II

105TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2005

To amend the Federal Power Act to ensure that certain Federal power

customers are provided protection by the Federal Energy Regulatory

Commission, and for other purposes.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

APRIL 29, 1998

Mr. MCCONNELL introduced the following bill; which was read twice and

referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works

A BILL

To amend the Federal Power Act to ensure that certain

Federal power customers are provided protection by the

Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, and for other

purposes.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘TVA Customer Protec5 tion Act of 1998’’.

6 SEC. 2. INCLUSION IN DEFINITION OF PUBLIC UTILITY.

7 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 201(e) of the Federal

8 Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824(e)) is amended by inserting be-
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1 fore the period at the end the following: ‘‘, and includes

2 the Tennessee Valley Authority’’.

3 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 201(f) of

4 the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824(f)) is amended by

5 striking ‘‘foregoing, or any corporation’’ and inserting

6 ‘‘foregoing (other than the Tennessee Valley Authority) or

7 any corporation’’.

8 SEC. 3. DISPOSITION OF PROPERTY.

9 Section 203 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C.

10 824b) is amended by adding at the end the following:

11 ‘‘(c) TVA EXCEPTION.—This section does not apply

12 to a disposition of the whole or any part of the facilities

13 of the Tennessee Valley Authority if—

14 ‘‘(1) the Tennessee Valley Authority discloses to

15 the Commission (on a form, and to the extent, that

16 the Commission shall prescribe by regulation) the

17 sale, lease, or other disposition of any part of its fa18 cilities that—

19 ‘‘(A) is subject to the jurisdiction of the

20 Commission under this Part; and

21 ‘‘(B) has a value of more than $50,000;

22 and

23 ‘‘(2) all proceeds of the sale, lease, or other dis24 position under paragraph (1) are applied by the
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1 Tennessee Valley Authority to the reduction of debt

2 of the Tennessee Valley Authority.’’.

3 SEC. 4. FOREIGN OPERATIONS; PROTECTIONS.

4 Section 208 of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C.

5 824g) is amended by adding at the end the following:

6 ‘‘(c) TENNESSEE VALLEY AUTHORITY.—

7 ‘‘(1) LIMIT ON CHARGES.—

8 ‘‘(A) NO AUTHORIZATION OR PERMIT.—

9 The Commission shall issue no order under this

10 Act that has the effect of authorizing or permit11 ting the Tennessee Valley Authority to make,

12 demand, or receive any rate or charge, or im13 pose any rule or regulation pertaining to a rate

14 or charge, that includes any costs incurred by

15 or for the Tennessee Valley Authority in the

16 conduct of any activities or operations outside

17 the United States.

18 ‘‘(B) UNLAWFUL RATE.—

19 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Any rate, charge,

20 rule, or regulation described in subpara21 graph (A) shall be deemed for the purposes

22 of this Act to be unjust, unreasonable, and

23 unlawful.

24 ‘‘(ii) NO LIMITATION ON AUTHOR25 ITY.—Clause (i) does not limit the author-
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1 ity of the Commission under any other pro2 vision of law to regulate and establish just

3 and reasonable rates and charges for the

4 Tennessee Valley Authority.

5 ‘‘(2) ANNUAL REPORT.—The Tennessee Valley

6 Authority shall annually—

7 ‘‘(A) prepare and file with the Commission,

8 in a form that the Commission shall prescribe

9 by regulation, a report setting forth in detail

10 any activities or operations engaged in outside

11 the United States by or on behalf of the Ten12 nessee Valley Authority; and

13 ‘‘(B) certify to the Commission that the

14 Tennessee Valley Authority has neither recov15 ered nor sought to recover the costs of activities

16 or operations engaged in outside the United

17 States by or on behalf of the Tennessee Valley

18 Authority in any rate, charge, rule, or regula19 tion on file with the Commission.’’.

20 SEC. 5. TVA POWER SALES.

21 (a) IN GENERAL.—Part II of the Federal Power Act

22 (16 U.S.C. 824 et seq.) is amended by adding at the end

23 the following:
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1 ‘‘SEC. 215. TVA POWER SALES.

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Tennessee Valley Authority

3 shall not sell electric power to a retail customer that will

4 consume the power within the area that, on the date of

5 enactment of this section, is assigned by law as the dis6 tributor service area, unless—

7 ‘‘(1) the customer (or predecessor in interest to

8 the customer) was purchasing electric power directly

9 from the Tennessee Valley Authority as a retail cus10 tomer on that date;

11 ‘‘(2) the distributor is purchasing firm power

12 from the Tennessee Valley Authority in an amount

13 that is equal to not more than 50 percent of the

14 total retail sales of the distributor; or

15 ‘‘(3) the distributor agrees that the Tennessee

16 Valley Authority may sell power to the customer.

17 ‘‘(b) RETAIL SALES.—Notwithstanding any other

18 provision of law, the rates, terms, and conditions of retail

19 sales of electric power by the Tennessee Valley Authority

20 that are not prohibited by this section shall be subject to

21 regulation under State law applicable to public utilities in

22 the manner and to the extent that a State commission or

23 other regulatory authority determines appropriate.’’.

24 (b) TRANSITION.—

25 (1) FILING REQUIREMENT.—Not later than 180

26 days after the date of enactment of this Act, the
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1 Tennessee Valley Authority shall file all rates and

2 charges for the transmission or sale of electric en3 ergy and the classifications, practices, and regula4 tions affecting those rates and charges, together

5 with all contracts that in any manner affect or relate

6 to contracts that are required to be filed under Part

7 II of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 824 et seq.),

8 as amended by subsection (a), and that are in effect

9 as of the date of enactment of this Act.

10 (2) NO INITIAL REVIEW.—A filing under this

11 section that is timely made under subsection (a)

12 shall be accepted for filing without initial review by

13 the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission.

14 SEC. 6. FILING AND FULL DISCLOSURE OF TVA DOCU15 MENTS.

16 Part III of the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 825

17 et seq.) is amended—

18 (1) by redesignating sections 319 through 321

19 as sections 320 through 322, respectively; and

20 (2) by inserting after section 318 the following:

21 ‘‘SEC. 319. FILING AND FULL DISCLOSURE OF TVA DOCU22 MENTS.

23 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Tennessee Valley Authority

24 shall file and disclose the same documents and other infor-
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1 mation that other public utilities are required to file under

2 this Act, as the Commission shall require by regulation.

3 ‘‘(b) REGULATION.—

4 ‘‘(1) TIMING.—The regulation under subsection

5 (a) shall be promulgated not later than 1 year after

6 the date of enactment of this section.

7 ‘‘(2) CONSIDERATIONS.—In promulgating the

8 regulation under subsection (a), the Commission

9 shall take into consideration the practices of the

10 Commission with respect to public utilities other

11 than the Tennessee Valley Authority.’’.

12 SEC. 7. APPLICABILITY OF THE ANTITRUST LAWS.

13 The Tennessee Valley Authority Act of 1933 (16

14 U.S.C. 831 et seq.) is amended by inserting after section

15 16 the following:

16 ‘‘SEC. 17. APPLICABILITY OF THE ANTITRUST LAWS.

17 ‘‘(a) DEFINITION OF ANTITRUST LAWS.—In this sec18 tion, the term ‘antitrust laws’ means—

19 ‘‘(1) an antitrust law (within the meaning of

20 section (1) of the Clayton Act (15 U.S.C. 12));

21 ‘‘(2) the Act of June 19, 1936 (commonly

22 known as the ‘Robinson Patman Act’) (49 Stat.

23 1526, chapter 323; 15 U.S.C. 13 et seq.); and
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1 ‘‘(3) section 5 of the Federal Trade Commis2 sion Act (15 U.S.C. 45), to the extent that the sec3 tion relates to unfair methods of competition.

4 ‘‘(b) APPLICABILITY.—Nothing in this Act modifies,

5 impairs, or supersedes the antitrust laws.

6 ‘‘(c) ANTITRUST LAWS.—

7 ‘‘(1) TVA DEEMED A PERSON.—The Tennessee

8 Valley Authority shall be deemed to be a person, and

9 not government, for purposes of the antitrust laws.

10 ‘‘(2) APPLICABILITY.—Notwithstanding any

11 other provision of law, the antitrust laws (including

12 the availability of any remedy for a violation of an

13 antitrust law) shall apply to the Tennessee Valley

14 Authority notwithstanding any determination that

15 the Tennessee Valley Authority is a corporate agen16 cy or instrumentality of the United States or is oth17 erwise engaged in governmental functions.’’.

18 SEC. 8. SAVINGS PROVISION.

19 (a) DEFINITION OF TVA DISTRIBUTOR.—In this sec20 tion, the term ‘‘TVA distributor’’ means a cooperative or21 ganization or publicly owned electric power system that,

22 on January 2, 1998, purchased electric power at wholesale

23 from the Tennessee Valley Authority under an all-require24 ments power contract.
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1 (b) EFFECT OF ACT.—Nothing in this Act or any

2 amendment made by this Act—

3 (1) subjects any TVA distributor to regulation

4 by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; or

5 (2) abrogates or affects any law in effect on the

6 date of enactment of this Act that applies to a TVA

7 distributor.

8 SEC. 9. PROVISION OF CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT, CON9 TRACTING, AND ENGINEERING SERVICES.

10 Section 4 of the Tennessee Valley Authority Act of

11 1933 (16 U.S.C. 831c) is amended by adding at the end

12 the following:

13 ‘‘(m) PROVISION OF CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT,

14 CONTRACTING, AND ENGINEERING SERVICES.—

15 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Notwithstanding any other

16 provision of this Act, except as provided in this sub17 section, the Corporation shall not have power to—

18 ‘‘(A) rent or sell construction equipment;

19 ‘‘(B) provide a construction equipment

20 maintenance or repair service;

21 ‘‘(C) perform contract construction work;

22 or

23 ‘‘(D) provide a construction engineering

24 service;

25 to any private or public entity.
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1 ‘‘(2) ELECTRICAL CONTRACTORS.—The Cor2 poration may provide equipment or a service de3 scribed in subparagraph (1) to a private contractor

4 that is engaged in electrical utility work on an elec5 trical utility project of the Corporation.

6 ‘‘(3) CUSTOMERS, DISTRIBUTORS, AND GOVERN7 MENTAL ENTITIES.—The Corporation may provide

8 equipment or a service described in subparagraph

9 (1) to—

10 ‘‘(A) a power customer served directly by

11 the Corporation;

12 ‘‘(B) a distributor of Corporation power; or

13 ‘‘(C) a Federal, State, or local government

14 entity;

15 that is engaged in work specifically related to an

16 electrical utility project of the Corporation.

17 ‘‘(4) USED CONSTRUCTION EQUIPMENT.—

18 ‘‘(A) DEFINITION OF USED CONSTRUCTION

19 EQUIPMENT.—In this paragraph, the term

20 ‘used construction equipment’ means construc21 tion equipment that has been in service for

22 more than 2,500 hours.

23 ‘‘(B) IN GENERAL.—The Corporation may

24 dispose of used construction equipment by

25 means of a public auction conducted by a pri-
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1 vate entity that is independent of the Corpora2 tion.

3 ‘‘(C) DEBT REDUCTION.—The Corporation

4 shall apply all proceeds of a disposition of used

5 construction equipment under subparagraph

6 (B) to the reduction of debt of the Corpora7 tion.’’.

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