Bill > S1773

This bill modifies existing law to regulate the establishment and operation of municipal lighting plants and electricity distribution companies. It clarifies that service territories for distribution companies will be based on their actual service areas as of January 1, 2015, generally following municipal boundaries, and these territories can only be changed through legal means or a competitive bidding process. Distribution companies will have the exclusive right to provide service within their territories unless they grant written consent for others to do so, which must be filed with the relevant department and municipal clerk. The bill also outlines provisions for customers who experience failures in service from non-affiliated generation companies, ensuring they can receive default service procured through competitive bidding, with rates not exceeding the average monthly market price and offering uniform payment options for up to six months. Furthermore, it establishes a competitive process, to be administered by the department of public utilities (DPU), where distribution companies can bid to provide service in territories outside their original 2015 service areas, excluding those already served by municipal light plants, with proposals evaluated on factors like reliability and infrastructure improvements. The DPU is directed to create rules and regulations for these processes, including default service procurement and the competitive bidding for new territories, and is required to conduct the first competitive process by June 30, 2018, for service beginning in 2019.