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Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter
Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter
COMMITTEE AMENDMENT ADOPTED
April 5, 2007
S. 312
Introduced by Senators Martin, Hayes, Drummond, Thomas, Verdin, Vaughn, Mescher, Cromer, Elliott, Anderson, Sheheen, Reese, O'Dell, Alexander and Short
S. Printed 4/5/07--S.
Read the first time January 23, 2007.
TO AMEND SECTIONS 6-23-20, 6-23-30, AND 6-23-40, CODE OF LAWS OF SOUTH CAROLINA, 1976, RELATING TO THE JOINT MUNICIPAL ELECTRIC POWER AND ENERGY ACT, SO AS TO REVISE THE DEFINITIONS BY DELETING THE DEFINITION OF "AREA GENERALLY SERVED BY THE SAME ELECTRIC SUPPLIER", BY DELETING THAT THE "MUNICIPALITY" MUST HAVE OWNERSHIP OF A SYSTEM OR FACILITIES FOR THE GENERATION, TRANSMISSION, OR DISTRIBUTION OF ELECTRIC POWER AND ENERGY FOR AT LEAST TEN YEARS, TO DELETE THE REQUIREMENT THAT ALL MEMBERS OF A JOINT AGENCY MUST BE LOCATED WITHIN THE AREA GENERALLY SERVED BY THE SAME ELECTRIC SUPPLIER, AND TO DELETE THE REQUIREMENT THAT THE ACQUISITION OF A PROJECT BE BY PURCHASE FROM AN ELECTRIC SUPPLIER GENERALLY SERVING THE AREA IN WHICH THE MEMBERS ARE LOCATED.
Amend Title To Conform
Be it enacted by the General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1. Section 6-23-20. The following terms whenever used or referred to in this chapter shall have the following respective meaning unless a different meaning clearly appears from the context:
(a)(1) 'Area generally served by the same electric supplier' shall mean means that area located in any county or counties of this State and assigned to an electric supplier by the Public Service Commission pursuant to the provisions of Section 58-27-640 and to the Public Service Authority by Article 3 of Title 58.
(b)(2) 'Bonds' shall mean electric revenue bonds, notes, certificates, or other obligations of indebtedness of a joint agency issued under pursuant to the provisions of this chapter and shall include refunding bonds.
(c)(3) 'Cost' or 'cost of a project' shall mean means, but shall is not be limited to, the cost of acquisition, construction, reconstruction, improvement, enlargement, or extension of any a project, including the cost of studies, plans, specifications, surveys, and estimates of costs and revenues relating thereto to it; the cost of land, land rights, rights-of-way and easements, water rights, fees, permits, approvals, licenses, certificates, franchises, and the preparation of applications for and securing the same these; administrative, legal, engineering, and inspection expenses; financing fees, expenses, and costs; working capital; initial fuel costs; interest on the bonds during the period of construction and for such a reasonable period thereafter as may be time after that is determined by the joint agency; establishment of reserves; and all other expenditure of the joint agency incidental, necessary, or convenient to the acquisition, construction, reconstruction, improvement, enlargement, or extension of any project and the placing of the same them in operation.
(d)(4) 'Governing body' shall mean means, with respect to a municipality, the board, council, commission, or other legislative body charged by law with governing the municipality.
(e)(5) 'Electric supplier' means any an electric utility regulated by the Public Service Commission, electric cooperative, or municipal electric system authorized to do business within the State or the Public Service Authority.
(f)(6) 'Joint agency' shall mean means a public body and body corporate and politic organized in accordance with pursuant to the provisions of this chapter.
(g)(7) 'Municipality' shall mean means a city or town created under pursuant to the laws of the State, or any agency, board, commission, or council thereof of it, that has owned for at least ten years a system or facilities for the generation, transmission, or distribution of electric power and energy for public and private uses.
(h)(8) 'Project' means any a system or facilities for the generation, transmission, and transformation, not distribution, of electric power and energy by any means whatsoever including, but not limited to, any one or more electric generating units situated at a particular site or any interest in any of the foregoing them or any right to the output, capacity, use, or services thereof of it.
(i)(9) 'State' shall mean means the State of South Carolina.
Section 6-23-30. In addition and supplemental to the powers granted to municipalities of the State, and in order to accomplish the purpose of this chapter, a municipality may plan, finance, develop, acquire, purchase, construct, reconstruct, improve, enlarge, own, operate, and maintain an undivided interest as a tenant-in-common in a project situated within or without the State jointly with one or more municipalities in this State or any other state, owning electric distribution facilities, or with any political subdivisions or agencies of any other state, and may make such these plans and enter into such these contracts in connection therewith with them, not inconsistent with the provisions of this chapter, as are necessary or appropriate; provided, all municipal tenants-in-common shall must be located within the area generally served by the same electric supplier; (provided, further,. The acquisition of a project or projects by municipalities as tenants-in-common shall be by purchase from an electric supplier generally serving the area in which the municipal tenants-in-common are located; provided, further, such purchase shall be is limited to a project or projects under construction on the date of approval of this chapter, or a project or projects on which construction will commence subsequent to the date of approval of this chapter; and provided, further,. The amount of capacity and output of any a project purchased by municipal tenants-in-common shall may not be less than ten percent of the rated capacity of such the project.
Municipal tenants-in-common under pursuant to the provisions of this section may, by contract, may waive their right of partition either in kind or by sale. The power and right to enter into agreements to waive the right of judicial partition authorized by this section shall be are in addition to any such these powers and rights already authorized by the laws of South Carolina.
Nothing contained herein shall prevent in this section prevents a municipality or municipalities from undertaking studies to determine whether there is a need for a project or whether such the project is feasible.
Section 6-23-40. The procedure prior to before formation of a joint agency shall must be as follows:
(a)(1) The governing body of two or more municipalities may determine, by resolution or ordinance, determine that it is in the best interests of the respective municipalities and their electric customers in accomplishing the purposes of this chapter to create a joint agency for the purpose of undertaking the planning, financing, development, acquisition, purchase, construction, reconstruction, improvement, enlargement, ownership, operation, and maintenance of a project or projects to supply electric power and energy for such the municipalities' present and future needs as an alternative or supplemental method of obtaining the benefits and assuming the responsibilities of ownership in a project; provided, membership of municipalities in a joint agency shall consist only of municipalities located within the area generally served by the same electric supplier as of the date of issuance of a corporate certificate for such joint agency pursuant to Section 6-23-80. Such This resolution or ordinance shall must be approved by a majority of the members of the governing body of the municipality.
(b)(2) In determining whether or not the creation of a joint agency for such this purpose is in the best interests of the municipalities and their electric customers, the governing body shall take into consideration, but shall is not be limited to, the following:
(i)(a) whether or not a separate entity may be able to finance the costs of a project or projects in a more efficient and economical manner;
(ii)(b) whether or not a better financial market acceptance may result if one entity is responsible for issuing all of the bonds required for a project or projects in a timely and orderly manner;
(iii)(c) whether or not savings and other advantages may be obtained by providing a separate entity responsible for the acquisition, purchase, construction, ownership, and operation of a project or projects;
(c)(3) If the proposed creation of a joint agency is found to be in the best interests of a municipality, the governing body of such the municipality shall cause give notice of its action to be published publishing once a week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation within such the municipality. Any A person affected by the action of the governing body of such the municipality may challenge the action of the municipality, by action de novo, instituted in the Court of Common Pleas for the county in which such the municipality is located, within twenty days following the last publication of the notice prescribed herein in this section challenge the action of the municipality."
SECTION 2. Section 6-23-60(B) of the 1976 Code is amended to read:
"(B) The Public Service Commission is authorized to approve or disapprove the proposed acquisition by a joint agency of a project or projects which consist of an electric generating plant or plants and associated facilities designed for, or capable of, operation at a capacity of more than seventy-five megawatts, or which consist of electric transmission lines and associated facilities of a designed operating voltage of one hundred twenty-five kilovolts or more. There is no requirement for approval by the Public Service Commission for a project or projects for other transmission or generating facilities, or for facilities for distribution or transformation, or any of them, of electric power and energy. However, the joint agency may not acquire or purchase projects or capacity if, after the purchase or acquisition, the joint power agency would own, contract for, or control generating resources exceeding one hundred eighty-five percent of the member municipalities historical territorial peak. In determining whether it is beneficial to the joint agency, the Public Service Commission shall take into consideration, but is not limited to, the following:
(1) the economies and efficiencies to be achieved in constructing on a large scale, facilities for the generation and transmission of electric power and energy;
(2) the municipalities' needs for reserve and peaking capacity and to meet obligations under pooling and reserve-sharing agreements reasonably related to its needs for power and energy to which it is or may become a party;
(3) the estimated useful life of the project;
(4) the estimated time necessary for the planning, development, acquisition, or construction of the project and the length of time required in advance to obtain, acquire, or construct additional power supplies;
(5) the reliability and availability of existing or alternative power supply sources and the costs of the existing or alternative power supply sources; and
(6) the load forecast of capacity of a project and the utilization of the capacity by the joint agency for a reasonable period of time subsequent to the date of commercial operation of the project; and
(7) the effect of the proposed acquisition on the ability of the joint agency to satisfy existing financial and contractual obligations that it may have incurred in the acquisition of any previously acquired projects."
SECTION 3. This act takes effect upon approval by the Governor.
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