Current through Reg. 50, No. 13; March 28, 2025
(a) Application of fees. Pursuant to Texas
Utilities Code, §
121.211, the
Commission establishes a pipeline safety and regulatory program fee, to be
assessed annually against operators of natural gas distribution pipelines and
pipeline facilities and natural gas master metered pipelines and pipeline
facilities subject to the Commission's jurisdiction under Texas Utilities Code,
Title 3. The total amount of revenue estimated to be collected under this
section does not exceed the amount the Commission estimates to be necessary to
recover the costs of administering the pipeline safety and regulatory programs
under Texas Utilities Code, Title 3, excluding costs that are fully funded by
federal sources for any fiscal year.
(b) Natural gas distribution systems. The
Commission hereby assesses each operator of a natural gas distribution system
an annual pipeline safety and regulatory program fee of $1.00 for each service
(service line) in service at the end of each calendar year as reported by each
system operator on the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) Gas Distribution
Annual Report, Form PHMSA F7100.1-1 due on March 15 of each year.
(1) Each operator of a natural gas
distribution system shall calculate the annual pipeline safety and regulatory
program total to be paid to the Commission by multiplying the $1.00 fee by the
number of services listed in Part B, Section 3, of Form PHMSA F7100.1-1, due on
March 15 of each year.
(2) Each
operator of a natural gas distribution system shall remit to the Commission on
March 15 of each year the amount calculated under paragraph (1) of this
subsection. Payments shall be made using the Commission's online application
available on the Commission's website.
(3) Each operator of a natural gas
distribution system shall recover, by a surcharge to its existing rates, the
amount the operator paid to the Commission under paragraph (1) of this
subsection. The surcharge:
(A) shall be a flat
rate, one-time surcharge;
(B) shall
not be billed before the operator remits the pipeline safety and regulatory
program fee to the Commission;
(C)
shall be applied in the billing cycle or cycles immediately following the date
on which the operator paid the Commission;
(D) shall not exceed $1.00 per service or
service line; and
(E) shall not be
billed to a state agency, as that term is defined in Texas Utilities Code,
§
101.003.
(4) No later than 90 days after
the last billing cycle in which the pipeline safety and regulatory program fee
surcharge is billed to customers, each operator of a natural gas distribution
system shall file with the Commission's Oversight and Safety Division a report
showing:
(A) the pipeline safety and
regulatory program fee amount paid to the Commission;
(B) the unit rate and total amount of the
surcharge billed to each customer;
(C) the date or dates on which the surcharge
was billed to customers; and
(D)
the total amount collected from customers from the surcharge.
(5) Each operator of a natural gas
distribution system that is a utility subject to the jurisdiction of the
Commission pursuant to Texas Utilities Code, Chapters 101 - 105, shall file a
generally applicable tariff for its surcharge in conformance with the
requirements of §
7.315 of this title (relating to
Filing of Tariffs).
(6) Amounts
recovered from customers under this subsection by an investor-owned natural gas
distribution system or a cooperatively owned natural gas distribution system
shall not be included in the revenue or gross receipts of the system for the
purpose of calculating municipal franchise fees or any tax imposed under
Subchapter B, Chapter 182, Tax Code, or under Chapter 122, nor shall such
amounts be subject to a sales and use tax imposed by Chapter 151, Tax Code, or
Subtitle C, Title 3, Tax Code.
(c) Natural gas master meter systems. The
Commission hereby assesses each natural gas master meter system an annual
pipeline safety and regulatory program fee of $100 per master meter system.
(1) Each operator of a natural gas master
meter system shall remit to the Commission the annual pipeline safety and
regulatory program fee of $100 per master meter system no later than June 30 of
each year. Payments shall be made using the Commission's online application
available on the Commission's website.
(2) The Commission shall send an invoice to
each affected natural gas master meter system operator no later than April 30
of each year as a courtesy reminder. The failure of a natural gas master meter
system operator to receive an invoice shall not exempt the natural gas master
meter system operator from its obligation to remit to the Commission the annual
pipeline safety and regulatory program fee on June 30 each year.
(3) Each operator of a natural gas master
meter system shall recover as a surcharge to its existing rates the amounts
paid to the Commission under paragraph (1) of this subsection.
(4) No later than 90 days after the last
billing cycle in which the pipeline safety and regulatory program fee surcharge
is billed to customers, each natural gas master meter system operator shall
file with the Oversight and Safety Division a report showing:
(A) the pipeline safety and regulatory
program fee amount paid to the Commission;
(B) the unit rate and total amount of the
surcharge billed to each customer;
(C) the date or dates on which the surcharge
was billed to customers; and
(D)
the total amount collected from customers from the surcharge.
(d) Late payment
penalty. If the operator of a natural gas distribution system or a natural gas
master meter system does not remit payment of the annual pipeline safety and
regulatory program fee to the Commission within 30 days of the due date, the
Commission shall assess a late payment penalty of 10 percent of the total
assessment due under subsection (b) or (c) of this section, as applicable, and
shall notify the operator of the total amount due to the Commission.