Florida Senate - 2020                                    SB 1710
       
       
        
       By Senator Torres
       
       
       
       
       
       15-01609-20                                           20201710__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to utility construction contracting
    3         services; creating s. 366.971, F.S.; defining terms;
    4         prohibiting public utilities or electric utilities
    5         from engaging in construction contracting services,
    6         from providing affiliates or utility contractors with
    7         certain products or services related to construction
    8         contracting, and from using or allowing affiliates or
    9         utility contractors to use certain identifying
   10         information related to the utility to engage in
   11         construction contracting services; prohibiting
   12         affiliates and utility contractors from using certain
   13         assets of public utilities or electric utilities to
   14         engage in construction contracting services except
   15         under certain circumstances; requiring affiliates and
   16         utility contractors to maintain certain business
   17         records separate and distinct from those of the public
   18         utility or electric utility; providing construction;
   19         providing an effective date.
   20          
   21  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   22  
   23         Section 1. Section 366.971, Florida Statutes, is created to
   24  read:
   25         366.971 Public utility or electric utility construction
   26  contracting services prohibited; exception; penalty.—
   27         (1) As used in this section, the term:
   28         (a) “Affiliate or utility contractor” includes an
   29  individual who provides construction contracting services and
   30  whose business is owned or controlled by, or under common
   31  control with, a public utility or an electric utility that
   32  provides regulated utility services in this state or any other
   33  state.
   34         (b) “Electric utility” has the same meaning as in s.
   35  366.02(2).
   36         (c) “Public utility” has the same meaning as in s.
   37  366.02(1).
   38         (2) A public utility or an electric utility may not do any
   39  of the following:
   40         (a) Engage in construction contracting services under
   41  chapter 489.
   42         (b) Provide an affiliate or a utility contractor with
   43  bookkeeping, billing, mailing, financing, legal, or insurance
   44  products or services that are related to construction
   45  contracting, including service warranty or home warranty
   46  products or services under chapter 634 or construction liens
   47  under part I of chapter 713.
   48         (c) Use, or allow an affiliate or a utility contractor to
   49  use, the name, trade name, service mark, logo, or slogan of the
   50  public utility or electric utility to engage in construction
   51  contracting services.
   52         (d) Engage in, or assist an affiliate or a utility
   53  contractor in engaging in, construction contracting services in
   54  a manner that subsidizes the activities of the public utility,
   55  electric utility, affiliate, or utility contractor to the extent
   56  of changing the rates or charges for the public utility’s or
   57  electric utility’s regulated services above or below the rates
   58  or charges that would be in effect if the public utility or
   59  electric utility were not engaged in or assisting any affiliate
   60  or utility contractor in engaging in such activities.
   61         (3) An affiliate or a utility contractor may not do any of
   62  the following:
   63         (a) Use a facility, an electronic processing or
   64  communication mechanism, a public relations or marketing product
   65  or service, a vehicle, a service tool, an instrument, an
   66  employee, or any other public utility or electric utility asset,
   67  the cost of which is recoverable in the regulated rate for
   68  utility service, to engage in construction contracting services,
   69  unless the public utility or electric utility is compensated for
   70  the use of the asset at the utility’s cost.
   71         (b) Use or combine bookkeeping, billing, mailing,
   72  financing, legal, or insurance products or services that are
   73  procured or owned by a public utility or an electric utility for
   74  any activity related to construction contracting.
   75         (4) An affiliate or a utility contractor shall maintain its
   76  accounts, bookkeeping, and records separate and distinct from
   77  those of the public utility or electric utility.
   78         (5) This section may not be construed to prohibit a public
   79  utility or an electric utility from providing emergency
   80  services, providing a service that is required by law, providing
   81  a service that is exempt from construction contracting licensure
   82  under s. 489.103(5), or providing a program pursuant to an
   83  existing tariff, rule, or order of the commission.
   84         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2020.