Transition to Competition in the Electric Industry Act

Transition to Competition in the Electric Industry Act - States that no electric utility shall be required, under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (PURPA), to enter into a new contract or obligation to purchase or sell electricity or capacity from or to qualifying cogeneration and small power production facilities.

Requires the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to promulgate and enforce regulations designed to ensure that no electric utility shall be required to absorb, directly or indirectly, the costs associated with purchases of electric power or capacity from a qualifying facility pursuant to PURPA obligations before enactment of this Act.

[Congressional Bills 108th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 688 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







108th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                 S. 688

 To provide that no electric utility shall be required to enter into a 
   new contract or obligation to purchase or to sell electricity or 
 capacity under section 210 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies 
                              Act of 1978.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 21, 2003

  Mr. Graham of Florida introduced the following bill; which was read 
  twice and referred to the Committee on Energy and Natural Resources

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To provide that no electric utility shall be required to enter into a 
   new contract or obligation to purchase or to sell electricity or 
 capacity under section 210 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies 
                              Act of 1978.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Transition to Competition in the 
Electric Industry Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    Congress finds that--
            (1) implementation of section 210 of the Public Utility 
        Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 824a-3) resulted in 
        many consumers paying excessive rates for electricity;
            (2) amendments made by title VII of the Energy Policy Act 
        of 1992 (106 Stat. 2905) give nonregulated producers of 
        electricity additional access to the wholesale electric market 
        through transmission access and exemption from the Public 
        Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 (15 U.S.C. 79 et seq.); and
            (3) in light of the competitive wholesale electric 
        marketplace brought about by the Energy Policy Act of 1992, 
        section 210 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 
        1978 need no longer be in effect.

SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS.

    In this Act:
            (1) Commission.--The term ``Commission'' means the Federal 
        Energy Regulatory Commission.
            (2) Electric utility.--The term ``electric utility'' means 
        a person, State agency, or Federal agency that sells 
        electricity.
            (3) Qualifying cogeneration facility.--The term 
        ``qualifying cogeneration facility'' has the meaning given the 
        term in section 3 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 796).
            (4) Qualifying facility.--The term ``qualifying facility'' 
        means--
                    (A) a qualifying small power production facility; 
                and
                    (B) a qualifying cogeneration facility.
            (5) Qualifying small power production facility.--The term 
        ``qualifying small power production facility'' has the meaning 
        given the term in section 3 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 
        796).

SEC. 4. PROSPECTIVE REPEAL.

    (a) New Contracts.--No electric utility shall be required to enter 
into a new contract or obligation to purchase or to sell electricity or 
capacity under section 210 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies 
Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 824a-3).
    (b) Existing Rights and Remedies.--Nothing in this section affects 
the rights or remedies of any party with respect to the purchase or 
sale of electricity or capacity from or to a facility determined to be 
a qualifying small power production facility or a qualifying 
cogeneration facility under section 210 of the Public Utility 
Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 824a-3) under any contract 
or obligation to purchase or to sell electricity or capacity in effect 
on the date of enactment of this Act, including the right to recover 
the costs of purchasing the electricity or capacity.
    (c) Interpretations and Actions Taken.--Nothing in this Act implies 
congressional ratification of any interpretation of, or any action 
taken under, section 210 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act 
of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 824a-3).

SEC. 5. RECOVERY OF COSTS.

    (a) Regulation.--To ensure recovery, by any electric utility that 
purchases electricity or capacity from a qualifying facility pursuant 
to any legally enforceable obligation entered into or imposed under 
section 210 of the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 
U.S.C. 824a-3) before the date of enactment of this Act, of all costs 
associated with the purchases, the Commission shall promulgate and 
enforce such regulations as are required to ensure that no utility 
shall be required directly or indirectly to absorb the costs associated 
with the purchases.
    (b) Treatment.--A regulation under subsection (a) shall be treated 
as a rule enforceable under the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 791a et 
seq.).
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