SB 769: First Law of the 81st Session!

by: Michael Hurta

Thu Apr 16, 2009 at 06:06 PM CDT

The bill does not edit any parts of the state's different legal codes, but instead adds a Subchapter I to Chapter 36 of the Utilities Code.  Since someone else already did a good job of summing up the bill, here is the "Background and Purpose" of SB 769, according to the Bill Analysis (.pdf) that was given to the House Committee on State Affairs.  Just note that when the analysis says "current law," you can interpret it as "the law before today," since SB 769 is now the law.

Under current law, except for extraordinary costs incurred to restore the electric system of a utility due to Hurricane Rita, an electric utility is required to file a general rate case to recover the costs of restoring its electric system and service following a hurricane or other major weather-related event. The process of dealing with such costs can be inefficient.

S.B 769 authorizes the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) to permit an electric utility to obtain timely recovery of its system restoration costs without having to file a general rate case and to use securitization financing for that recovery. The bill also authorizes the PUC to require a utility to file for a securitization financing order to create benefits to ratepayers.