HBA-BSM C.S.H.B. 2806 77(R) BILL ANALYSIS Office of House Bill AnalysisC.S.H.B. 2806 By: Kitchen Energy Resources 4/23/2001 Committee Report (Substituted) BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE The price of natural gas has skyrocketed in recent months. Gas utility customers in Texas received winter heating bills that were as much as four times higher than for the same period in the previous year. Many people, particularly those on fixed incomes, could not pay their gas bills in full. Consumer organizations petitioned the Railroad Commission of Texas to adopt an emergency rule to prevent disconnections for nonpayment during cold weather. When gas prices are high, customers may restrict their consumption of natural gas for residential heating to levels that could be detrimental to their well being, especially during times of adverse weather conditions. Currently, the Gas Utility Regulatory Act does not cover these emergency conditions, and customers are liable to have their gas supply disconnected if the bill is not paid. C.S.H.B. 2806 prohibits a gas provider from disconnecting gas supply to a residential customer in specified adverse weather conditions or on a weekend day unless personnel of the provider are available on that day to take payment or reconnect service, and sets forth provisions for payment plans. RULEMAKING AUTHORITY It is the opinion of the Office of House Bill Analysis that this bill does not expressly delegate any additional rulemaking authority to a state officer, department, agency, or institution. ANALYSIS C.S.H.B. 2806 amends the Utilities Code to prohibit a gas provider from disconnecting a natural gas service to a residential customer on a weekend day unless personnel of the provider are available on that day to take payments and reconnect service, or during an extreme weather emergency during which the previous day's highest temperature did not exceed 32 degrees Fahrenheit and the temperature is predicted to remain at or below that level for the next 24 hours according to the nearest National Weather Service reports. The bill requires providers to defer collection of the full payment of bills that are due during an extreme weather emergency until after the emergency is over and work with customers to establish a pay schedule for deferred bills. EFFECTIVE DATE On passage, or if the Act does not receive the necessary vote, the Act takes effect September 1, 2001. COMPARISON OF ORIGINAL TO SUBSTITUTE C.S.H.B. 2806 differs from the original to modify the temperature at which a gas utility is prohibited from disconnecting a residential gas supply by including a definition of an extreme weather emergency, and to require gas providers to work with customers to establish a pay schedule for deferred bills. The substitute removes provisions regarding notice from an energy assistance provider that it is forwarding payment to the gas provider to continue service, and provisions prohibiting a gas provider from disconnecting service on holidays. The substitute also removes provisions specifying that prohibitions against a gas provider disconnecting service do not apply if there is a known dangerous condition or a use of natural gas service in a manner that is dangerous or unreasonably interferes with service to others.