Sec. 16-245c. Municipal electric utilities participating in deregulated environment. Authority to provide generation services outside service area.
Sec. 16-245c. Municipal electric utilities participating in deregulated environment. Authority to provide generation services outside service area. (a) As used in
this section, "service area" means the geographic area in which a municipal electric
utility is authorized to provide electric generation or distribution services to an end use
customer pursuant to section 7-214 or special act.
(b) No municipal electric utility established under chapter 101 shall use the transmission or distribution system or facilities of an electric distribution company, as defined
in section 16-1, for the purpose of providing electric generation services to an end use
customer outside its service area, unless the municipal electric utility is authorized to
do so by the Department of Public Utility Control, in which case it shall be considered
a participating municipal electric utility.
(c) As of the date that a municipal electric utility is authorized to be a participating
municipal electric utility, the participating municipal electric utility may provide electric
generation services to customers outside of its service area. Each participating municipal
electric utility shall provide open and nondiscriminatory access of all distribution facilities it owns or operates to all electric suppliers, as defined in section 16-1, and shall
allow customers within its service area to choose among electric suppliers for electric
generation services in a manner comparable to all other end use customers of an electric
distribution company.
(d) Each participating municipal electric utility that provides electric generation
services shall be licensed by the department as an electric supplier in accordance with
section 16-245. Notwithstanding the provisions of any municipal charter or special act
to the contrary, no such license shall be granted unless, in addition to the requirements
set forth in section 16-245, the participating municipal electric utility has (1) unbundled
and separated all of its generation assets and all generation-related operations and functions by (A) sale or transfer to an unrelated entity, (B) transfer on a functional basis to
one or more separate divisions of the participating municipal electric utility that are
structurally separate from the participating municipal electric utility's transmission and
distribution assets and all related operations and functions, or (C) such other substantially
equivalent measure deemed appropriate by the department, after taking into account the
size of the participating municipal electric utility and its existing structure and operations; and (2) the buyer or transferee of each such asset proves to the satisfaction of the
department that the buyer or transferee will preserve labor agreements in effect at the
time of the sale or transfer.
(e) Any municipal electric utility created on or after July 1, 1998, pursuant to section
7-214 or a special act and any municipal electric utility that expands its service area on
or after July 1, 1998, shall collect from its new customers the competitive transition
assessment imposed pursuant to section 16-245g, the systems benefits charge imposed
pursuant to section 16-245l and the assessments charged under sections 16-245m and
16-245n in such manner and at such rate as the department prescribes, provided the
department shall order the collection of said assessment and said charge in a manner
and rate equal to that to which the customers would have been subject had the municipal
electric utility not been created or expanded.
(f) The department shall, within a period of time to ensure that any municipal electric
utility that intends to become a participating municipal electric utility can do so in a
timely manner, establish procedures by regulations adopted in accordance with chapter
54 to authorize a municipal electric utility to become a participating municipal electric
utility. Such procedures shall include those measures the department determines are
necessary for the participating municipal electric utilities to function in a competitive
environment.
(g) No municipal electric energy cooperative shall be allowed to be an electric supplier or to request authorization to provide electric generation services to any end use
customers.
(P.A. 98-28, S. 19, 117.)
History: P.A. 98-28 effective July 1, 1998.