SB 5639 - DIGEST

     Declares an intent to:  (1) Allow all retail electric customers to select their electricity supplier of choice no later than July 1, 1999;

     (2) permit new entities, including power marketers and others, to sell electricity directly to retail electric customers;

     (3) impose on electric utilities an obligation, similar to a common carrier, to provide nondiscriminatory and nonpreferential service in operating electric distribution facilities;

     (4) preserve the obligations of electric utilities to operate safe and reliable distribution facilities;

     (5) retain local control over publicly owned utilities and cooperatives that distribute electricity to retail customers;

     (6) establish procedures and deadlines for utilities;

     (7) ensure that the benefits of a competitive market are enjoyed by all customer classes;

     (8) provide electric utilities with a reasonable opportunity to recover a portion of their uneconomic utility investments during a five-year period;

     (9) deregulate the pricing of electric generation for electrical companies after July 1, 1999, to allow sellers and buyers to negotiate market-based transactions;

     (10) maintain regulation of rates for local distribution facilities and ancillary services, and prohibit a utility from shifting unrelated costs onto the rates of its distribution facilities and ancillary services;

     (11) permit customers to aggregate or pool their purchases;

     (12) adopt consumer information provisions to ensure that all customers receive itemized bills with unbundled rates; and

     (13) provide retail electric customers with sufficient information to enable them to compare and select among products and services in the electricity market.