[Congressional Bills 106th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1284 Introduced in Senate (IS)]







106th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1284

 To amend the Federal Power Act to ensure that no State may establish, 
  maintain, or enforce on behalf of any electric utility an exclusive 
right to sell electric energy or otherwise unduly discriminate against 
   any consumer who seeks to purchase electric energy in interstate 
                      commerce from any supplier.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 24, 1999

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

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Federal Power Act to ensure that no State may establish, 
  maintain, or enforce on behalf of any electric utility an exclusive 
right to sell electric energy or otherwise unduly discriminate against 
   any consumer who seeks to purchase electric energy in interstate 
                      commerce from any supplier.

    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 ``Electric Consumer Choice Act''.

SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

    The Congress finds that--
            (1) the opportunity for all consumers to purchase electric 
        energy in interstate commerce from the supplier of choice is 
        essential to a dynamic, fully integrated and competitive 
        national market for electric energy;
            (2) the establishment, maintenance or enforcement of 
        exclusive rights to sell electric energy and other State action 
        which unduly discriminates against any consumer who seeks to 
        purchase electric energy in interstate commerce from the 
        supplier of its choice constitutes an unwarranted and 
        unacceptable discrimination against and burden on interstate 
        commerce;
            (3) in today's technologically driven marketplace there is 
        no justification for the discrimination against and burden 
        imposed on interstate commerce by exclusive rights to sell 
        electric energy or other State action which unduly 
        discriminates against any consumer who seeks to purchase 
        electric energy in interstate commerce from the supplier of its 
        choice; and
            (4) the electric energy transmission and local distribution 
        facilities of all of the Nation's utilities are essential 
        facilities for the conduct of a competitive interstate retail 
        market in electric energy in which all consumers have the 
        opportunity to purchase electric energy in interstate commerce 
        from the supplier of their choice.

SEC. 3. DECLARATION OF PURPOSE.

    The purpose of this act is to ensure that nothing in the Federal 
Power Act or any other Federal law exempts or protects from Article I, 
Section 8, Clause 3 of the Constitution of the United States exclusive 
rights to sell electric energy or any other State actions which unduly 
discriminate against any consumer who seeks to purchase electric energy 
in interstate commerce from the supplier of its choice.

SEC. 4. SCOPE OF STATE AUTHORITY UNDER THE FEDERAL POWER ACT.

    Section 201 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824) is amended by 
adding at the end the following--
    ``(h) Notwithstanding any other provision of this section, nothing 
in this Part or any other federal law shall be construed to authorize a 
State to--
            ``(1) establish, maintain, or enforce on behalf of any 
        electric utility an exclusive right to sell electric energy; 
        or,
            ``(2) otherwise unduly discriminate against any consumer 
        who seeks to purchase electric energy in interstate commerce 
        from any supplier.''.

SEC. 5. ACCESS TO TRANSMISSION AND LOCAL DISTRIBUTION FACILITIES.

    No supplier of electric energy, who would otherwise have a right of 
access to a transmission or local distribution facility because such 
facility is an essential facility for the conduct of interstate 
commerce in electric energy, shall be denied access to such facility or 
precluded from engaging in the retail sale of electric energy on the 
grounds that such denial or preclusion is authorized or required by 
State action establishing, maintaining, or enforcing an exclusive right 
to sell, transmit, or locally distribute electric energy.

SEC. 6. STATE AUTHORITY TO IMPOSE RECIPROCITY REQUIREMENTS.

    Part II of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824) is amended by 
adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 215. STATE AUTHORITY TO IMPOSE RECIPROCITY REQUIREMENTS.

    ``A State or state commission may prohibit an electric utility from 
selling electric energy to an ultimate consumer in such State if such 
electric utility or any of its affiliates owns or controls transmission 
or local distribution facilities and is not itself providing unbundled 
local distribution service in a State in which such electric utility 
owns or operates a facility used for the generation of electric 
energy.''.

SEC. 7. REPEAL OF THE PUBLIC UTILITY HOLDING COMPANY ACT OF 1935.

    The Public Utility Holding Company Act of 1935 (15 U.S.C. 79a et 
seq.) is repealed, effective on and after the enactment of this Act.

SEC. 8. PROSPECTIVE REPEAL OF SECTION 210 OF THE PUBLIC UTILITY 
              REGULATORY POLICIES ACT OF 1978.

    (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.

SEC. 9. SAVINGS CLAUSE.

    Nothing in this Act shall be construed to--
            (1) authorize the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission to 
        regulate retail sales or local distribution of electric energy 
        or otherwise expand the jurisdiction of the Commission, or,
            (2) limit the authority of a State to regulate retail sales 
        and local distribution of electric energy in a manner 
        consistent with article I, section 8, clause 3 of the 
        Constitution of the United States.

SEC. 10. EFFECTIVE DATES.

    Section 5 and the amendment made by section 4 of this Act take 
effect on January 1, 2002. The amendment made by section 6 of this Act 
takes effect on the date of enactment of this Act.
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