Avalon subcommittee advances bill letting local governments negotiate Freeport exemptions for electrical‑utility inventory

The Avalon subcommittee voted to recommend House Bill 1261 to the full committee after a presentation from Representative Halston.

Representative Halston said the bill would permit local governments to negotiate level‑1 Freeport exemptions with electrical utilities for inventory kept on the yard—spare poles, transformers and other equipment—that utilities maintain for storm restoration. "Basically within these inventories ... they're pretty much need to have the inventories on the yard for reliability of service during storm situations," Halston said, adding that negotiated exemptions could save ratepayers money and allow utilities to invest more in infrastructure.

A committee member characterized the change as optional for local governments and moved that the subcommittee give the bill a "do pass" recommendation to the full committee. The motion was seconded and, by voice vote, the subcommittee approved the recommendation and will forward the bill to the full committee.

Representative Halston thanked the committee; no public testimony was recorded at the subcommittee hearing.