Transcript Highlights:

• of utilities. And so with that, Mr. of utilities. And so with that, Mr.
• and utilities can take pride in. and utilities can take pride in.
• utility bills to regulated utilities utility bills to regulated utilities alone.<00:35:19.280>
• Utilities think about.
• It might be for the utilities.

Bills: HF3458, HF3777, HF3778, HF3912

Keywords: electric utilities, service areas, Tribal lands, Minnesota statute, energy regulation, utility rates, public utilities, Public Utilities Commission, PUC, ratepayer, consumer protection, affordable energy, energy affordability, ability to pay, just and reasonable rates, rate regulation, electric rates, natural gas rates, energy conservation, renewable energy

Summary: The committee approved the March 5, 2026 minutes and then took up House File 3458, as amended, which would exempt tribes from utility exclusive rights and assigned service areas. The bill’s author and the Upper Sioux community chairman said the measure was prompted by a dispute over a solar project at the tribal casino and argued the issue is really about tribal sovereignty, not solar, citing tribal civil regulatory authority and prior court cases. The amendment A1 was adopted before testimony. Testimony was split. Chairman Kevin Jensel of the Upper Sioux community strongly supported the bill, saying the tribe should not be forced to follow utility service territories and that the state should correct a long-standing omission in law. Derek Mo of the Minnesota Rural Electric Association opposed the bill, warning it would undermine the regulatory compact, reliability, long-term planning, and financing for electric service, especially in tribal areas. Justin Johns of East Central Energy also opposed the bill, but emphasized that many cooperatives have productive tribal partnerships and said his co-op has worked successfully with the Mille Lacs Band on solar, resilience, and workforce efforts; he cautioned that removing service obligations could leave difficult-to-serve areas underinvested. Members discussed whether the Public Utilities Commission process already underway should be allowed to resolve the dispute and whether the bill’s scope could extend beyond the current solar issue. The chair responded that the bill was a legislative approach to a problem that had not been resolved and said the amendment addressed concerns about removing the obligation to serve. A roll call was requested, and the committee voted to re-refer House File 3458, as amended, to the General Register.

Bills: SB271, HB511

Keywords: SB271, Alabama, municipalities, city fees, town fees, franchise fees, utility franchise, natural gas, manufactured gas, gas utility, public streets, public places, right-of-way, municipal consent, gross receipts tax, license tax, privilege tax, Public Service Commission, PSC, utility regulation

Transcript Highlights:

• The city will utilities for the project.
• Jail capacity and utilization vary significantly across the state.
• Second, regional systems can improve bed utilization.
• , ongoing operational<01:08:54.640> cost,<01:08:54.960> staffing,<01:08:55.600> utilities
• , operational cost, staffing, utilities, operational cost, staffing, utilities, medical<01:08:56.799

Bills: HF3700, HF3982, HF3927, HF3933, HF3949, HF4238, HF4275, HF4476, HF4504

Keywords: Duluth, Lake Superior Zoo, capital improvements, funding, bonds, appropriations, capital investment, port development, grant caps, state assistance, navigation facilities, Dakota County, state bonds, park improvements, infrastructure, transportation, safety, congestion, water infrastructure, bond issuance

Transcript Highlights:

• First, we will consider S.298, the Returning SBA to Main Street Act, which relocates and reallocates
• The Small Business Administrator to only relocate employees if the location determines that doing so
• There is no direction as to what types of employees should be prioritized in relocation.
• There is no plan for how or where employees Should be relocated. The list goes on and on.
• SBA programs. of small business owners and homeowners who have utilized SBA programs.

Bills: SB298, SB300, SB371

Keywords: employee relocation, headquarters, Small Business Administration, Washington metropolitan area, telework, cost reduction, rural markets, geographic diversity, disaster loans, accountability, reporting, loan forgiveness, federal funding, SBA reforms, small business, disaster assistance, transparency, report publication, government accountability

Transcript Highlights:

• We've still been working with utilities.
• And we will see what we can put together utilizing the brilliant legal minds at the AG's office, the

Bills: SB2339

Keywords: wildfire mitigation, utility liability, strict liability, electric utility, public service commission, PSC, rural electric cooperative, municipal utility, transmission provider, vegetation management, power lines, reclosers, electrical safety, wildfire prevention, grid reliability, public safety, first responders, ANSI A300, National Electrical Safety Code, community outreach

Summary: The Energy and Natural Resources Committee continued work on House Bill 1459, which concerns rare earth and critical mineral recovery from North Dakota lignite coal. Testimony from UND researcher Dan Ludo and industry representative David Straely focused on the urgency of developing the process quickly, the technical differences between extracting minerals from coal versus ash, and the potential value of elements such as terbium, dysprosium, gallium, germanium, and synthetic graphite. Straely argued the bill is constitutional, limited to minerals within the coal seam, and needed to avoid years of quiet title litigation and provide certainty for development and compensation to royalty owners. Committee members raised questions about landowner rights, compensation levels, possible amendments from the Department of Trust Lands, and whether the bill should be modified to address constitutional concerns or sunset provisions. No final action was taken on HB 1459; the chair said parties could work on language until Monday before the committee revisits it. The committee then returned to House Bill 1579, a high-load study bill with a possible energy infrastructure investment amendment. Jody Smith of the Retirement and Investment Office presented updated language adding guardrails for in-state infrastructure investing, including requiring approved projects to be underwritten and managed by a qualified investment manager or financial institution and to follow the Legacy Fund investment policy. Members discussed whether the amendment had been shared with the House sponsor and noted that the related bill 1330 was still pending, so HB 1579 was being held for the time being. Finally, the committee took up House Bill 1566, which had an amendment from the Agriculture Commissioner’s office. The committee adopted the amendment 7-0, then passed a due-pass motion on the amended bill and referred it to Appropriations, also by a 7-0 vote. Members discussed the bill’s fiscal impact, including an estimated $580,000 for two FTEs over two years, and clarified that the study component remains in the bill. Senator Gerhardt was assigned to carry the measure.

Bills: SB137

Keywords: sewer, wastewater, public service commission, PSC, utility regulation, private utility, regulated utility, affiliated system, consolidation, rate jurisdiction, rate setting, wastewater management entity, common ownership, control, Jefferson County Board of Health, local constitutional amendment, public utilities, Alabama Code Title 37, Alabama Code Title 22, certification

Transcript Highlights:

• Members, I'm here today with a local bill to update and streamline the Johnson County Special Utility
• As you know, members, special utility districts are created to provide utility services like water, wastewater
• HB 5671 allows the Johnson County Special Utility District to issue bonds.
• I'll just give a little bit of background on Johnson County Special Utility District.
• their water rights to the Public Utility Commission.

Bills: HB3115, HB5671, HB5693, SB790, SB1055, SB1302, SB1504, SB1625, SB1663, SB2692

Keywords: Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District, groundwater, water wells, domestic well, livestock well, exempt well, metering device, well meter, groundwater conservation district, Special District Local Laws Code, Water Code, Section 36.117, groundwater regulation, water rights, aquifer management, municipal utility, retail public utility, groundwater export, water supply contract, election

Summary: The Committee on Natural Resources heard testimony on a series of water, utility, and groundwater-related bills. Early items included HB 5693, which would let Drainage District 7 hold board elections in November of odd-numbered years when a countywide election is occurring, and HB 5671, which would update the Johnson County Special Utility District by clarifying board eligibility, allowing bond issuance, and removing redundant TCEQ approval language to reduce costs and delays. Both bills were left pending after brief testimony from bill sponsors and local witnesses. The committee also heard SB 1504, which would update the Gulf Coast Authority to allow video-conference participation in meetings, and SB 1302, aimed at closing a TCEQ permitting loophole that allowed dischargers with prior denials or suspensions to reapply through an automated process without meaningful review. SB 2692 drew substantial discussion: it would change the signature threshold for outside-city-limits customers appealing municipal utility rates to the PUC by customer class. Valero supported the bill as a way to avoid requiring large-volume users to gather signatures from unrelated residential customers, while the City of Corpus Christi opposed it, arguing that lowering the threshold to one customer could trigger expensive appeals costing $500,000 to $1 million. A PUC witness said such cases are increasing and that the agency would need additional staff under the fiscal note. SB 790, creating a simplified PUC complaint process for small water and wastewater billing disputes, and SB 1663, expanding TCEQ notice requirements for nearby residents when groundwater contamination is discovered, were also heard and left pending. Additional bills included HB 3115, clarifying that the Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District cannot require meters on exempt domestic or livestock wells; SB 1055, raising the Southeast Texas Groundwater Conservation District’s production fee cap from 1 cent to 7 cents per 1,000 gallons; and SB 1625, requiring private water and wastewater utilities to report cybersecurity incidents to TCEQ and DIR. The committee then took up pending business and adopted a substitute for SB 7, which made several changes to water fund use, eminent domain coordination, and EDAP-related provisions, and voted 10-0 to report it favorably. The committee also adopted a substitute for HB 2347, a county water conservation program bill, and reported it favorably 9-1. HB 5675 and SB 2476 were each reported favorably 10-0. The meeting concluded with adjournment.

Bills: HB3115, HB5671, HB5693, SB790, SB1055, SB1302, SB1504, SB1625, SB1663, SB2692

Keywords: Cow Creek Groundwater Conservation District, groundwater, water wells, domestic well, livestock well, exempt well, metering device, well meter, groundwater conservation district, Special District Local Laws Code, Water Code, Section 36.117, groundwater regulation, water rights, aquifer management, municipal utility, retail public utility, groundwater export, water supply contract, election

Transcript Highlights:

• public utilities commission as well. public utilities commission as well.
• When the regulated for-profit utilities When the regulated for-profit utilities need<00:04:05.920
• designed to balance interests, the interests of the utilities and the utilities' customers.
• of the utilities and the utilities<00:24:36.000> customers.
• by a public utility?

Bills: HF4236, HF4122, HF4377

Keywords: public utility, interim rates, utility rates, rate case, general rate case, Minnesota Public Utilities Commission, PUC, rate increase cap, rate freeze, refunds, customer refunds, ratepayer protection, electric utility, gas utility, regulated utility, ratemaking, return on equity, rate base, test year, rate design

Bills: HB443

Keywords: HB443, Underground Damage Prevention Program, One-Call Notification System, 811, utility locate, dig law, excavation safety, damage prevention, underground utilities, pipeline safety, public utilities, buried facilities, excavation notice, demolition notice, Alabama Public Service Commission, sunset extension, utility protection, locate request, call before you dig, gas pipeline

Transcript Highlights:

• In addition to the fees, the utility pays a... ...the utility pays a separate 3% gross receipt tax and

Bills: SB271, SB295, SB309

Keywords: SB271, Alabama, municipalities, city fees, town fees, franchise fees, utility franchise, natural gas, manufactured gas, gas utility, public streets, public places, right-of-way, municipal consent, gross receipts tax, license tax, privilege tax, Public Service Commission, PSC, utility regulation

Transcript Highlights:

• Rate cases are a vital part of utility regulation that allow a utility to seek recovery of its reasonable
• When those utilities are acquired by larger utilities, if a cap at 20% is in place, that infrastructure
• Will be placed on the utility.
• So the investor-owned utilities are, are, are, um, a private company versus a municipally owned utility
• So if this this utility, this privately held utility is no longer capable of financially managing the

Bills: HB 29, HB 685, HB 1633, HB 1689, HB 1690, HB 1918, HB 2010, HB 2500, HB 2608, HB 2626

Keywords: water audit, water loss, water loss mitigation plan, municipally owned utility, municipal utility, water conservation, Texas Water Development Board, TCEQ, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, water leakage, leak detection, billing data accuracy, utility validation, water audit validation, water scarcity, water management, infrastructure, public utility, conservation plan, administrative penalty

Transcript Highlights:

• , El Paso Water Utilities, and the...
• We're willing to act as a utility on this issue.
• So it's part of the utilities' water loss.
• The remaining utilities are struggling.
• These other utilities also have not announced any kind of plan.

Bills: HB29, HB685, HB1633, HB1689, HB1690, HB1918, HB2010, HB2500, HB2608, HB2626, HB29

Keywords: water audit, water loss, water loss mitigation plan, municipally owned utility, municipal utility, water conservation, Texas Water Development Board, TCEQ, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, water leakage, leak detection, billing data accuracy, utility validation, water audit validation, water scarcity, water management, infrastructure, public utility, conservation plan, administrative penalty

Transcript Highlights:

• Rate cases are a vital part of utility regulation that allow a utility to seek.
• When those utilities are acquired by larger utilities, if a cap at 20% is imposed, it could hinder the
• Systems like Texas water utilities and some of the other larger utilities come in, there is an improvement
• We have a division of utility outreach and a contractor that assists utilities, reaches out to them,
• A large rate case with a lot of participants for a small utility, for some of these class D utilities

Bills: HB29, HB685, HB1633, HB1689, HB1690, HB1918, HB2010, HB2500, HB2608, HB2626, HB29

Keywords: water audit, water loss, water loss mitigation plan, municipally owned utility, municipal utility, water conservation, Texas Water Development Board, TCEQ, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, water leakage, leak detection, billing data accuracy, utility validation, water audit validation, water scarcity, water management, infrastructure, public utility, conservation plan, administrative penalty

Transcript Highlights:

• I'd like to welcome everyone to our Utilities Committee meeting.
• being passed on to residential, industrial, agricultural, and commercial ratepayers through higher utility
• So that's a legal term used in the utility world, basically saying that the group that's causing extra
• The Corporation Commission shall enforce the utility and ratepayer protection provisions, and the citizens
• House Bill 2989 allows electric utilities to prepare a wildfire mitigation plan.

Bills: HB2989, HB3724, HB2992, HB3464, HB4246, HB3989

Keywords: high-demand facilities, electric utilities, public infrastructure, water management, taxpayer-funded subsidies, decommissioning plans, local control, citizen initiative, referendum, HB2992, Data Center Customer Ratepayer Protection Act of 2026, Corporation Commission, Oklahoma utilities, ratepayer protection, data centers, artificial intelligence computing, AI data centers, cryptocurrency mining, large load customer, electric rates

Transcript Highlights:

• able to stop in there so that people be able to stop in there so that people be able to stop and utilize
• them and do whatever it is and utilize them and do whatever it is and utilize them and do whatever it
• Exhibits of different stuff that they had to have the rental was 2,650,000 they pretty good for utilities
• big old they pretty good for utilities big old building like that one building like that one building

Bills: SB 26, SB 28, SJR 36, SB 616, SB 565, SB 384, SB 28, SB 28, SR 131, SR 168, SR 174, SR 175

Keywords: teacher compensation, education funding, public school educators, teacher retention, teacher designation, lottery, gambling, internet gaming, mobile application, criminal offenses, aquifer, water management, Edwards Aquifer, sustainability, regulatory framework, SB 565, Texas Water Code, TCEQ, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, compliance agreement

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• their perspective, Robert, on some of the... issues, how they feel about what's going on, and then utilize
• As part of what you utilize as part of your input. in decisions that you make concerning bills and votes

Bills: SB26, SB28, SJR36, SB616, SB565, SB384, SB28, SB28, SR131, SR168, SR174, SR175

Keywords: teacher compensation, education funding, public school educators, teacher retention, teacher designation, lottery, gambling, internet gaming, mobile application, criminal offenses, aquifer, water management, Edwards Aquifer, sustainability, regulatory framework, SB 565, Texas Water Code, TCEQ, Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, compliance agreement

Bills: HB433, HB443

Keywords: tax distribution, Talladega County, economic development, public safety, rural infrastructure, HB443, Underground Damage Prevention Program, One-Call Notification System, 811, utility locate, dig law, excavation safety, damage prevention, underground utilities, pipeline safety, public utilities, buried facilities, excavation notice, demolition notice, Alabama Public Service Commission

Transcript Highlights:

• is the bill we previously heard from Representative Slauson related to the dissolution of a public utility
• When those developments go in, we utilize the U.T. EGCD, which Mr.
• legal, engineering, and administrative review, construction oversight, and required infrastructure relocations

Bills: SB612, SB1855, SB2568, SB3058, HB49

Keywords: SB 612, Texas Water Code, Section 49.2127, conservation and reclamation district, water district, reclamation district, developer fees, pipeline construction, water pipeline, sewer pipeline, associated infrastructure, subdivision infrastructure, cost recovery, fee cap, actual reasonable documented costs, engineering fees, legal fees, inspection fees, infrastructure relocation, utility connections

Transcript Highlights:

• This bill proposes a fundamental change in how utility relocation costs are handled in municipal rights-of-way
• Specifically, it would shift the financial burden of relocating private utilities from the utility themselves
• Utility relocation costs are. Not a small line item.
• Is there a commitment when a Utility for-profit utility says, "All right, we're gonna make an agreement
• The issue of relocation and how those utility costs are handled is significant.

Bills: HB3713, HB3953, HB4055, HB4272

Keywords: telecommunications, local exchange companies, universal service fund, rate maintenance, business expansion, broadband access, internet service, multiunit residential properties, urban areas, affordability programs, fiber-optic cables, public land, construction permits, environmental impact, notification requirements, municipal projects, infrastructure, facility relocation, public right-of-way, 1184