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| Georgia General Assembly |
SB55.html
01 LC 14 7569
Senate Bill
55
By: Senators Ladd of the 41st, Lamutt of
the 21st, Polak of the 42nd, Price of the 56th,
Balfour of the 9th and others
A BILL TO BE
ENTITLED
AN ACT
To amend Article 5 of Chapter 4 of Title 46 of the Official
Code of Georgia Annotated, the "Natural Gas Competition and Deregulation Act,"
so as to provide for a natural gas residential customer purchasing group
program; to define terms; to direct the Public Service Commission to develop the
purchasing group program by rule; to provide for the elements of the program; to
provide for the membership, operation, governance, and operation of purchasing
groups; to provide for the qualification, selection, and compensation of
purchasing agents to negotiate the purchase of natural gas on behalf of
purchasing groups; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws;
and for other purposes.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF
GEORGIA:
SECTION 1.
Article 5 of Chapter 4 of Title 46 of the Official Code of
Georgia Annotated, the "Natural Gas Competition and Deregulation Act," is
amended by adding after Code Section 46-4-156 a new Code section to read as
follows:
"46-4-156.1.
(a)
As used in this Code section, the term:
(1)
'Residential customer' means an individual retail customer using natural gas for
residential purposes who is within a delivery group for which the commission has
determined the existence of adequate market
conditions.
(2) 'Purchasing agent' means the agent
appointed to negotiate natural gas purchases for a purchasing group as provided
in this Code section.
(3) 'Purchasing group' means a
natural gas residential customer purchasing group established as provided in
this Code section.
(b) The commission shall by rule
establish a natural gas residential customer purchasing group program which
shall contain the following elements:
(1) There shall
be established one or more natural gas residential customer purchasing groups
and which taken together shall encompass all residential consumers in the
state;
(2) If there is more than one purchasing group,
the commission shall determine the number, size, and geographic characteristics
of groups to maximize the benefits to the group
members;
(3) Each residential customer shall be
automatically enrolled in one of such purchasing groups but shall be afforded
the opportunity to withdraw from the purchasing group prior to the execution of
the purchasing group´s first purchase contract and shall be afforded an
opportunity to withdraw from the purchasing group periodically
thereafter;
(4) Each purchasing group shall be
represented by a purchasing group board which shall consist of five residential
customers who are members of the purchasing group. The initial members of each
purchasing group board shall be appointed, three by the commission and two by
the Governor;
(5) The commission shall periodically
solicit competitive proposals from prospective purchasing agents desiring to
represent purchasing groups;
(6) The purchasing group
board of each purchasing group shall, with advice and counsel provided by the
commission, periodically select a purchasing agent from among those submitting
proposals to the commission;
(7) The purchasing agent
for a purchasing group shall, with the approval of the purchasing group board,
periodically enter into a contract with a marketer under which the marketer
shall provide distribution service to the residential customers in the
purchasing group;
(8) The purchasing agent shall be
compensated for his or her services by fees to be collected by the marketer and
remitted to the purchasing agent; and
(9) The
purchasing agent shall monitor the marketer´s compliance with its contract
and with legal and regulatory requirements, negotiate on behalf of the
purchasing group´s members with the marketer concerning any noncompliance,
and report to the commission any instances in which a marketer´s
noncompliance cannot be resolved through
negotiation.
(c) A purchasing agent shall be held to
the standards of a trustee with respect to the purchasing agent´s
protection of the interests of the purchasing group members; and it shall be
unlawful for a purchasing agent to accept any thing of value from any person in
connection with the purchasing agent´s performance of duties for the
purchasing group, except for the compensation specifically authorized pursuant
to paragraph (8) of subsection (b) of this Code section and the rules of the
commission."
SECTION 2.
This Act shall become effective upon its approval by the
Governor or upon its becoming law without such approval.
SECTION 3.
All laws and parts of laws in conflict with this Act are
repealed.