(4) CONFIDENTIALITY.—No member, officer, or
employee of the Commission shall divulge any fact or
information that may come to his or her knowledge
during the course of examination of books, accounts,
memoranda, or other records as provided in this sec-
tion, except as may be directed by the commission
or by a court of competent jurisdiction.
(f) STATE ACCESS TO BOOKS AND RECORDS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Upon the written request of
a State commission having jurisdiction to regulate a
public utility company in a holding company system,
and subject to such terms and conditions as may be
necessary and appropriate to safeguard against un-
warranted disclosure to the public of any trade se-
crets or sensitive commercial information, the hold-
ing company or any associate company or affiliate
thereof, other than such public utility company,
wherever located, shall produce for inspection books,
accounts, memoranda, and other records that—
(A) have been identified in reasonable de-
tail in a proceeding before the State commis-
sion;
(B) the State commission deems are rel-
evant to costs incurred by such public utility
company; and
(C) are necessary for the effective dis-
charge of the responsibilities of the State com-
mission with respect to such proceeding.
(2) LIMITATION.—Paragraph (1) shall not
apply to any person that is a holding company solely
by reason of ownership of 1 or more qualifying fa-
cilities under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies
Act.
(3) CONFIDENTIALITY OF INFORMATION.—The
production of books, accounts, memoranda, and
other records under paragraph (1) shall be subject
to such terms and conditions as may be necessary
and appropriate to safeguard against unwarranted
disclosure to the public of any trade secrets or sen-
sitive commercial information.
(4) EFFECT ON STATE LAW.—Nothing in this
section shall preempt applicable State law concern-
ing the provision of books, records, or any other in-
formation, or in any way limit the rights of any
State to obtain books, records, or any other informa-
tion under any other Federal law, contract, or other-
wise.
(5) COURT JURISDICTION.—Any United States
district court located in the State in which the State
commission referred to in paragraph (1) is located
shall have jurisdiction to enforce compliance with
this section.
(g) EXEMPTION AUTHORITY.—
(1) RULEMAKING.—Not later than 90 days
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commis-
sion shall promulgate a final rule to exempt from the
requirements of subsection (e) any person that is a
holding company, solely with respect to 1 or more—
(A) qualifying facilities under the Public
Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978;
(B) exempt wholesale generators; or
(C) foreign utility companies.
(2) OTHER AUTHORITY.—If, upon application
or upon its own motion, the Commission finds that
the books, records, accounts, memoranda, and other
records of any person are not relevant to the juris-
dictional rates of a public utility or natural gas com-
pany, or if the Commission finds that any class of
transaction is not relevant to the jurisdictional rates
of a public utility or natural gas company, the Com-
mission shall exempt such person or transaction
from the requirements of subsection (e).
(h) AFFILIATE TRANSACTIONS.—Nothing in this sec-
tion shall preclude the Commission or a State commission
from exercising its jurisdiction under otherwise applicable
law to determine whether a public utility company, public
utility, or natural gas company may recover in rates any
costs of an activity performed by an associate company,
or any costs of goods or services acquired by such public
utility company from an associate company.
(i) APPLICABILITY.—No provision of this section
shall apply to, or be deemed to include—
(1) the United States;
(2) a State or any political subdivision of a
State;
(3) any foreign governmental authority not op-
erating in the United States;
(4) any agency, authority, or instrumentality of
any entity referred to in paragraph (1), (2), or (3);
or
(5) any officer, agent, or employee of any entity
referred to in paragraph (1), (2), or (3) acting as
such in the course of his or her official duty.
(j) EFFECT ON OTHER REGULATIONS.—Nothing in
this section precludes the Commission or a State commis-
sion from exercising its jurisdiction under otherwise appli-
cable law to protect utility customers.
(k) ENFORCEMENT.—The Commission shall have the
same powers as set forth in sections 306 through 317 of
the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 825d–825p) to enforce
the provisions of this section.
(l) SAVINGS PROVISIONS.—
(1) IN GENERAL.—Nothing in this section pro-
hibits a person from engaging in or continuing to
engage in activities or transactions in which it is le-
gally engaged or authorized to engage on the effec-
tive date of this Act, if that person continues to
comply with the terms of any such authorization,
whether by rule or by order.
(2) EFFECT ON OTHER COMMISSION AUTHOR-
ITY.—Nothing in this section limits the authority of
the Commission under the Federal Power Act (16
U.S.C. 791a et seq.) (including section 301 of that
Act) or the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C. 717 et seq.)
(including section 8 of that Act).
(m) IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than 18 months
after the date of enactment of this Act, the Commission
shall—
(1) promulgate such regulations as may be nec-
essary or appropriate to implement this section
(other than subsection (f)); and
(2) submit to the Congress detailed rec-
ommendations on technical and conforming amend-
ments to Federal law necessary to carry out this sec-
tion and the amendments made by this section.
(n) TRANSFER
OF
RESOURCES.—All books and
records that relate primarily to the functions transferred
to the Commission under this section shall be transferred
from the Securities and Exchange Commission to the
Commission.
(o) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This section shall take effect
18 months after the date of enactment of this Act.
(p) AUTHORIZATION
OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There
are authorized to be appropriated such funds as may be
necessary to carry out this section.
(q) CONFORMING AMENDMENT TO THE FEDERAL
POWER ACT.—Section 318 of the Federal Power Act (16
U.S.C. 825q) is repealed.
SEC. 6. STRANDED COST.
As a condition of recieving Federal energy assistance,
each State that has by law or regulation adopted provi-
sions to provide for the recovery of stranded costs as de-
fined by State law or regulation shall provide, for informa-
tional purposes, all such provisions with the Federal En-
ergy Regulatory Commission and shall not change, amend,
modify or repeal such provisions for 7 years after the date
on which the provisions are provided to the Commission.
The Commission shall determine by rule the scope of Fed-
eral energy assistance covered by this section, taking care
to encourage to the fullest extent stability concerning the
recovery of stranded costs. The Commission also shall
compile and make available to the public all such provi-
sions and may require any State, as a further condition
of recieving energy assistance, to prepare and file an ex-
planation of the provision that it has placed on file.
SEC. 7. DISPOSITION OF PROPERTY.
Section 203 of the Federal Power Act is repealed.
SEC. 8. SAVINGS CLAUSE.
Nothing in this Act shall be construed to prohibit any
State from dealing with public welfare issues.
SEC. 9. STUDY.
The Secretary of Energy shall report to Congress
within 2 years after the enactment of this Act on the ex-
tent to which actions taken by the States have removed
regulatory and statutory barriers to interstate commerce
in electricity. The report shall describe any remaining bar-
riers to interstate commerce and shall make recommenda-
tions to the Congress for additional action that may be
necessary to lower and/or eliminate barriers to interstate
commerce in electricity consistent with the development of
a fully competitive marketplace.
Æ