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Senate Advances Electric Deregulation Task Force Bill After Floor Amendment
Summary
Senate debated House Bill 3 13 to create an electric deregulation/consumer choice task force, adopted a floor amendment clarifying study procedures and moved the bill to third reading (26 ayes, 2 nays, 1 absent).
The Utah Senate debated House Bill 3 13 on Feb. 28, 1997, a bill to create an Electric Deregulation Consumer Choice Task Force to study and advise on transition from regulated single‑provider systems to competitive retail electric markets.
Senator Peterson, the floor sponsor, described the bill as a legislative task force designed to give senators and representatives the resources and staff needed to study retail deregulation: the task force would include five senators (appointed by the Senate President) and seven representatives (appointed by the Speaker), have co‑chairs from each chamber, may create subcommittees that include outside stakeholders (consumer groups, municipal utilities, rural cooperatives and investor‑owned utilities), and would be staffed by Legislative Research and General Counsel. The bill was accompanied by a larger fiscal note to permit hiring technical consultants.
Senator Bueller offered a floor amendment (dated the morning of debate) to clarify the ways the task force would conduct its work. Senators questioned the bill’s rate‑freeze provision for investor‑owned utilities and asked whether frozen amounts—cited on the floor as roughly $12,000,000—could be reviewed or refunded. The sponsor said the Public Service Commission retains authority under the bill to require refunds if post‑process review determines a freeze was unjustified. Senators also pressed on the treatment of stranded costs and on why the task force membership was set at 5 senators and 7 representatives; proponents said the bylaws would require any recommendation to pass both houses, maintaining political balance.
After debate and adoption of the floor amendment, the Senate placed HB 3 13 on the third‑reading calendar. The roll call for the motion to read for final passage was recorded as 26 ayes, 2 nays and 1 absent.
Why it matters: the bill begins a legislatively led, funded investigation into retail electric competition, outlines stakeholder representation and preserves a role for the Public Service Commission to protect consumers if the transition produces unjustified rate outcomes.
