text: SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
  
      This Act may be cited as the ``Federal Power Asset Privatization 
  Act of 1995''.
  
  SEC. 2. FINDINGS.
  
      The Congress finds that:
              (1) the Federal Power Marketing Administrations, over the 
          years, have served to help bring electricity to many areas in 
          the Nation;
              (2) they have done so with the investment of the American 
          taxpayer;
              (3) the necessity of federally owned power generation and 
          transmission facilities has passed and halting this practice is 
          in the best national interest of the United States;
              (4) in fairness to the longtime consumers of Federal Power 
          Marketing Administrations, any process of sale should be open 
          to them;
              (5) the taxpayers, through investing in the construction 
          and operation, have established equity in the facilities; and
              (6) this equity entitles the American taxpayer to expect 
          the highest possible return in the sale process.
  
  SEC. 3. SALE OF ASSETS.
  
      (a) Sale of Assets.--The Secretary of Energy (hereinafter referred 
  to as ``the Secretary'') is authorized and directed to take such steps 
  as necessary to sell all electric power generation facilities and 
  transmission facilities, that are currently owned and operated by 
  Federal departments and agencies under the supervision of, or 
  coordination with, the Federal Power Marketing Administrations. No 
  foreign person or corporation may purchase any such facilities; such 
  facilities may be sold only to a United States citizen or to a 
  corporation or partnership organized under the laws of a State. After 
  such sales are completed the Secretary shall terminate the operations 
  of the Federal Power Marketing Administrations. The heads of other 
  affected Federal departments and agencies shall assist the Secretary of 
  Energy in implementing the sales authorized by this section.
      (b) Price; Structure of Sale.--
              (1) Price.--The Secretary shall obtain the highest possible 
          price for such facilities. In determining the highest possible 
          price, the value of future tax revenues shall be included.
              (2) Retention of financial advisor.--In order to conduct 
          the sales authorized by this section in such manner as will 
          produce the highest possible price for the facilities to be 
          sold consistent with this Act, within 30 days of enactment of 
          this section, the Secretary shall, through a competitive 
          bidding process, retain an experienced private sector firm to 
          serve as financial advisor to the Secretary with respect to 
          such sales.
              (3) Financial advisor's report.--Within 90 days of being 
          retained by the Secretary, the financial advisor shall provide 
          to the Secretary a report containing--
                      (A) a description of those assets described in 
                  subsection (a) which, in the opinion of the financial 
                  advisor, can be successfully transferred to private 
                  sector ownership or operation;
                      (B) the value of each such asset, calculated on the 
                  basis of the valuation method or methods which the 
                  financial advisor deems most appropriate to a 
                  particular asset;
                      (C) the appropriate alternative transactional 
                  methods for transferring each such asset to private 
                  sector ownership or operation;
                      (D) the amount of proceeds which the financial 
                  advisor estimates would be paid to the United States 
                  Government as a result of such transaction, including 
                  the present value of future revenue from taxes and any 
                  other future payments to be made to the United States 
                  Government; and
                      (E) an estimate of the average market rate for 
                  wholesale electric power sales within each region 
                  served by a Federal Power Marketing Administration.
      (c) Time of Sale.--Sales of facilities under this section shall be 
  conducted in accordance with the time of sale schedule set forth in 
  section 4. At least one year before the date of any sale specified in 
  such schedule, the Secretary, in consultation with the Secretary of the 
  Army and the Secretary of the Interior, and based on the 
  recommendations of the financial advisor, shall select the facilities 
  or groups of facilities to be sold and establish the terms and 
  conditions of the sale.
      (d) Former Employees of PMAS.--It is the sense of the Congress that 
  the purchaser of any such facilities should offer to employ, where 
  possible, former employees of the Federal Power Marketing 
  Administrations in connection with the operation of the facilities 
  following their purchase.
      (e) Proceeds.--The Secretary of Energy shall deposit sale proceeds 
  in the Treasury of the United States to the credit of miscellaneous 
  receipts.
      (f) Preparation.--The Secretary of Energy is authorized to use 
  funds appropriated to the Department of Energy for the Federal Power 
  Marketing Administrations and funds otherwise appropriated to other 
  Federal agencies for power generation and related activities in order 
  to prepare these assets for sale and conveyance. Such preparation shall 
  provide sufficient title to ensure the beneficial use, enjoyment, and 
  occupancy to the purchasers of the assets to be sold and shall include 
  identification of all associated laws and regulations to be amended for 
  the purpose of these sales. The Secretary of Energy shall undertake a 
  study of the effect of sales of facilities under this Act on existing 
  contracts for the sale of electric power generated at such facilities.
      (g) Reporting of Sales.--Not later than one year after the sale of 
  the assets of each Federal Power Marketing Administration in accordance 
  with this Act, the Secretary of Energy shall--
              (1) complete the business of, and close out, such 
          administration; and
              (2) prepare and submit to Congress a report documenting the 
          sales.
      (h) Treatment of Sales For Purposes of Certain Laws.--The sales of 
  assets under this Act shall not be considered a disposal of Federal 
  surplus property under the following provisions of law:
              (1) Section 203 of the Federal Property and Administrative 
          Services Act of 1949 (40 U.S.C. 484).
              (2) Section 13 of the Surplus Property Act of 1944 (50 
          U.S.C. App. 1622).
  
  SEC. 4. TIME OF SALES.
  
      (a) Schedule.--During the next 5 years, the Secretary of Energy 
  shall complete the sale of the electric power generation and 
  transmission assets referred to in section 3 in accordance with the 
  following schedule:
  
  
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
             Power Administration                 Sale Completion Date    
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
    Alaska                                      Before September 30, 1996 
    Southeastern                                Before September 30, 1997 
    Southwestern                                Before September 30, 1998 
    Western Area                                Before September 30, 1999 
    Bonneville                                  Before September 30, 2000 
  ------------------------------------------------------------------------
  
      (b) Unexpended Balances.--Following the sale of the assets of each 
  of the Federal Power Marketing Administrations and their associated 
  power generation facilities, the Secretary of Energy shall return the 
  unexpended balances of funds appropriated for that administration to 
  the Treasury of the United States.
  
  SEC. 5. RATE STABILIZATION FOR AFFECTED CONSUMERS.
  
      So that the affected consumers of each Federal Power Marketing 
  Administration are not impacted by severe rate increases, each 
  purchaser of electric power generation facilities providing electric 
  power to customers within any region shall be required, as part of the 
  agreement to purchase such facilities, to insure that the price at 
  which electric power is sold to such consumers does not increase above 
  the baseline price at a rate greater than 10 percent annually. For 
  purposes of this section, the term ``baseline price'' means the price 
  for the sale of electric power to a consumer that is in effect on the 
  date of the sale of the facility. The preceding sentence shall cease to 
  apply when the price at which electric power is sold to a consumer is 
  at least equal to the average market rate for wholesale electric power 
  sales within the region concerned, as determined by the Financial 
  Advisor.
  
  SEC. 6. LICENSING OF PROJECTS TO PRESERVE CURRENT OPERATING CONDITIONS.
  
      (a) Original License.--Simultaneously with the sale of 
  hydroelectric generation facility under this Act, the Federal Energy 
  Regulatory Commission shall issue an original license under part 1 of 
  the Federal Power Act (16 U.S.C. 791a-823b) to the purchaser for the 
  construction, operation, and maintenance of such facility. Such license 
  shall expire on the date 10 years after the date of the sale facility 
  and shall contain standard terms and conditions for hydroelectric power 
  licenses issued under part 1 of such Act for facilities installed at 
  Federal water projects, together with such additional terms and 
  conditions as the Commission deems necessary, in consultation with the 
  department or agency which operates such water project, to further the 
  project purposes and insure that the project will continue operations 
  in the same manner and subject to the same procedures, contracts, and 
  other requirements as were applicable prior to the sale. The Commission 
  shall publish such license terms and conditions for each facility to be 
  sold under this Act as promptly as practicable after the date of the 
  enactment of this Act but not later than one year prior to the date 
  established for the sale of the facility.
      (b) License Required.--Notwithstanding any other provision of law, 
  the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission shall have jursidiction under 
  part 1 of the Federal Power Act over any hydroelectric generation 
  facility sold under this Act.
  
  SEC. 7. ENABLING FEDERAL STUDIES.
  
      Section 505 of the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act 
  of 1993 (Public Law 102-377) is hereby repealed.
  
  SEC. 8. DEFINITION OF POWER GENERATION FACILITY.
  
      For purposes of this Act, the term ``power generation facility'' 
  means a facility used for the generation of electric energy. If any 
  portion of a structure or other facility is used for flood control, 
  water supply or other purposes in addition to the generation of 
  electric energy, such term refers only to that portion of the structure 
  or facility used exclusively for the generation of electric energy, 
  including turbines, generators, controls, substations, and primary 
  lines used for transmitting electric energy therefrom to the point of 
  juncture with the interconnected primary transmission system. Such term 
  shall not include any portion of a facility used for navigation, flood 
  control, irrigation, water supply, or recreation.
target: Federal Power Asset Privatization Act of 1995 - Directs the Secretary of Energy to sell, at the highest possible price, all Federal electric power generation and transmission facilities supervised by, or coordinated with, the Federal Power Marketing Administrations.  Restricts such sales to domestic entities or U.S. citizens.  Requires the Secretary to terminate Federal Power Marketing Administration operations upon completion of the sales.  Directs the Secretary to retain a private sector firm through a competitive bidding process to serve as financial advisor with respect to such sales. 
  Expresses the sense of the Congress that the purchaser of any such facilities should offer to employ former Federal Power Marketing Administration personnel. 
  Mandates that sale proceeds be deposited into the Treasury. 
  Sets forth a sales completion deadline for each Power Marketing Administration. 
  Mandates that the pertinent sales agreements require each purchaser providing electric power to customers within any region to insure that the price of electric power does not increase above the baseline price at a rate greater than ten percent annually. 
  Directs the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) to issue to the purchaser of a hydroelectric generation facility a ten-year original license under the Federal Power Act to insure that the project will continue operations under the same conditions as were applicable prior to the sale.  Grants FERC Federal Power Act jurisdiction over any such facility sold. 
  Amends the Energy and Water Development Appropriations Act of 1993 to repeal the proscription against the use of appropriated funds for studies regarding a changeover from an "at cost" to a "market rate" or other noncost-based methodology for pricing hydroelectric power.
feat_title: Federal Power Asset Privatization Act of 1995