Sec. 41.152.  DEFINITIONS.  In this subchapter:
(1)  "Assignee" means any individual, corporation, or other legally recognized entity, including a special purpose entity, to which an interest in securitized property is transferred, other than as security.
(2)  "Board" means the governing body of an electric cooperative.
(3)  "Combined securitization transaction" means the issuance of securitized bonds under this subchapter in a transaction involving at least two electric cooperatives acting together.
(4)  "Extraordinary costs and expenses" means:
(A)  costs and expenses incurred by an electric cooperative for electric power and energy purchased during the period of emergency in excess of what would have been paid for the same amount of electric power and energy at the average rate incurred by the electric cooperative for electric power and energy purchased during the month of January 2021;
(B)  costs and expenses incurred by an electric cooperative to generate and transmit electric power and energy during the period of emergency, including fuel costs, operation and maintenance expenses, overtime costs, and all other costs and expenses that would not have been incurred but for the abnormal weather events; and
(C)  any charges imposed on the electric cooperative or on a power supplier to the electric cooperative that were passed on to the electric cooperative by the applicable regional transmission organization or independent system operator, resulting from defaults by other market participants of the regional transmission organization or independent system operator for costs relating to the period of emergency.
(5)  "Financing order" means an order of a board approving the issuance of securitized bonds, which may be through participation in a combined securitization transaction, and the creation of securitized charges for the recovery of qualified costs.
(6)  "Financing party" means a holder of securitized bonds, including trustees, collateral agents, and other persons acting for the benefit of the holder.
(7)  "Qualified costs" means up to 100 percent of an electric cooperative's:
(A)  extraordinary costs and expenses;
(B)  costs of issuing, supporting, repaying, servicing, and refinancing the securitized bonds, whether incurred or paid upon issuance of the securitized bonds or over the life of the securitized bonds or the refunded securitized bonds, whether incurred directly or allocated in a combined securitization transaction; and
(C)  any costs of retiring and refunding the electric cooperative's existing debt securities initially issued to finance the extraordinary costs and expenses including interest accrued on debt securities over their term, whether incurred directly or allocated in a combined securitization transaction.
(8)  "Period of emergency" means the period beginning 12:00 a.m., February 12, 2021, and ending 11:59 p.m., February 20, 2021.
(9)  "Securitized bonds" means bonds, debentures, notes, certificates of participation or of beneficial interest, or other evidences of indebtedness or ownership that are issued by an electric cooperative, its successors, or an assignee of the electric cooperative or group of electric cooperatives under a financing order or financing orders, that have a term not longer than 30 years, and that are secured by or payable, primarily, from securitized property and the proceeds thereof and, in a combined securitization transaction, securitized property contributed by other electric cooperatives.  If certificates of participation, beneficial interest, or ownership are issued, references in this subchapter to principal, interest, or premium shall refer to comparable amounts under those certificates.
(10)  "Securitized charges" means nonbypassable amounts to be charged for the use or availability of electric services, approved by the board under a financing order to recover qualified costs, that shall be collected by an electric cooperative, its successors, an assignee, or other collection agents as provided for in the financing order.
(11)  "Securitized property" means the property right created under this subchapter, including the right, title, and interest of the electric cooperative or its assignee:
(A)  in and to the securitized charges established under a financing order, including all rights to obtain adjustments in accordance with Section 41.157 and the financing order;
(B)  to be paid the amount that is determined in a financing order to be the amount that the electric cooperative or its transferee is lawfully entitled to receive under this subchapter and the proceeds thereof; and
(C)  in and to all revenue, collections, claims, payments, money, or process of or arising from the securitized charges that are the subject of a financing order.
Added by Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 950 (S.B. 1580), Sec. 1, eff. June 18, 2021.