Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:1333 – A. The corporation may create express special public trusts for the furtherance and accomplishment of the corporation’s function and purpose pursuant to this Part.
Terms Used In Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:1333
- Affiliate: means , when used with reference to a specified person, an entity that directly or indirectly through one or more intermediaries controls or is controlled by or is under common control with the entity specified. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:1332
- Beneficiary: A person who is entitled to receive the benefits or proceeds of a will, trust, insurance policy, retirement plan, annuity, or other contract. Source: OCC
- Commission: means the Public Service Commission or, solely with respect to an electric or gas utility furnishing electric or natural gas service within the city of New Orleans, the council of the city of New Orleans, as applicable. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:1312
- Contributed proceeds: means the monies contributed by the corporation to a trust. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:1332
- Corporation: A legal entity owned by the holders of shares of stock that have been issued, and that can own, receive, and transfer property, and carry on business in its own name.
- Corporation: means the Louisiana Utilities Restoration Corporation. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:1312
- Escrow: Money given to a third party to be held for payment until certain conditions are met.
- Financing order: means an order of the commission, if granted by the commission in its sole discretion, which allows for all of the following:
(a) The assessment, imposition, and periodic adjustment of system restoration charges by the corporation and the collection thereof by a utility as an agent on behalf of the corporation. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:1312
- Preferred interests: means preferred equity interests in a utility affiliate that pay preferred dividends to the trust that purchased those preferred equity interests. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:1332
- Purchase proceeds: means the proceeds received by a utility affiliate from the sale of its preferred interests to a trust. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:1332
- Related bonds: means , with respect to a trust, the system restoration bonds that funded the net proceeds transferred by an issuer to the corporation and then contributed by the corporation to that trust. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:1332
- Related utility: means , with respect to a trust, the utility that is a beneficiary of such trust and that obtains a financing order pursuant to this Subpart. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:1332
- State: means the state of Louisiana. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:1312
- Storm: means a named tropical storm or hurricane, ice or snow storm, flood, or other significant weather or natural disaster that occurred during calendar year 2005 or that occurs thereafter. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:1312
- System restoration activity: means any activity or activities by or on behalf of a utility in connection with the restoration of service associated with utility outages affecting customers of a utility as the result of a storm or storms, including but not limited to mobilization, staging, and construction, reconstruction, replacement, or repair of generation, transmission, distribution, or general plant facilities. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:1312
- System restoration bonds: means bonds, notes, certificates of participation, or other evidences of indebtedness that are issued pursuant to this Part by an issuer at the request of the corporation and a utility, and authorized by a financing order, the net proceeds of which are transferred to the corporation and used as provided in this Part, and which are secured by and payable from system restoration property. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:1312
- System restoration costs: means , if requested by the utility, and as may be approved by the commission, those prudent incremental costs incurred or to be incurred by a utility in undertaking a system restoration activity, including associated carrying costs. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:1312
- System restoration property: means all of the following:
(a) All rights and interests of the corporation arising out of this Part, including the right to receive system restoration charges billed and collected by the utility on the behalf of the corporation as authorized in the financing order, the right to enforce the obligations of the utility to collect and service the system restoration charges, and the right to obtain periodic adjustments to such charges as provided in the financing order and this Part. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:1312
- Trust: means an express special public trust created only pursuant to and in compliance with the provisions of this Subpart. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:1332
- Utility: means an electric utility or a gas utility. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:1312
- Utility affiliate: means an affiliate of the utility that obtains a financing order pursuant to this Subpart. See Louisiana Revised Statutes 45:1332
A. The corporation may create express special public trusts for the furtherance and accomplishment of the corporation‘s function and purpose pursuant to this Part.
B.(1) Notwithstanding any provisions to the contrary in Subpart A of this Part, including without limitation La. Rev. Stat. 45:1316(A), 1318(C)(5)(a) and (E), and 1322(B), (D), and (E), a financing order may require that the corporation shall contribute to a trust all of the net proceeds from the issuance of system restoration bonds and the trust shall use all such contributed proceeds to purchase preferred interests from a utility affiliate of the related utility.
(2) Notwithstanding any provisions to the contrary in Subpart A of this Part, La. Rev. Stat. 45:1318(C)(5)(a) and 1321(K) shall not apply to securitization financing pursuant to this Subpart and a utility affiliate that sells its preferred interests to a trust shall use those purchase proceeds for corporate purposes supporting the related utility’s financial strength and stability and thereby promote the economic welfare of the citizens of the state.
(3) In order for this Subpart to be used, a utility shall request in its application to the commission pursuant to La. Rev. Stat. 45:1318, or in a supplement thereto, that a trust shall be used by the corporation in its distribution of system restoration bonds’ proceeds.
C. A financing order may create system restoration property pursuant to this Part without including all of the requirements of La. Rev. Stat. 45:1318(C)(5)(a), if the financing order includes all of the requirements of La. Rev. Stat. 45:1337(A), and if the commission, in such financing order, requires the corporation to transfer the net proceeds of the system restoration bonds to a trust that has the related utility as a beneficiary, subject to the express conditions and requirements set forth in the financing order that, upon receipt of the purchase proceeds by the utility affiliate from that trust, such related utility shall do all of the following:
(1) Set aside in a restricted escrow account, in an amount and manner required by the commission, any monies or investments used to fund the related utility’s storm damage reserve.
(2) Not seek to recover the system restoration costs approved by that applicable financing order, to the extent of the system restoration bonds proceeds, from any of its commission-jurisdictional customers.
(3) Flow through to the benefit of its customers in a manner determined by the commission the amount of any insurance proceeds, federal government grants, or similar source of permanent reimbursement received by the related utility after the issuance of the financing order relating to that same system restoration activity and those same system restoration costs.
D. A financing order that is issued pursuant to this Subpart shall require that, upon receipt of the purchase proceeds by a utility affiliate, the related utility fully release any claims or rights that the related utility has to recover, in any manner, from its commission-jurisdictional customers any of the system restoration costs covered by the financing order, to the extent of the amount of the related bonds‘ proceeds.
Acts 2021, No. 293, §3, eff. June 14, 2021.