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SPONSOR: |
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DATE TYPED: |
3/05/03 |
HB |
563/aHBIC/aHJC |
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SHORT TITLE: |
Rural Electric Co-op Subsidiaries |
SB |
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ANALYST: |
Valenzuela |
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APPROPRIATION
Appropriation
Contained |
Estimated
Additional Impact |
Recurring or
Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
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FY03 |
FY04 |
FY03 |
FY04 |
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NFI |
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(Parenthesis
( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Duplicates Section 3 of Senate Bill 172 and
House Bill 292, and Duplicates Senate Bill 350
Office
of the Attorney General
Public
Regulation Commission (PRC)
Energy,
Minerals and Natural Resources Department (EMNRD)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of HBIC Amendment
The
House Business and Industry Committee (HBIC) amendment to House Bill 563
clarifies the language in the original bill to ensure that total investments,
loans, guarantees, and pledges of assets of a rural electric cooperative do not
exceed 20 percent. The amendment also clarifies that the subsidiaries must
still obtain all necessary state and federal regulatory approvals required to
provide such service or product. Finally, the amendment clarifies that the PRC
will not have regulatory oversight for rural electric cooperatives, in accordance
with current law.
Synopsis of HJC amendment
The
House Judiciary Committee (HJC) amendment to the amended House Bill 563
clarifies that the PRC regulatory approval is not needed for the issuance,
assumption or guarantee of any security where the federal government has
oversight responsibility.
Synopsis
of Original Bill
House Bill 563 proposes three major changes to existing statutes:
· The bill amends the Rural Electric Cooperative Act and several sections of the Public Utility Act to allow rural electric cooperatives to create and invest in subsidiaries for limited purposes (energy services, telecommunications and cable and satellite television and wastewater collection and treatment) without approval of the PRC.
· The bill eliminates the requirement for rural electric cooperatives to seek PRC approval of federally approved securities.
· The bill repeals the delayed repeal (July 1, 2003) of the Public Utility Act, Chapter 63 Article 7 NMSA 1978, the Telephone and Telegraph Company Certification Act, the New Mexico Telecommunications Act, and the Cellular Telephone Services Act.
Significant
Issues
Subsidiary
Diversification. Entrance into similarly
regulated utility markets can be an opportunity and good fit for rural electric
cooperatives to diversify its financial portfolio and potentially increase its
profit margin. In fact, in rural areas, cooperatives may be a good choice as a
service provider of new telecommunication products as an example, particularly
in areas where incumbent or competitive local exchange carriers have been
uninterested in providing services. On the other hand, risk could increase,
leaving co-op members vulnerable to price fluctuations for the traditional
electric services provided.
PRC Approval of Federally Approved
Securities. By statute,
rural electric coops already enjoy expedited processing of financing
applications at the PRC without hearings for securities offered through an
agency of the federal government. This
bill would eliminate the obligation of the coop to seek prior approval from the
PRC. Under existing Commission rules,
coops would still be required to file notice with PRC when the coop submits
loan applications to agencies of the federal government.
Delayed Repeal Issue.
According to the PRC, allowing the delayed repeals to remain will eliminate price and quality of service
regulation, which would create unregulated public utility monopolies.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS
House Bill 563 does
not contain an appropriation. Its enactment is not expected to have a fiscal
impact on any state agency.
Delayed Repeal Issue.
The PRC points out a potential revenue loss if its regulatory authority is
removed over public utilities. The agency receives approximately $12 million
annually in fees paid by utilities under the Public Utility Act and the other
acts addressed in this bill.
OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES
The Office of the
Attorney General reports the following concern with the new subsection on Page
5, Subsection E:
. . .(the language) is much too broad in its exemption of securities approval from the PRC when the utility's securities "are subject to oversight and approval by the federal government or any of its agencies or subdivisions". This exemption could apply to other non-coop utilities if they have holding companies and their securities are subject to SEC ap
proval and would detrimentally affect state regulation of investor-owned utilities. It should be reworded to limit the exemption from state PRC review to those securities are subject to oversight by the USDA Rural Utility Service[1].
MFV/njw:yr
[1] Under the authority of the federal Rural
Electrification Act of 1936, the USDA Rural Utilities Service makes direct
loans and loan guarantees to electric utilities to serve customers in rural
areas for construction of electric distribution, transmission and generation
facilities.