Senate Bill No. 396
Introduced By _______________________________________________________________________________
A Bill for an Act entitled: "An Act allowing natural gas utilities to provide for customer choice; allowing natural gas utilities to use transition bond financing for transition costs; requiring the public service commission to license natural gas suppliers; establishing reciprocity for all natural gas suppliers; providing for universal system benefits programs; and providing an immediate effective date."
STATEMENT OF INTENT
A statement of intent is required because this bill provides the public service commission with rulemaking authority.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of the State of Montana:
NEW SECTION. Section 1. Short title. [Sections 1 through 6] may be cited as the "Natural Gas Utility Restructuring and Customer Choice Act".
NEW SECTION. Section 2. Definitions. As used in [sections 1 through 6], the following definitions apply:
(1) "Customer" means a natural gas customer or consumer of natural gas supply or natural gas transmission facilities, storage facilities, or distribution facilities.
(2) "Distribution facilities" means those facilities that are not transmission facilities:
(a) by and through which natural gas is received from a transmission services provider and transmitted to the customer; and
(b) operated by a distribution services provider.
(3) "Distribution services provider" means a person controlling or operating distribution facilities for distribution of natural gas to the public.
(4) "Natural gas supplier" means a person, including aggregators, market aggregators, brokers, and marketers, that is offering to sell natural gas to retail customers in the state of Montana.
(5) "Natural gas utility" means a utility regulated by the commission on [the effective date of this act] that provides natural gas services to the public.
(6) "Open access" means that a natural gas utility has made its transmission facilities, storage facilities, or distribution facilities available to all natural gas suppliers, transmission services providers, distribution services providers, and customers on a nondiscriminatory and comparable basis.
(7) "Storage facilities" means those facilities that are owned, controlled, or operated by a person offering storage service for natural gas and generally means any underground reservoir suitable for the storage of natural gas and the facilities used to inject and withdraw natural gas into and out of that underground reservoir.
(8) "Transition costs" means:
(a) a natural gas utilitys net, verifiable production- and gathering-related costs, including costs of capital, that become unrecoverable as a result of customer choice and open access. These costs include but are not limited to:
(i) regulatory assets and deferred charges that exist as a result of current regulatory practices and that may be accounted for up to the point in time that the commission issues a final order in a transition plan filing docket, including all costs, expenses, and fees related to the issuance of transition bonds;
(ii) the above-market costs associated with existing gas supply commitments;
(iii) other natural gas utility investments rendered uneconomic as a result of implementation of customer choice and open access;
(iv) the costs associated with renegotiation or buyout of existing natural gas purchase contracts; and
(v) the costs associated with the issuance of any related transition bonds authorized by the commission pursuant to [section 3].
(b) the costs of refinancing or retiring debt or equity capital of the natural gas utility and associated federal and state tax liabilities or other utility costs for which the use of transition bonds would benefit customers.
(9) "Transmission facilities" means those facilities owned, controlled, and operated by a transmission services provider that are used to transport natural gas from a gathering line or storage facility to a distribution facility or other storage facility.
(10) "Transmission services provider" means a person controlling or operating transmission facilities.
(11) "Universal system benefits charge" means a nonbypassable rate or charge to be imposed on a customer to pay the customers share of universal system benefits program costs.
(12) "Universal system benefits programs" means public purpose programs for cost-effective local energy conservation, low-income weatherization, and low-income energy bill assistance.
NEW SECTION. Section 3. Customer choice. (1) A natural gas utility may voluntarily offer its customers choice of natural gas supplier and provide open access to its transmission facilities, storage facilities, or distribution facilities.
(2) If a customer choice offering results in transition costs and the commission allows those transition costs to be recovered in separate identifiable charges to customers, then the natural gas utility must have the opportunity but not the obligation to finance the fixed transition costs and related financing costs using transition cost financing as provided for in [sections 3 and 31 of Senate Bill No. 390].
NEW SECTION. Section 4. Licensing -- procedures -- commission rulemaking. (1) The commission shall license natural gas suppliers and enforce licensing provisions pursuant to this section.
(2) A natural gas supplier shall file an application with and obtain a license from the commission to sell natural gas to customers in the state of Montana.
(3) A licensee shall:
(a) provide copies of all license applications to the commission and to all distribution services providers; and
(b) update information and file annual reports.
(4) A license application becomes effective 30 days after filing with the commission, unless the commission rejects the application during that period. If the commission rejects a license application, the commission shall specify the reasons in writing and, if practical, shall identify alternative ways to overcome deficiencies.
(5) The commission shall promulgate rules requiring licensing information that identifies the licensee and ensures that the natural gas supply is provided as offered and is adequate in terms of quality, safety, and reliability.
(6) The commission may require proof of a licensees financial integrity and a demonstration of adequate firm deliverability to meet load requirements.
(7) Pursuant to its own investigation or upon the complaint of an affected party, the commission may institute a proceeding to revoke or suspend a license of a natural gas supplier for just cause.
NEW SECTION. Section 5. Reciprocity. (1) All natural gas suppliers are afforded the comparable opportunity to compete.
(2) A natural gas distribution services provider or its affiliates may not use another natural gas distribution services provider's facilities in the state of Montana to sell natural gas to customers in the state of Montana unless the natural gas distribution services provider or its affiliates offer customer choice and open access to their natural gas distribution facilities.
NEW SECTION. Section 6. Universal system benefits programs -- establishing nonbypassable rate. (1) A natural gas utility shall implement, upon commission approval, a universal system benefits program that considers existing universal system benefits programs in the state.
(2) The commission shall establish a universal system benefits charge that either all natural gas transmission services providers or all distribution services providers, or both, in the state of Montana shall charge to all end-use customers, taking into consideration similar costs imposed in other states. The method of assessing those rates may not disproportionately burden a large transmission services provider's customers. Within the universal system benefits charge, a natural gas utilitys annual funding requirement for low-income weatherization and low-income energy bill assistance is established at 0.20% of a natural gas utilitys annual revenue. A natural gas utility must receive credit for its internal programs or activities that qualify as universal system benefits programs.
(3) On or before July 1, 2002, the commission shall conduct a reevaluation of the ongoing need for universal system benefits programs and annual funding requirements and shall make recommendations to the 58th legislature regarding the future need for universal system benefits programs. The determination should focus specifically on the existence of markets to provide for any of the universal system benefits programs or on whether other means for funding those universal system benefits programs have developed. These recommendations may also address how future reevaluations will be provided, if necessary.
NEW SECTION. Section 7. Saving clause. [This act] does not affect rights and duties that matured, penalties that were incurred, or proceedings that were begun before [the effective date of this act].
NEW SECTION. Section 8. Severability. If a part of [this act] is invalid, all valid parts that are severable from the invalid part remain in effect. If a part of [this act] is invalid in one or more of its applications, the part remains in effect in all valid applications that are severable from the invalid applications.
NEW SECTION. Section 9. Codification instruction. [Sections 1 through 6] are intended to be codified as an integral part of Title 69, and the provisions of Title 69 apply to [sections 1 through 6].
NEW SECTION. Section 10. Coordination instruction. If Senate Bill No. 390 is not passed and approved or as passed and approved does not include [sections 3 and 31], then [section 3(2) of this act] is void.
NEW SECTION. Section 11. Effective date. [This act] is effective on passage and approval.
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