring any further proceedings, under such conditions as it may prescribe. All such changes shall be immediately indicated by such public utility upon its schedules. "Major changes" means (a) an increase in rates which would increase the annual revenues of such public utility more than the greater of One Hundred Thousand Dollars ($100,000.00) or two percent (2%), but shall not include changes in rates allowed to go into effect by the commission or made by the public utility pursuant to an order of the commission after hearings held upon notice to the public, or (b) a change in the rate design which has a significant impact on a class or classes of ratepayers.
(9) For all major changes in rates and schedules as defined in subsection (8) of this section, a public utility as defined in Section 77-3-3(d)(iv) shall provide, not later than twenty (20) days after filing the notice of intent to change rates, notice of such proposed change within each affected customer's bill or invoice and in a newspaper having general circulation in the area where service is being provided by the public utility. The notice shall state the date on which the notice of intent was filed with the commission and shall include a financial impact statement showing the average amount of increase to customers by class and usage. The filing public utility shall file a copy of the notice, along with a certificate with the executive secretary of the commission, verifying that notice to each of the utility's affected customers was provided in a timely manner.
(10) The commission may require a filing fee for review and certification of renewable projects which must be approved by the commission before commencement of the project.
( * * *11) With respect to any facility or contract
for a facility serving a customer under Section 22 of * * * Senate Bill No. 2001, 2024 Second
Extraordinary Session, nothing in this section shall supersede the provisions
of Section 22 of * * * Senate Bill No. 2001, 2024 Second Extraordinary Session.
SECTION 10. Section 23-15-193, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
23-15-193. (1) At the election
in 2023, and every four (4) years thereafter, there shall be elected a Governor,
Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Auditor of Public Accounts, State Treasurer,
Attorney General, * * * three (3) Mississippi Transportation
Commissioners, Commissioner of Insurance, Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce,
Senators and members of the House of Representatives in the Legislature, district
attorneys for the several districts, clerks of the circuit and chancery courts of
the several counties, as well as sheriffs, coroners, assessors, surveyors and members
of the boards of supervisors, justice court judges and constables, and all other
officers to be elected by the people at the general state election. All such officers
shall hold their offices for a term of four (4) years, and until their successors
are elected and qualified. The state officers shall be elected in the manner prescribed
in Section 140 of the Constitution.
(2) The state officers that receive a majority of votes cast for the office at the general election shall be elected. If no candidate receives a majority number of votes cast at the election, then the two (2) candidates who receive the highest number of votes cast shall have their names placed on the ballot for the runoff election to be held three (3) weeks later. The candidate who receives a majority of the votes cast in the runoff election shall be elected. However, if no candidate receives a majority vote cast at the election, and there is a tie in the election of those receiving the next highest vote, then those candidates receiving the next highest vote and the candidate receiving the highest number of votes cast shall have their names placed on the ballot for the runoff election to be held three (3) weeks later, and whoever receives the majority of votes cast in the runoff election shall be elected. If it appears that two (2) or more candidates for state office have an equal number of votes after the runoff election, the interested candidates shall appear before the Chief Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court within two (2) days after the canvass and the tie shall be determined by a toss of a coin or by lot fairly and publicly drawn, and a certificate of election shall be given accordingly.
SECTION 11. Section 23-15-297, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
23-15-297. (1) All candidates, upon entering the race for party nominations for office, shall first pay to the proper officer as provided for in Section 23-15-299 for each primary election the following amounts:
(a) Candidates for Governor, the amount determined by the state executive committee of the party pursuant to subsection (2) of this section but no less than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) and no more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00).
(b) Candidates for Lieutenant
Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, Auditor of Public
Accounts, Commissioner of Insurance, Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce, and
State Highway Commissioner * * *, the amount
determined by the state executive committee of the party pursuant to subsection
(2) of this section but no less than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) and no more
than Two Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($2,500.00).
(c) Candidates for State Senator and State Representative, Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00).
(d) Candidates for district attorney, Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00).
(e) Candidates for sheriff, chancery clerk, circuit clerk, tax assessor, tax collector, county attorney, county superintendent of education and board of supervisors, One Hundred Dollars ($100.00).
(f) Candidates for county surveyor, county coroner, justice court judge and constable, One Hundred Dollars ($100.00).
(g) Candidates for United States Senator, the amount determined by the state executive committee of the party pursuant to subsection (2) of this section but no less than One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) and no more than Five Thousand Dollars ($5,000.00).
(h) Candidates for United States Representative, the amount determined by the state executive committee of the party pursuant to subsection (2) of this section but no less than Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00) and no more than Two Thousand Five Hundred Dollars ($2,500.00).
(2) (a) The state executive committee of a political party shall set the entry fee that a candidate is to pay upon entering the race for party nominations for the offices listed in paragraphs (a), (b), (g) and (h) of subsection (1) of this section and Section 23-15-1093(2)(a). The authority granted under this subsection shall not be exercised by any state executive committee of a political party for any individual office more than once every two (2) years, beginning July 1, 2022.
(b) Each state executive committee of a political party shall report the entry fee determined for each office to the Secretary of State by October 1 of the year before the election is held for that office. If a state executive committee does not meet the deadline in this paragraph for any office, the minimum entry fee shall be assessed for the office in that party's primary election during that election cycle.
(3) All independent candidates and special election candidates entering the race for office shall pay to the proper officer as provided for in Section 23-15-299 the following amounts:
(a) Candidates for Governor, One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00).
(b) Candidates for Lieutenant
Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, Auditor of Public
Accounts, Commissioner of Insurance, Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce, and
State Highway Commissioner * * *, Five Hundred
Dollars ($500.00).
(c) Candidates for district attorney, State Senator and State Representative, Two Hundred Fifty Dollars ($250.00).
(d) Candidates for sheriff, chancery clerk, circuit clerk, tax assessor, tax collector, county attorney, county superintendent of education and board of supervisors, One Hundred Dollars ($100.00).
(e) Candidates for county surveyor, county coroner, justice court judge and constable, One Hundred Dollars ($100.00).
(f) Candidates for United States Senator, One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00).
(g) Candidates for United States Representative, Five Hundred Dollars ($500.00).
(4) The Secretary of State shall publish the fees listed in this section and Section 23-15-1093 no later than forty-five (45) days before the qualifying period begins for each office.
SECTION 12. Section 25-3-31, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
25-3-31. (1) The annual salaries of the following elected state and district officers are fixed as follows:
Governor........................................... $ 160,000.00
Attorney General..................................... 150,000.00
Secretary of State................................... 120,000.00
Commissioner of Insurance............................ 150,000.00
State Treasurer...................................... 120,000.00
State Auditor of Public Accounts..................... 150,000.00
Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce.............. 120,000.00
Transportation Commissioners......................... 95,000.00
* * *
(2) To assist the elected state and district officers in subsection (1) of this section in efficiently performing the official duties imposed upon him or her by law, the officer may employ suitable and competent persons who possess the professional skill and expert knowledge needed to fulfill those duties. The State Personnel Board, based upon its findings of fact, shall exempt those persons from the provisions of Section 25-3-39 when the acquisition of such professional services is precluded based upon the prevailing wage in the relevant labor market. This subsection (2) shall stand repealed on July 1, 2024.
SECTION 13. Section 23-15-333, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
23-15-333. (1) The county executive committee shall have printed all necessary ballots, for use in primary elections. The county executive committee shall have printed all necessary absentee ballots forty-five (45) days before the election as required by law. The ballots shall contain the names of all the candidates to be voted for at the election, and there shall be left on each ballot one (1) blank space under the title of each office for which a nominee is to be elected; and in the event of the death of any candidate whose name shall have been printed on the ballot, the name of the candidate duly substituted in the place of the deceased candidate may be written in such blank space by the voter. Except as otherwise provided in subsection (2) of this section, the order in which the titles to the various offices shall be printed, and the size, print and quality of the paper of the ballot is left to the discretion of the county executive committee. Provided, however, that in all cases the arrangement of the names of the candidates for each office shall be alphabetical. No ballot shall be used except those so printed.
(2) The titles for the various offices shall be listed in the following order:
(a) Candidates, electors or delegates for the following national offices:
(i) President of the United States of America;
(ii) United States Senator or United States Representative;
(b) Candidates for the following statewide offices: Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, State Treasurer, Auditor of Public Accounts, Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce, Commissioner of Insurance;
(c) Candidates for the
following state district offices: Mississippi Transportation Commissioner, * * * District Attorney;
(d) Candidates for the following legislative offices: Senator and House of Representatives;
(e) Candidates for countywide office;
(f) Candidates for county district office.
The order in which the titles for the various offices are listed within each of the categories listed in paragraphs (e) and (f) are left to the discretion of the county executive committee. Candidates' names shall be listed alphabetically under each office by the candidate's last name.
(3) If after the deadline to qualify as a candidate for an office, only one (1) person has duly qualified to be a candidate for the office in the primary election, the name of that person shall be placed on the ballot; provided, however, that if not more than one (1) person has duly qualified to be a candidate for each office on the primary election ballot, the election for all offices on the ballot shall be dispensed with and the appropriate executive committee shall declare each candidate as the party nominee if the candidate meets all the qualifications to hold the office.
(4) (a) If it is eligible under Section 23-15-266, the county executive committee may enter into a written agreement with the circuit clerk or the county election commission authorizing the circuit clerk or the county election commission to perform any of the duties required of the county executive committee pursuant to this section. Any agreement entered into pursuant to this subsection shall be signed by the chair of the county executive committee and the circuit clerk or the chair of the county election commission, as appropriate. The county executive committee shall notify the state executive committee and the Secretary of State of the existence of such agreement.
(b) If it is eligible under Section 23-15-266, the municipal executive committee may enter into a written agreement with the municipal clerk or the municipal election commission authorizing the municipal clerk or the municipal election commission to perform any of the duties required of the municipal executive committee pursuant to this section. Any agreement entered into pursuant to this subsection shall be signed by the chair of the municipal executive committee and the municipal clerk or the chair of the municipal election commission, as appropriate. The municipal executive committee shall notify the state executive committee and the Secretary of State of the existence of such agreement.
SECTION 14. Section 23-15-367, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
23-15-367. (1) Except as otherwise provided by Sections 23-15-974 through 23-15-985 and subsection (2) of this section, the size, print and quality of paper of the official ballot is left to the discretion of the officer charged with printing the official ballot.
(2) The titles for the various offices shall be listed in the following order:
(a) Candidates, electors or delegates for the following national offices:
(i) President;
(ii) United States Senator or United States Representative;
(b) Candidates for the following statewide office: Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, State Treasurer, Auditor of Public Accounts, Commissioner of Agriculture and Commerce, Commissioner of Insurance;
(c) Candidates for the
following state district offices: Mississippi Transportation Commissioner, * * * District
Attorney;
(d) Candidates for the following legislative offices: Senate and House of Representatives;
(e) Candidates for countywide office;
(f) Candidates for county district office.
The order in which the titles for the various offices are listed within paragraphs (e) and (f) is left to the discretion of the county election commissioners. Nominees of the political parties, qualified to conduct primary elections as defined in Section 23-15-291, shall be listed first alphabetically by the candidate's last name, followed by any other candidates listed alphabetically by last name.
(3) It is the duty of the Secretary of State, with the approval of the Governor, to furnish the designated election commissioner of each county a sample of the official ballot, not less than fifty-five (55) days before the election, the general form of which shall be followed as nearly as practicable.
SECTION 15. Section 25-3-41, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
25-3-41. (1) Subject to the provisions of subsection (10) of this section, when any officer or employee of the State of Mississippi, or any department, agency or institution thereof, after first being duly authorized, is required to travel in the performance of his official duties, the officer or employee shall receive as expenses for each mile actually and necessarily traveled, when the travel is done by a privately owned automobile or other privately owned motor vehicle, the mileage reimbursement rate allowable to federal employees for the use of a privately owned vehicle while on official travel.
(2) When any officer or employee of any county or municipality, or of any agency, board or commission thereof, after first being duly authorized, is required to travel in the performance of his official duties, the officer or employee shall receive as expenses Twenty Cents (20¢) for each mile actually and necessarily traveled, when the travel is done by a privately owned motor vehicle; provided, however, that the governing authorities of a county or municipality may, in their discretion, authorize an increase in the mileage reimbursement of officers and employees of the county or municipality, or of any agency, board or commission thereof, in an amount not to exceed the mileage reimbursement rate authorized for officers and employees of the State of Mississippi in subsection (1) of this section.
(3) Where two (2) or more officers or employees travel in one (1) privately owned motor vehicle, only one (1) travel expense allowance at the authorized rate per mile shall be allowed for any one (1) trip. When the travel is done by means of a public carrier or other means not involving a privately owned motor vehicle, then the officer or employee shall receive as travel expense the actual fare or other expenses incurred in such travel.
(4) In addition to the foregoing, a public officer or employee shall be reimbursed for other actual expenses such as meals, lodging and other necessary expenses incurred in the course of the travel, subject to limitations placed on meals for intrastate and interstate official travel by the Department of Finance and Administration, provided, that the Legislative Budget Office shall place any limitations for expenditures made on matters under the jurisdiction of the Legislature. The Department of Finance and Administration shall set a maximum daily expenditure annually for such meals and shall notify officers and employees of changes to these allowances immediately upon approval of the changes. Travel by airline shall be at the tourist rate unless that space was unavailable. The officer or employee shall certify that tourist accommodations were not available if travel is performed in first class airline accommodations. Itemized expense accounts shall be submitted by those officers or employees in such number as the department, agency or institution may require; but in any case one (1) copy shall be furnished by state departments, agencies or institutions to the Department of Finance and Administration for preaudit or postaudit. The Department of Finance and Administration shall promulgate and adopt reasonable rules and regulations which it deems necessary and requisite to effectuate economies for all expenses authorized and paid pursuant to this section. Requisitions shall be made on the State Fiscal Officer who shall issue his warrant on the State Treasurer. Provided, however, that the provisions of this section shall not include agencies financed entirely by federal funds and audited by federal auditors.
(5) Any officer or employee of a county or municipality, or any department, board or commission thereof, who is required to travel in the performance of his official duties, may receive funds before the travel, in the discretion of the administrative head of the county or municipal department, board or commission involved, for the purpose of paying necessary expenses incurred during the travel. Upon return from the travel, the officer or employee shall provide receipts of transportation, lodging, meals, fees and any other expenses incurred during the travel. Any portion of the funds advanced which is not expended during the travel shall be returned by the officer or employee. The Department of Audit shall adopt rules and regulations regarding advance payment of travel expenses and submission of receipts to ensure proper control and strict accountability for those payments and expenses.
(6) No state or federal funds received from any source by any arm or agency of the state shall be expended in traveling outside of the continental limits of the United States until the governing body or head of the agency makes a finding and determination that the travel would be extremely beneficial to the state agency and obtains a written concurrence thereof from the Governor, or his designee, and the Department of Finance and Administration. However, employees of state institutions of higher learning may expend funds for travel outside of the continental limits of the United States upon a written finding by the president or head of the institution that the travel would be extremely beneficial to the institution.
(7) Where any officer or employee of the State of Mississippi, or any department, agency or institution thereof, or of any county or municipality, or of any agency, board or commission thereof, is authorized to receive travel reimbursement under any other provision of law, the reimbursement may be paid under the provisions of this section or the other section, but not under both.
(8) When the Governor, Lieutenant Governor or Speaker of the House of Representatives appoints a person to a board, commission or other position that requires confirmation by the Senate, the person may receive reimbursement for mileage and other actual expenses incurred in the performance of official duties before the appointment is confirmed by the Senate, as reimbursement for those expenses is authorized under this section.
(9) (a) The Department of Finance and Administration may contract with one or more commercial travel agencies, after receiving competitive bids or proposals therefor, for that travel agency or agencies to provide necessary travel services for state officers and employees. Municipal and county officers and municipal and county employees may also participate in the state travel agency contract and utilize these travel services for official municipal or county travel. However, the administrative head of each state institution of higher learning may, in his discretion, contract with a commercial travel agency to provide necessary travel services for all academic officials and staff of the university in lieu of participation in the state travel agency contract. Any such decision by a university to contract with a separate travel agency shall be approved by the Board of Trustees of State Institutions of Higher Learning and the Executive Director of the Department of Finance and Administration.
(b) Before executing a contract with one or more travel agencies, the Department of Finance and Administration shall advertise for competitive bids or proposals once a week for two (2) consecutive weeks in a regular newspaper having a general circulation throughout the State of Mississippi. If the department determines that it should not contract with any of the bidders initially submitting proposals, the department may reject all those bids, advertise as provided in this paragraph and receive new proposals before executing the contract or contracts. The contract or contracts may be for a period not greater than three (3) years, with an option for the travel agency or agencies to renew the contract or contracts on a one-year basis on the same terms as the original contract or contracts, for a maximum of two (2) renewals. After the travel agency or agencies have renewed the contract twice or have declined to renew the contract for the maximum number of times, the Department of Finance and Administration shall advertise for bids in the manner required by this paragraph and execute a new contract or contracts.
(c) Whenever any state officer or employee travels in the performance of his official duties by airline or other public carrier, he may have his travel arrangements handled by that travel agency or agencies. The amount paid for airline transportation for any state officer or employee, whether the travel was arranged by that travel agency or agencies or was arranged otherwise, shall not exceed the amount specified in the state contract established by the Department of Finance and Administration, Office of Purchasing and Travel, unless prior approval is obtained from the office.
(10) (a) For purposes of this subsection, the term "state agency" means any agency that is subject to oversight by the Bureau of Fleet Management of the Department of Finance and Administration under Section 25-1-77.
(b) Each state agency shall use a trip optimizer type system developed and administered by the Department of Finance and Administration in computing the optimum method and cost for travel by state officers and employees using a motor vehicle where the travel will exceed one hundred (100) miles per day and the officer or employee is not driving a state-owned or state-leased vehicle that has been dedicated or assigned to the officer or employee.
(c) The provisions of this subsection shall be used to determine the most cost-effective method of travel by motor vehicles, whether those vehicles are owned by the state agency, leased by the state agency, or owned by the officer or employee, and shall be applicable for purposes of determining the maximum authorized amount of any travel reimbursement for officers and employees of those agencies related to vehicle usage.
(d) The maximum authorized amount of travel reimbursement related to motor vehicle usage shall be the lowest cost option as determined by the trip optimizer type system. All travel claims submitted for reimbursement shall include the results of the trip optimizer type system indicating the lowest cost option for travel by the state officer or employee.
(e) In providing a calculation of rates, the trip optimizer type system shall account for the distance that an officer or employee must travel to pick up a rental or state fleet vehicle, and shall account for the long-term rate discounts offered through the state purchasing contract for vehicle rentals.
(f) This subsection shall
not apply to travel by state officials in motor vehicles driven by the official
or in vehicles used for the transport of the official. The exemption in this paragraph
(f) applies only to the state official and not to the staff or other employees of
the state official. As used in this paragraph (f), "state official" means
statewide elected officials and the * * * appointed members of the Public
Service Commission.
(g) The provisions of this subsection shall not be applicable to any state agency for the period beginning on April 8, 2022, through June 30, 2024.
SECTION 16. Section 77-1-25, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
77-1-25. No member of the
staff of the commission, or any other person, shall use uniforms, material, or
equipment of the commission for private or political purposes. Members of the
staff of the commission may be candidates for political office but must take a
leave of absence to do so. Members of the staff of the commission may take
part in political campaigns * * *
but may not solicit or receive campaign contributions from regulated utilities.
Anyone violating the provisions of this section shall be guilty of a
misdemeanor and, upon conviction, shall be punished as provided by law and
shall be dismissed from the staff of the commission.
SECTION 17. Section 77-3-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
77-3-3. As used in this chapter:
(a) The term "corporation" includes a private or public corporation, a municipality, an association, a joint-stock association or a business trust.
(b) The term "person" includes a natural person, a partnership of two (2) or more persons having a joint or common interest, a cooperative, nonprofit, limited dividend or mutual association, a corporation, or any other legal entity.
(c) The term "municipality" includes any incorporated city, town or village.
(d) The term "public utility" includes persons and corporations, or their lessees, trustees and receivers now or hereafter owning or operating in this state equipment or facilities for:
(i) The generation, manufacture, transmission, distribution, provision, or furnishing of electricity to or for the public, whether an individual person or an entity or a collection of persons or entities, for compensation;
(ii) The transmission, sale, sale for resale, or distribution of natural, artificial, or mixed natural and artificial gas to the public for compensation by means of transportation, transmission, or distribution facilities and equipment located within this state; however, the term shall not include the production and gathering of natural gas, the sale of natural gas in or within the vicinity of the field where produced, or the distribution or sale of liquefied petroleum gas or the sale to the ultimate consumer of natural gas for use as a motor vehicle fuel;
(iii) The transmission, conveyance or reception of any message over wire, of writing, signs, signals, pictures and sounds of all kinds by or for the public, where such service is offered to the public for compensation, and the furnishing, or the furnishing and maintenance, of equipment or facilities to the public, for compensation, for use as a private communications system or part thereof; however, no person or corporation not otherwise a public utility within the meaning of this chapter shall be deemed such solely because of engaging in this state in the furnishing, for private use as last aforementioned, and moreover, nothing in this chapter shall be construed to apply to television stations, radio stations, community television antenna services, video services, Voice over Internet Protocol services ("VoIP"), any wireless services, including commercial mobile services, Internet Protocol ("IP") - enabled services or broadband services; and
(iv) The transmission, distribution, sale or resale of water to the public for compensation, or the collection, transmission, treatment or disposal of sewage, or otherwise operating a sewage disposal service, to or for the public for compensation.
The term "public utility" shall not include any person not otherwise a public utility, who provides or furnishes the services or commodity described in this paragraph only to himself, his employees or tenants as an incident of such employee service or tenancy, if such services are not sold or resold to such tenants or employees on a metered or consumption basis other than the submetering authorized under Section 77-3-97.
The term "public utility" shall not include any person not otherwise a public utility, who purchases electricity on a metered retail basis from the electric public utility that holds a certificate of public convenience and necessity for the area in which the person is located, and provides or furnishes a portion of that electricity, but not electricity from any other source, to the public for compensation directly and exclusively to charge battery-powered electric vehicles and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles. Any such person described in this paragraph is an end-use customer, whether or not such person receives compensation for battery or vehicle charging.
A public utility's business other than of the character defined in subparagraphs (i) through (iv) of this paragraph is not subject to the provisions of this chapter.
(e) The term "rate" means and includes every compensation, charge, fare, toll, customer deposit, rental and classification, or the formula or method by which such may be determined, or any of them, demanded, observed, charged or collected by any public utility for any service, product or commodity described in this section, offered by it to the public, and any rules, regulations, practices or contracts relating to any such compensation, charge, fare, toll, rental or classification; however, the term "rate" shall not include charges for electrical current furnished, delivered or sold by one (1) public utility to another for resale.
(f) The word "commission"
shall refer to the consolidated Public Service Commission of the State of
Mississippi * * *
and Mississippi Public Utilities Staff, unless otherwise indicated.
(g) The term "affiliated interest" or "affiliate" includes:
(i) Any person or corporation owning or holding, directly or indirectly, twenty-five percent (25%) or more of the voting securities of a public utility;
(ii) Any person or corporation in any chain of successive ownership of twenty-five percent (25%) or more of the voting securities of a public utility;
(iii) Any corporation of which fifteen percent (15%) or more of the voting securities is owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by a public utility;
(iv) Any corporation of which twenty-five percent (25%) or more of the voting securities is owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by any person or corporation that owns or controls, directly or indirectly, twenty-five percent (25%) or more of the voting securities of any public utility or by any person or corporation in any chain of successive ownership of twenty-five percent (25%) of such securities;
(v) Any person who is an officer or director of a public utility or of any corporation in any chain of successive ownership of fifteen percent (15%) or more of voting securities of a public utility; or
(vi) Any person or corporation that the commission, after notice and hearing, determines actually exercises any substantial influence or control over the policies and actions of a public utility, or over which a public utility exercises such control, or that is under a common control with a public utility, such control being the possession, directly or indirectly, of the power to direct or cause the discretion of the management and policies of another, whether such power is established through ownership of voting securities or by any other direct or indirect means.
However, the term "affiliated interest" or "affiliate" shall not include a joint agency organized pursuant to Section 77-5-701 et seq., nor a member municipality thereof.
(h) The term "facilities" includes all the plant and equipment of a public utility, used or useful in furnishing public utility service, including all real and personal property without limitation, and any and all means and instrumentalities in any manner owned, operated, leased, licensed, used, controlled, furnished or supplied for, by or in connection with its public utility business.
(i) The term "cost of service" includes operating expenses, taxes, depreciation, net revenue and operating revenue requirement at a claimed rate of return from public utility operations.
(j) The term "lead-lag study" includes an analysis to determine the amount of capital which investors in a public utility, the rates of which are subject to regulation under the provisions of this chapter, must provide to meet the day-to-day operating costs of the public utility prior to the time such costs are recovered from customers, and the measurement of (i) the lag in collecting from the customer the cost of providing service, and (ii) the lag in paying the cost of providing service by the public utility.
(k) The term "broadband services" means any service that consists of or includes a high-speed access capability to transmit at a rate that is not less than two hundred (200) kilobits per second either in the upstream or downstream direction and either:
(i) Is used to provide access to the internet, or
(ii) Provides computer processing, information storage, information content or protocol conversion, including any service applications or information service provided over such high-speed access service.
(l) The term "video services" means video programming services without regard to delivery technology, including Internet Protocol technology ("Internet Protocol television or IPTV") and video programming provided as a part of a service that enables users to access content, information, email or other services offered over the public internet. The term "video programming" means any programming as defined in 47 USCS Section 522(20).
(m) The term "Voice over Internet Protocol services" or "VoIP services" means any service that: (i) enables real-time, two-way voice communications that originate from or terminate to the user's location in Internet Protocol or any successor protocol; (ii) uses a broadband connection from the user's location; and (iii) permits users generally to receive calls that originate on the Public Switched Telephone Network and to terminate calls to the Public Switched Telephone Network.
(n) The term "commercial mobile services" means any services as defined in 47 USCS Section 332(d).
(o) The term "Internet Protocol-enabled services" or "IP-enabled services" means any service, capability, functionality, or application provided using Internet Protocol, or any successor protocol, that enables an end user to send or receive a communication in Internet Protocol format, or any successor format, regardless of whether the communications is voice, data or video. Nothing contained in this paragraph shall apply to retail services that are tariffed by the commission.
(p) "Broadband service provider" means an entity that provides broadband services to others on a wholesale basis or to end-use customers on a retail basis.
(q) "Broadband operator" means a broadband service provider that uses the electric delivery system of any public utility of the type as defined in paragraph (d)(i) of this section with the public utility's consent to provide broadband services.
(r) "Electric delivery system" means the poles, lines, fiber, cables, broadband system, materials, equipment, easements and other facilities or properties used by any public utility of the type as defined in paragraph (d)(i) of this section to deliver or facilitate the delivery, sale or use of electric energy.
(s) "Eligible municipality" means any municipality with a population of greater than One Hundred Thousand (100,000) according to the latest decennial census which has been the subject of litigation by the United States Environmental Protection Agency for violations of the Safe Drinking Water Act, 42 USC Section 300(f) et seq.
(t) "Eligible homeowners association" means any homeowners association created and governed by restrictive covenants, if the subdivision subject to these covenants:
(i) Was constructed prior to 1970 outside of municipal boundaries;
(ii) Was subsequently annexed by an eligible municipality, irrespective of whether the municipality was an eligible municipality at the time of annexation or subsequently became eligible; and
(iii) Is adjacent to which a ground water well system originally designed to supply the subdivision which continues to provide drinking water to a private user is located.
SECTION 18. Section 77-3-91, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
77-3-91. The following terms when used in Sections 77-3-91 through 77-3-95 shall have the following meaning:
(a) "Utility" means an entity as defined in Section 77-3-3(d)(i), Mississippi Code of 1972, and whose rates for retail electric service are subject to regulation in this state.
(b) "Commission" means the consolidated Mississippi Public Service Commission and Mississippi Public Utilities Staff.
(c) "Return" means before-tax return on common equity capital of the utility.
(d) "Nonutility generator" means an entity selling electric capacity or energy at wholesale and which is not itself a utility as defined in paragraph (a) of this section. Nonutility generator shall not include any entity that is making the sale to the purchasing utility pursuant to a holding company system pooling agreement or a wholesale power sales agreement between or among affiliates where the allocation of power is mandated by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.
(e) "Nonassociated source" means an entity which is not an affiliate or a subsidiary of the utility.
(f) "Capacity" means that portion of a wholesale purchase which represents the availability of the generating unit to produce the energy to be transmitted to the purchasing utility.
(g) "Energy" means the electricity, as opposed to the availability, received by the purchasing utility pursuant to the sale.
SECTION 19. Section 77-3-111, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
77-3-111. As used in Sections 77-3-111 through 77-3-127:
(a) "Assignee" means any person or legal entity to which an interest in security property is sold, assigned, transferred or conveyed (other than as security) and any successor to or subsequent assignee of such a person or legal entity.
(b) "Bondholder" means any holder or owner of a rate reduction bond.
(c) "Commission" means the consolidated Mississippi Public Service Commission and Mississippi Public Utilities Staff.
(d) "Financing costs" means:
(i) Any payment made on or before issuance of rate reduction bonds and any amount required to fund any reserves or other accounts established pursuant to the terms of any financing order, indenture or other financing documents pertaining to rate reduction bonds;
(ii) Principal, interest and acquisition, defeasance or redemption premiums and all other amounts that are payable on rate reduction bonds;
(iii) Any amount required to be paid under any financing document;
(iv) Any amount required to fund or replenish any reserves or other accounts established pursuant to the terms of any financing order, indenture, financing document or other financing document pertaining to rate reduction bonds;
(v) Any taxes, fees, franchise, transfer, profits, license, excise, severance, customs, duties, assessments or other charges imposed by any governmental or taxing authority on the rate reduction bond charge revenue whether paid, payable or accrued;
(vi) Any other cost related to issuing, supporting, repaying, servicing, retiring, refinancing or refunding rate reduction bonds and all other required amounts payable in connection therewith, including, but not limited to, servicing fees and expenses, accounting and auditing fees and expenses, legal fees and expenses, consulting fees and expenses, security registration fees, trustee fees and expenses, insurance premiums, administrative fees, placement and underwriting fees, rating agency fees, stock exchange listing fees, compliance fees, costs to create or amend financing documents, and costs to obtain waivers, consents or approvals;
(vii) Any costs and expenses associated with the creation, operation, management and winding up of any special purpose entity created by the electric public utility in connection with the issuance of rate reduction bonds; and
(viii) Any other costs deemed appropriate by the commission.
(e) "Financing document" or "financing documents" means any bond, insurance policy, letter of credit, reserve account, surety bond, swap agreement, hedging arrangement, liquidity or credit support arrangement, trust indenture, security agreement, pledge agreement, financing agreement, transfer or assignment document, or other document or financial arrangement entered into in connection with the issuance of rate reduction bonds.
(f) "Financing party" shall include any and all of the following:
(i) Any trustee, collateral agent, or other person acting on behalf or for the benefit of any bondholder under any financing document; or
(ii) Any party to a financing document, the rights and obligations of which relate to or depend upon the existence of security property, the enforcement and priority of a security interest in security property, the timely collection and payment of rate reduction bond charge revenues, or a combination of any of the foregoing.
(g) "Financing statement" shall have the same meaning as that provided in Article 9 of the Uniform Commercial Code, as same may be amended from time to time.
(h) "Issuing entity" means any person or legal entity, including, but not limited to, any corporation, limited liability company, partnership, limited partnership, public authority or trust, that issues rate reduction bonds pursuant to a financing order issued pursuant to Sections 77-3-111 through 77-3-127.
(i) "Nonbypassable" means, with respect to rate reduction bond charges, that, so long as rate reduction bonds are outstanding and the related financing costs have not been recovered in full, such charges cannot be avoided by any retail customer of the electric public utility, including special contract customers, or any other person located within the electric public utility's certificated area that is directly or indirectly connected to electric facilities of the electric public utility or its successors or assignees and receiving retail electric service pursuant to a commission approved rate, even if such retail customer or other person elects to purchase electricity from an alternative electricity supplier following a fundamental change in regulation of electric public utilities in this state.
(j) "Qualifying facility" shall mean a generating facility as the term is defined in Section 77-3-103:
(i) That uses coal gasification or clean coal technology with a coal fuel stock derived, in whole or in part, from the State of Mississippi; and
(ii) That is placed into commercial operation on or before December 31, 2020.
(k) "Qualifying facility cost" means any cost incurred or expected to be incurred by an electric public utility related to a qualifying facility, including, but not limited to, preconstruction costs, construction costs, capitalized cost relating to a regulatory asset, any amounts accrued as allowance for funds used during construction and construction work in progress.
(l) "Rate reduction bonds" or "bonds" means those debentures, notes, certificates of participation, certificates of beneficial interest, certificates of ownership or other evidences of indebtedness or ownership that are issued by an issuing entity under a financing order, the proceeds of which are used directly or indirectly to recover, finance or refinance generation facility costs and financing costs, and that are secured by or payable from security property and which shall have a maturity date of no more than twenty (20) years after the date of issuance.
(m) "Rate reduction bond charge" means the nonbypassable tariff, rate, charge, formula or mechanism established in a financing order to fully recover financing costs, which is to be imposed on, and as a part of, all retail customer bills, including special contract customer bills, and collected by an electric public utility or its successors or assignees, or a collection agent, separate and apart from the base rates of the electric public utility.
(n) "Rate reduction bond charge revenue" means any and all revenues, receipts, collections, claims, rights to payments, payments, monies or other proceeds arising from the security property and collected by an electric public utility or other collection agent that is attributable to a rate reduction bond charge.
(o) "Secured party" means a financing party to which an electric public utility, issuing entity or their respective successors or assignees mortgages, negotiates, hypothecates, grants, pledges, or creates a security interest or lien on all or any portion of the rights in or to the security property.
(p) "Security property" means all rights and interests of an electric public utility established upon the issuance of a financing order under Sections 77-3-111 through 77-3-127, including, but not limited to:
(i) The right to bill and to obtain periodic true-up adjustments to the rate reduction bond charge as provided in the financing order and Sections 77-3-111 through 77-3-127;
(ii) The right to receive rate reduction bond charge revenue, as periodically adjusted, imposed, billed, collected and transferred; and
(iii) All revenues, receipts, collections, claims, rights to payments, payments, money or other proceeds arising from the rights and interests described in subparagraphs (i) and (ii) of this subsection, regardless of whether such collections, claims, rights to payment, payments, money or proceeds are imposed, billed, received, collected, or maintained together with or commingled with other revenues, receipts, collections, rights to payment, payments, money or other proceeds of an electric public utility or collection agent.
(q) "Uniform Commercial Code" shall have the same meaning as provided in Title 75 of the Mississippi Code of 1972.
SECTION 20. Section 77-11-305, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
77-11-305. For the purposes of this article, the following words shall have the meaning ascribed herein unless the context shall otherwise require:
(a) "Corporation" shall mean a private or public corporation, municipality, association, a joint stock association or a business trust.
(b) "Person" shall include a natural person, a partnership of two (2) or more persons having a joint or common interest, a cooperative, nonprofit, limited dividend, or mutual association, a corporation or any other legal entity.
(c) "Municipality" shall mean any incorporated city or town or village.
(d) "Intrastate gas pipeline" shall mean the entire pipeline system owned by an entity carrying gas produced wholly within this state, which is not a field gathering system, including the primary gas pipeline and all lateral supply lines and related facilities extending therefrom to the point of sale to any industrial users, a public utility, or a public utility owned or operated by a municipality.
(e) "Public utility" as used in this article shall mean any entity as defined by Section 77-3-3(d)(ii), Mississippi Code of 1972.
(f) "Commission" shall mean the consolidated Mississippi Public Service Commission and Mississippi Public Utilities Staff.
SECTION 21. Section 77-13-3, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
77-13-3. The words defined in this section shall have the following meanings when found in this chapter:
(a) "Abandoned facility" means any underground utility line or underground utility facilities no longer used in the conduct of the owner/operator's business and are not intended to be used in the future.
(b) "Approximate location of underground utility lines or underground facilities" means information about an operator's underground utility lines or underground facilities which is provided to a person by an operator and must be accurate within eighteen (18) inches measured horizontally from the outside edge of each side of such operator's facility, or a strip of land eighteen (18) inches either side of the operator's field mark, or the marked width of the facility or line plus eighteen (18) inches on each side of the marked width of the facility or line.
(c) "Board" means the Underground Facilities Damage Prevention Board, created by Section 77-13-29.
(d) "Calendar day" means a twenty-four-hour period.
(e) "Commission" means the consolidated Mississippi Public Service Commission and Mississippi Public Utilities Staff.
(f) "Damage" means the substantial weakening of structural or lateral support of underground utility lines and underground facilities, penetration or destruction of any protective coating, housing or other protective devices of an underground utility line or underground facility, and the partial or complete severance of any underground utility line or underground facility, but does not include any operator's abandoned facility.
(g) "Design Information Request" means a notification made to Mississippi 811, Incorporated, by a person providing professional services and making a request in preparation for bidding, preconstruction engineering, or other advance planning efforts that do not involve excavation. A design information services request may not be used for excavation purposes.
(h) "Emergency excavation" means excavation at times of emergency involving imminent danger to life, health or property or a customer service outage.
(i) "Excavate or excavation" means any operation in which earth, rock or other material or mass of material on or below the ground is moved or otherwise displaced by any means, except: (i) the tilling of the soil less than twenty-four (24) inches in depth for agricultural purposes; or (ii) an operation in which earth, rock or other material or mass of material on or below the ground is moved or otherwise displaced to a depth of less than twelve (12) inches on private property by the property owner without the use of mechanical excavating equipment; or (iii) an operation in which earth, rock or other material or mass of material on or below the ground is moved or otherwise displaced without the use of mechanical excavating equipment to a depth of less than twelve (12) inches on private property by an excavator who is not the property owner, except when such excavation is in a clearly marked underground facility right-of-way; or (iv) routine railroad maintenance activities conducted within the track structure, drainage ditches, or within the railroad right-of-way a distance not to exceed thirty (30) feet from the outside rail of the outermost track or tracks, provided this work is performed by railroad employees or railroad contractors and is carried out with reasonable care so as to protect any underground facilities properly installed in the railroad right-of-way by agreement with the railroad; or (v) routine activities of a cemetery, provided that for any cemetery that begins or expands after July 1, 2015, such activities occur only after initial notice is provided to Mississippi 811, Incorporated, and all affected operators have advised that there are no underground facilities within the boundaries of the subject cemetery; or (vi) routine maintenance activities carried out by or for those responsible for publicly maintained roadways and rights-of-way, provided that the activities occur entirely within the public right-of-way and do not penetrate the earth to a depth of more than twelve (12) inches and are carried out with reasonable care so as to protect any underground facilities placed in the right-of-way. Routine maintenance activities shall be more specifically described in the rules and regulations adopted by the board; or (vii) the driving of wooden stakes by use of hand tools which do not penetrate the earth to a depth of not more than six (6) inches. The term "excavate" shall include, but not be limited to, the operations of demolition, blasting, grading, land leveling, trenching, digging, ditching, drilling, augering, tunneling, scraping, cable or pipe plowing, driving, jacking, wrecking, razing, rending, moving or removing any structure or other material or mass of material on or below the ground.
(j) "Excavator" means any person who engages directly in excavation.
(k) "Mark" means the use of stakes, paint or other clearly identifiable materials to show the field location of underground facilities in accordance with the current color code standard of the American Public Works Association, or the uncovering or exposing of underground facilities so that the excavator may readily see the location of same, or the pointing out to the excavator of certain aboveground facilities such as, but not limited to, manhole covers, valve boxes and pipe and cable risers, which indicate the location of underground facilities.
(l) "Mechanical excavating equipment" means all equipment powered by any motor, engine, or hydraulic or pneumatic device used for excavating and shall include, but not be limited to, trenchers, bulldozers, backhoes, power shovels, scrapers, draglines, clam shells, augers, drills, cable and pipe plows and other plowing-in or pulling-in equipment.
(m) "Mississippi 811, Incorporated," means a nonprofit corporation organized under the laws of the State of Mississippi that provides a service through which a person shall notify the operator(s) of underground facilities of plans to excavate and request marking of facilities.
(n) "Mississippi One-Call System, Incorporated," means "Mississippi 811, Incorporated." Whenever the term "Mississippi One-Call System, Incorporated," appears in this chapter, the term shall mean "Mississippi 811, Incorporated."
(o) "Operator" means any person who owns or operates a utility. However, the term "operator" shall not include any railroad or the Mississippi Department of Transportation.
(p) "Person" means any individual, firm, partnership, association, trustee, receiver, assignee, corporation, entity, limited liability company, utility, joint venture, municipality, state governmental unit, subdivision or instrumentality of the state, or any legal representative thereof.
(q) "Pipeline Safety Division" means the Pipeline Safety Division of the Public Service Commission.
(r) "Positive Response Information System" or "PRIS" means an automated information system operated and maintained by Mississippi 811, Incorporated, that allows excavators, locators, facility owners or operators, and other affected parties to enter and/or determine the status of a locate request.
(s) "Underground facility" means any underground utility lines and other items which shall be buried or placed below ground or submerged for use in connection with underground utility lines and including, but not be limited to, pipes, sewers, conduits, cables, valves, lines, wires, manholes, vaults, attachments and those portions of poles below the ground.
(t) "Underground utility lines" means underground or buried cable, conduit pipes and related facilities for transportation and delivery of electricity, telecommunications (including fiber optics), water, sewage, gas, mixtures of gases, petroleum, petroleum products or hazardous, flammable, toxic or corrosive liquids.
(u) "Utility" means any person who supplies, distributes or transports by means of underground utility lines or underground facilities any of the following materials or services: gas, mixture of gases, petroleum, petroleum products or hazardous, toxic, flammable or corrosive liquids, electricity, telecommunications (including fiber optics), sewage, drainage, water, steam or other substances.
(v) "Working day" means a twenty-four-hour period commencing from the time the locate request is processed or entered into the system by Mississippi 811, Incorporated, in accordance with this chapter, excluding Saturdays, Sundays and legal holidays.
(w) "Impending Emergency" means circumstances potentially dangerous to life, health, property, or loss of customer services, which would likely develop into an emergency, as defined in Section 77-13-11, if excavation is not initiated sooner than the normal notification requirements allow.
SECTION 22. Section 77-1-51, Mississippi Code of 1972, is amended as follows:
77-1-51. Sections 77-1-1
through 77-1-49, Mississippi Code of 1972, which create the Public Service
Commission and prescribe its powers and duties, shall stand repealed as of
December 31, * * *
2028.
SECTION 23. This act shall take effect and be in force from and after July 1, 2024.
