H.R. 338

Introduced on January 7, 1997, by Representative Clifford Stearns (R-FL).

• Mandates that the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA) Section 210 requirement that electric utilities enter into contracts to purchase electricity from certain "qualified" cogeneration and small power production facilities shall expire after January 7, 1997, so that no such utility shall be required to enter into any such contract after that date.

• Mandates that Section 210 contracts which were in effect up to January 7, 1997, shall be honored.

• Directs the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to ensure that utilities are not required to absorb costs associated with electric energy or capacity purchases prior to January 7, 1997.

H.R. 655

Introduced on February 10, 1997, by Representative Daniel Schaefer (R-CO).
 

• Sets December 15, 2000, as the deadline by which all electric utility retail customers will have the right to purchase retail electric energy services from a supplier of their choice. Protects prior State actions in promoting retail choice, if such actions meet certain criteria.

• States may elect, within 6 months of enactment of   this statute, to implement retail electric service choice, to be structured and implemented in accordance with the requirements of this statute, by December 15, 2000. FERC shall implement such retail competition in any State that does not make this election. Requirements for such retail service include customer right to choose among providers, provider access to local distribution facilities on a "comparable" basis, flexible pricing and incentive-based rate regulation, prohibition of cross-subsidies from noncompetitive services, cessation of traditional rate regulation upon establishment of competition, and consideration of reliability, stranded costs, efficiency, conservation, and environmental concerns.

• Provides continued customer protection guarantees.

• Permits nonregulated utilities to adopt retail electric service competition.

• Clarifies FERC's authority to require transmission operators to provide transmission services under terms and conditions comparable to those under which the transmission utility uses its own system.

• Mandates minimum renewable portfolio requirements (2 percent by 2001, 3 percent by 2005, and 4 percent by 2010).

• Repeals Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 (PUHCA) application and PURPA mandatory purchase obligations in States in which retail competition is established.

• Requires providers of retail transmission or distribution to obtain FERC determinations as to which of their facilities are FERC jurisdictional and which are State jurisdictional.

• Directs States to consider as a part of their election to retail service choice whether to allow recovery of stranded costs.

 

Consumers Electric Power Act of 1997

Introduced by Representative Thomas DeLay (R-TX) on April 8, 1997.

• Guarantees all retail customers the right to choose their electric supplier by January 1, 1999.

• Retains State and local government authority concerning their obligation to connect customers to the local distribution system and to ensure its maintenance, reliability, and safety. States also retain authority to provide for the continuation of universal service and programs covering conservation, renewables, research and development, and other matters.

• Mandates that vertically integrated utilities maintain "organizational separation" between transmission and distribution operation and provision of service.

• Empowers FERC to regulate distribution access and services, but directs FERC to defer to States in regard to certain distribution-related matters.

• Mandates that transmission and distribution be operated in such fashion as to assure access to information.

• Prohibits Federal Government and States from granting any "preference" or "protection from competition" to any electric service provider, including subsidies and exit fees.

• Renders PURPA Section 210 and PUHCA inapplicable where competition is present.

• Empowers FERC to take steps ensuring that utilities do not exercise market power.

• Empowers FERC to impose nondiscriminatory access to transmission and distribution by eliminating "barriers to competition" imposed by "existing contracts and arrangements."

• Prohibits changes in providers without customers' approval.

• Mandates that States assign customers who fail to choose service providers to "one of a variety of . . . providers" on a nondiscriminatory basis.

H.R. 1359

Introduced April 17, 1997, by Representative Peter DeFazio (D-OR).

• Amends PURPA to establish a National Electric System Public Benefits Fund to provide matching funds to States for supporting eligible public purpose programs like conservation and energy efficiency and renewable energy, universal and affordable service, or research and development.

• Creates a National Electric System Public Benefits Board to manage the Fund, with oversight responsibilities entrusted to the Secretary of Energy.

• Requires each electric power generation facility owner or operator, as a condition of transmitting power to any transmitting utility, to contribute funds (based on kilowatthours transmitted and not exceeding 2 mills per kilowatthour) necessary to generate half of required revenues.

• Authorizes States to create additional public purpose programs and seek matching funds.

H.R. 1960

Introduced on June 19, 1997, by Representative Edward Markey (D-MA).

• Requires each State to initiate retail competition rulemaking proceedings.

• Declares PUHCA inapplicable to holding company systems which are in compliance with certain specific standards and requirements of competition and public benefits programs under PURPA.

• Exempts utilities which obtain certification of competition from PURPA requirement to purchase electricity from qualified cogenerators and small power production facilities.

• Sets limits upon use of customer information by utilities.

• Amends PURPA by authorizing States to include incremental environmental costs in their avoided cost computations.

• Mandates that the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may not exempt acquisition by a registered holding company of energy-related entities from prior approval, and that the SEC may not permit a registered holding company to invest in foreign utility operations in excess of 50 percent of consolidated retail earnings, except with a certification of competition.

• Prohibits utilities which have exclusive service territories from offering any services outside their territories unless such services are also available, on comparable terms, to customers within their territories.

• Directs FERC to establish parameters governing mergers, acquisitions, market concentration, and affiliate relationships and diversification.

• Authorizes FERC to remove situations which are "inconsistent with effective competition."

• Amends the Federal Power Act of 1935 (FPA) by directing FERC to promulgate rules establishing tariffs to ensure development of competitive electricity markets, ensure full recovery of prudent transmission costs, prevent multiple transmission charges, and prevent electricity sellers from gaining advantage over competitors by reason of ownership or control of facilities.

• Renders FERC open access transmission rules applicable to non-public utilities, including Power Marketing Administrations (PMAs).

• Requires each electric utility and transmitting utility to become a member of a self-regulated regional reliability council overseen by FERC.

• Requires the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) to regulate disclosure of information to consumers, to assist them in making informed choices regarding utility services.
• Requires FERC to prescribe rules to assure that no electric provider may gain "any competitive advantage" by reason of ownership of facilities that are not subject to certain emissions limitations.

• Promotes renewables by creating a renewable energy trading system managed by the Department of Energy (DOE) that requires all electricity generators to submit renewable energy credits increasing from 3 percent to 10 percent of total sales by the year 2010.

• Creates a Federal-State Joint Board to recommend universal service support mechanisms.

H.R. 2909

Introduced November 7, 1997, by Representative Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ).

• Aims that older and more polluting power generating units internalize pollution costs on par with newer and less polluting generation units.

• Requires FERC to (1) calculate generation performance standard for oxides of nitrogen and sulfate fine particulate matter and any other significant air pollutant released in significant quantities by electric generating units from covered generating units, (2) set forth schedules of statutory tonnage caps for electric generation emissions of oxides of nitrogen and sulfate fine particulate matter, and (3) promulgate by rule a national limit on total annual emissions of any other pollutant from electric generating units.

• Prescribes rules for allocation and trading of allowances, and penalties for excess emissions.

• Mandates that, during periods when National Ambient Air Quality Standards for ozone are exceeded, certain generating units shall be required to "adjust (their) reported actual emissions."

 

H.R. 3548

Introduced March 25, 1998, by Representative Robert E. Andrews (D-NJ).

• Establishes a Fund for Environmental Priorities to be funded by a portion of savings resulting from retail electricity choice, and for other purposes.

• Proposes establishing a "National Environmental Priorities Board," to create and administer various programs relating to environmental issues. Such programs may include direct loans, loan guarantees, enhancing river buffer zones, mitigating deleterious effects of electricity production on air quality, and supporting the preservation of open space.

• Calls for 10 percent of "consumer savings" under competition to be contributed to the "Environmental Priorities Board."

• Sets out a methodology for derivation of "consumer savings."

• Provides a start date for each State based on establishment of retail electric service, but not earlier than January 1, 2001.

H.R. 3927

A Bill to Amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 to Restrict the Use of Tax-Exempt Financing by Governmentally Owned Electric Utilities and to Subject Certain Activities of Such Utilities to Income Tax

Introduced May 21, 1998, by Representative Phil English (R-PA).

• Narrows the Internal Revenue tax code definition of circumstances under which governmentally owned electric utilities may finance utility facilities with tax exempt bonds.

• Subjects utility-related income of governmental entities to federal income tax, in situations where the income is derived from sources outside a limited area.

H.R. 3976

A Bill to Repeal the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935, to Enact the Public Utility Holding Act of 1998, and for Other Purposes

Introduced May 22, 1998, by W.J. (Billy) Tauzin (R-LA).

• Repeals the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935.
• Enacts the Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1998 to support the continuing need for limited Federal and State regulation and to supplement the work of State commissions for the continued rate protection of utility customers.

S. 237

Introduced by Senator Dale Bumpers (D-AR) on January 30, 1997.

• Mandates that, as of December 15, 2003, all customers shall have the right to buy retail electricity from any provider, and all providers shall have nondiscriminatory access to local distribution and retail transmission facilities. States may start the program earlier, and State legislation enacted prior to January 30, 1997, is grandfathered.

• Sets forth guidelines for (1) States' regulatory authority, (2) recovery of stranded costs by a retail electric energy provider or by a multi-State utility company, (3) universal service for customers unable to seek alternative suppliers, and (4) funding public benefits programs.

• Mandates that energy providers meet a portion of load via renewable resources. Required annual percentage starts at 5 percent in 2003 and rises to 12 percent by 2013.

• Directs FERC to establish transmission regions and to designate an independent system operator to manage and operate each region's system. If all States in a region join together to form a Regional Transmission Oversight Board, the Board shall have significant powers regarding rates, service, and transmission access.

• Amends FPA to prohibit electric utilities from acquiring facilities or securities of natural gas utilities.

• Mandates recovery of nuclear decommissioning costs from customers.

• Sets out various measures which together permit competition by and with the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA).

• Repeals PUHCA one year after enactment while retaining certain of PUHCA's regulatory provisions.

• Permits aggregators to purchase retail electric energy.

• Repeals FPA Section 212(h) prohibition against FERC ordering retail wheeling in cases involving States that have authorized retail electric competition prior to December 15, 2003, and in all cases thereafter.

• Prospectively repeals PURPA provisions mandating that utilities purchase power from qualified cogenerators and small power producers.

• Instructs the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to report on the implications of differences in air pollution emission standards related to wholesale and retail electric competition, and their impacts on public health and the environment.

• Mandates procedures for determination and recovery of stranded costs related to "regional" generation facilities.

• Directs FERC to order various actions including physical connections of transmission facilities and divestiture of generation and transmission facilities to prevent any electric supplier from maintaining "a situation inconsistent with effective competition."

 

Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1997

Introduced by Senator Alfonse D'Amato (R-NY) on April 22, 1997.

• Repeals PUHCA.

• Prescribes procedural guidelines for FERC and States to access records of public utility holding companies.

• Retains FERC and States' jurisdiction to determine whether electric or natural gas utilities may recover in rates any costs of affiliate transactions or affiliate activities.

• Grants FERC certain enforcement powers.

S. 687

Electric System Public Benefits Protection Act of 1997

Introduced by Senator James Jeffords (R-VT) on May 1, 1997.
 

• Directs the Secretary of Energy to establish a National Electric System Public Benefits Board to administer a fund to provide matching monies to States supporting renewable energy sources, universal electric service, energy conservation, and other public purposes.

• Prescribes funding for the Board via a nonbypassable wires charge of up to 2 mills per kilowatthour.

• Establishes minimum requirements for electricity generation from renewable sources as a portion of total electric sales, increasing gradually from 2.5 percent in 2000 to 20 percent in 2020.

• Requires FERC to issue renewable energy credits covering electricity produced from renewable sources.

• Repeals PURPA cogeneration and small power production provisions.

• Requires the EPA to promulgate nationwide emission standards (for generating facilities) for nitrogen oxide, sulfur dioxide, and carbon dioxide for the year 2005 and each year thereafter, sets out minimum standards, and entrusts the EPA with monitoring of compliance and issuance of emissions credits.

• Directs the DOE to establish disclosure requirements that enable customers to knowledgeably compare retail electric service offerings, based on generation and emissions data, price terms, and other factors, and sets penalties for nondisclosure.

S. 722

Introduced on May 8, 1997, by Senator Craig Thomas (R-WY).
 

• Amends the FPA to provide States with significant new powers to promote retail competition.

• Mandates wholesale and retail transmission reciprocity.

• Demarcates States' authority to establish and enforce reliability standards, promote renewable energy resources, recover stranded costs, encourage environmental programs, and support public benefit programs including assistance to low-income families.

• Reinforces States' authority to require electricity retailers to assist in providing universal service.

• Enlarges States' authority over wholesale sales by removing it from FERC's purview while retaining their authority over retail electric energy sales.

• Exempts sales of electric energy for resale from traditional FERC regulation.

• Instructs the Department of Treasury to report on the impact of specified tax provisions to foster a competitive retail electricity market.

• Repeals PURPA Section 210 requirement that utilities purchase power from qualified cogenerators and small power producers.

• Repeals PUHCA but retains certain PUHCA regulatory provisions.

S. 1276

Introduced by Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM) on October 8, 1997.
 

• Clarifies FERC jurisdiction over regulation of transmission and distribution.

• Places transmission systems of Federal power marketing agencies (including TVA), municipal utilities, and rural electric cooperatives under FERC's jurisdiction.

• Limits FERC's authority to order retail wheeling unless permitted or required by State law.

• Clarifies States' authority to require retail competition and unbundled local distribution service, and to require nondiscriminatory service or reciprocity in implementing competition.

• Instructs FERC to establish and enforce transmission reliability standards.

• Broadens FERC authority to order a transmitting utility to enlarge, extend, or improve its transmission facilities.
• Authorizes FERC to designate a national electric reliability council and regional reliability councils, which must meet certain requirements.

• Provides protection of existing PURPA Section 210 power purchase contracts by precluding nonrecovery of related costs.

• Authorizes FERC to order formation of regional transmission systems and appoint an oversight board to oversee such systems. This board shall appoint independent system operators to operate these systems.

 

S. 1401 ⁽³⁹⁶⁾

Jointly introduced by Senators Dale Bumpers (D-AR) and Slade Gorton (R-WA) on November 7, 1997.
 

• Mandates that, as of January 1, 2002, all consumers shall have the right to buy retail electricity from any provider, and all providers shall have nondiscriminatory access to local distribution and retail transmission facilities.

• Mandates that electricity providers meet a portion of load via renewable resources (5 percent in 2003, increasing to 12 percent in 2013).

• Sets forth a FERC procedure to determine whether any particular electric energy transportation facility is Federal or State jurisdictional.

• Directs FERC to develop transmission regions and designate an independent system operator to manage and operate each region's system.

• Permits recovery of nuclear decommissioning costs via nonbypassable charges levied upon certain defined customer groups.

• Mandates State procedures for determination of retail stranded costs and provides right to recovery of all such stranded costs over a reasonable period of time, by means of a nonbypassable charge.

• Sets out various measures which together permit competition by TVA and with TVA.

• Repeals PUHCA one year after the date of the enactment but retains certain of PUHCA's regulatory provisions.

• Prospectively repeals PURPA Section 210 regarding mandatory power purchases from cogenerators and small power producers.

• Instructs EPA to report differences in air pollution emissions related to competition and their impacts on public health and the environment.

• Places transmission services of Bonneville Power Administration (BPA) under FERC's nondiscriminatory open access rules, and permits BPA to join an independent system operator.

• Directs FERC to order various actions including physical connection of transmission facilities and divestiture of generation and transmission facilities to prevent any electric supplier from maintaining "a situation inconsistent with effective competition."

• Mandates procedures for determination and recovery of stranded costs related to "regional" generation facilities.

S. 1483

To Amend the Internal Revenue Code of 1986 To Provide for the Treatment of Tax-Exempt Bond Financing of Certain Electrical Output Facilities

Introduced by Senator Frank Murkowski (R-AK) on November 8, 1997.
 

Amends tax laws to permit municipal utilities to participate in open access plans without forfeiting the tax-exempt status of their current bonds.
 
 
 
 Endnotes
 
396. This legislation is a revision of previous legislation (S. 237) introduced by Sen. Bumpers in January 1997.

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