Bill Text: TX SB1015 | 2023-2024 | 88th Legislature | Enrolled

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Bill Title: Relating to periodic rate adjustments by electric utilities.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 2-0)

Status: (Passed) 2023-06-18 - Effective immediately [SB1015 Detail]

Download: Texas-2023-SB1015-Enrolled.html

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S.B. No. 1015

AN ACT
relating to periodic rate adjustments by electric utilities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 36.210, Utilities Code, is amended by
amending Subsections (a), (d), and (g) and adding Subsections (h)
and (i) to read as follows:
(a) The commission [or a regulatory authority], on the
petition of an electric utility, may approve a tariff or rate
schedule in which a nonfuel rate may be periodically adjusted
upward or downward, based on changes in the parts of the utility's
invested capital, as described by Section 36.053, that are
categorized or functionalized as distribution plant,
distribution-related intangible plant, and distribution-related
communication equipment and networks in accordance with commission
rules adopted after consideration of the uniform system of accounts
prescribed by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission. A
periodic rate adjustment must:
(1) be approved or denied in accordance with a [an
expedited] procedure that[:
[(A) provides for appropriate updates of
information;
[(B)] allows for participation by the office and
affected parties; [and
[(C) extends for not less than 60 days;]
(2) take into account changes in the number of an
electric utility's customers and the effects, on a
weather-normalized basis, that energy consumption and energy
demand have on the amount of revenue recovered through the electric
utility's base rates;
(3) be consistent with the manner in which costs for
invested capital described by this subsection were allocated to
each rate class, as approved by the commission, in an electric
utility's most recent base rate statement of intent proceeding with
changes to residential and commercial class rates reflected in
volumetric charges to the extent that residential and commercial
class rates are collected in that manner based on the electric
utility's most recent base rate statement of intent proceeding;
(4) not diminish the ability of the commission or a
regulatory authority, on its own motion or on complaint by an
affected person as provided by Subchapter D, after reasonable
notice and hearing, to change the existing rates of an electric
utility for a service after finding that the rates are unreasonable
or in violation of law;
(5) be applied by an electric utility on a system-wide
basis; and
(6) be supported by the sworn statement of an
appropriate employee of the electric utility that affirms that:
(A) the filing is in compliance with the
provisions of the tariff or rate schedule; and
(B) the filing is true and correct to the best of
the employee's knowledge, information, and belief.
(d) An [Except as provided by Subsection (d-1), an] electric
utility may adjust the utility's rates under this section not more
than twice [once] per year [and not more than four times between
comprehensive base rate proceedings].
(g) The commission shall adopt rules necessary to implement
this section. The rules must provide for:
(1) a procedure by which a tariff or rate schedule is
to be reviewed and approved;
(2) filing requirements and discovery consistent with
[the expedited procedure described by] Subsection (a) [(a)(1)];
(3) an earnings monitoring report that allows the
commission [or regulatory authority] to reasonably determine
whether a utility is earning in excess of the utility's allowed
return on investment as normalized for weather;
(4) denial of the electric utility's filing if the
electric utility is earning more than the utility's authorized rate
of return on investment, on a weather-normalized basis, at the time
the periodic rate adjustment request is filed; and
(5) a mechanism by which the commission may refund
customers any amounts determined to be improperly recovered through
a periodic rate adjustment, including any interest on the amounts.
(h) An electric utility may file a request for a periodic
rate adjustment under this section on any day on which the
commission is open for business, except that if the utility has a
base rate proceeding pending, the utility may not file the request
before the 185th day after the date the base rate proceeding was
initiated. The electric utility may revise a request to reflect the
final order issued in the base rate proceeding. The fact that an
electric utility has a base rate proceeding pending during a
proceeding conducted under this section does not establish grounds
for dismissal of either proceeding.
(i) The commission shall enter a final order on a request
for a periodic rate adjustment under this section not later than the
60th day after the date the request is filed. The commission may
extend the deadline for not more than 15 days for good cause.
SECTION 2. Section 36.210(d-1), Utilities Code, is
repealed.
SECTION 3. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to
a proceeding before the Public Utility Commission of Texas, or
other regulatory authority described by Section 11.003, Utilities
Code, that commences on or after the effective date of this Act. A
proceeding before the Public Utility Commission of Texas or other
regulatory authority described by Section 11.003, Utilities Code,
that commenced before the effective date of this Act is governed by
the law in effect on the date the proceeding commenced, and that law
is continued in effect for that purpose.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect immediately if it receives
a vote of two-thirds of all the members elected to each house, as
provided by Section 39, Article III, Texas Constitution. If this
Act does not receive the vote necessary for immediate effect, this
Act takes effect September 1, 2023.
______________________________ ______________________________
President of the Senate Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1015 passed the Senate on
April 5, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0; and that
the Senate concurred in House amendment on May 25, 2023, by the
following vote: Yeas 31, Nays 0.
______________________________
Secretary of the Senate
I hereby certify that S.B. No. 1015 passed the House, with
amendment, on May 23, 2023, by the following vote: Yeas 135,
Nays 2, two present not voting.
______________________________
Chief Clerk of the House
Approved:
______________________________
Date
______________________________
Governor