AN ACT relating to a consumer's right to choose an electric energy supplier.
     Create new sections of KRS Chapter 278 to allow retail electric consumers to choose the suppliers from whom they will purchase electricity after January 1, 2000; allow a rural electric cooperative corporation to elect not to open its territory to competition; allow a municipal electric company to elect to participate in open markets by also accepting regulation of its distribution system and certification as a supplier; set a transition period from January 1, 2000 to December 31, 2005, during which a customer that chooses a supplier other than the company that serves the location must pay an access charge, set by the public service commission, to reimburse the company for lost sales; after January 1, 2000, remove the generation of electricity from the jurisdiction of the Public Service Commission; define retail electric distributor and electric energy supplier, and specify that retail electric distributors continue, after 2000, to provide service in accordance with tariffs on file with the commission, and are obliged to provide adequate distribution service; direct the commission to consider alternate methods for setting rates and tariffs when requested by the distributor; require retail electric suppliers to be certified by the commission before they can do business; except if the supplier is an affiliate of a utility, it is presumed to have the requisite capabilities; establish procedures to decertify a supplier; prohibit any company from selling energy in Kentucky unless it or an affiliate outside of the state allows retail competition within their territory; require retail electric suppliers to consent to the jurisdiction of Kentucky courts and to designate an agent; ; specify that the Consumer Protection Act, rather than the public service commission, regulates retail electric transactions; require each electric utility to file a transition plan with the Public Service Commission, consisting of separation of the utility's property by function, a proposed distribution tariff, transition rate, and access charge to apply during the transition period; set deadlines for filing and for each step of processing these tariffs, and criteria for public intervention and commission review and approval of the components of the plans; allow the commission to use a consultant to process these plans and certifications of retail electric suppliers; allow the utility to issue bonds to reduce costs and recover the bond costs through the transition tariff; specify that, to maintain existing tax revenues, electricity sales by parties other than the retail distributor will be subject to the school utility tax, to franchise taxes, and to sales and use taxes, but do not allow municipalities to franchise retail electric suppliers; require the supplier to bill the consumer through the distributor, and the distributor to render a single bill for all electric services to the consumer, including taxes and franchise fees; require functional separation between a retail electric distributor and affiliated retail supplier; create a new section of KRS chapter 205 to establish a Low Income Assistance Trust Fund to maintain 1996 level of funding for the electricity component of the Energy Assistance Program, funded through a surcharge levied by retail electric distributors, in an amount established annually by the Public Service Commission; create a new section of KRS Chapter 224 establish a Coal Utilization Trust Fund, financed through a $.00034 per kilowatt levy on retail electric supplier sales in Kentucky, to support research needed to improve utilization of coal for generation of electric energy; amend various sections to conform.

     Jan 28-introduced in House
     Jan 29-to Tourism Development and Energy (H)