1. For purposes of this section, the following terms shall mean:
(1)"Commission" , the Missouri public service commission established under section 386.040 ;
(2)"Electrical corporation" , a corporation with more than one million Missouri retail electric customers in the year in which this section becomes effective and that otherwise meets the definition of electrical corporation in section 386.020 .
2. Electrical corporations shall develop a qualification process and make such process open to all contractors seeking to provide construction and construction-related services for projects on the electrical corporation's distribution system. Contractors shall have the opportunity to register on the electrical corporation's vendor registration site and be evaluated for bid opportunities
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1. For purposes of this section, the following terms shall mean:
(1) "Commission" , the Missouri public service commission established under section 386.040 ;
(2) "Electrical corporation" , a corporation with more than one million Missouri retail electric customers in the year in which this section becomes effective and that otherwise meets the definition of electrical corporation in section 386.020 .
2. Electrical corporations shall develop a qualification process and make such process open to all contractors seeking to provide construction and construction-related services for projects on the electrical corporation's distribution system. Contractors shall have the opportunity to register on the electrical corporation's vendor registration site and be evaluated for bid opportunities. Under the qualification process, electrical corporations may specify eligibility requirements typically accepted by the industry, including but not limited to, experience, performance criteria, safety policies, and insurance requirements to be met by any contractor seeking to participate in competitive bidding to provide construction and construction-related services for distribution system projects, and the electrical corporation shall not weight any contractor favorably or unfavorably due to affiliation with a labor organization or union, except if the work is being performed pursuant to a union-only project labor agreement which requires that participating contractors use union-represented labor. Contractors that meet the eligibility requirements set by electrical corporations shall be eligible to participate in the competitive bidding process for providing construction and construction-related services for distribution system projects, and the contractor making the lowest and best bid shall be awarded such contract.
3. Within thirty days after August 28, 2018, electrical corporations shall file a verified statement with the commission confirming that they have established a qualification process for the competitive bidding of construction and construction-related services for distribution system projects, and that such process conforms with the requirements of this section. The commission shall have the authority to verify the statement to ensure compliance with this section. Whenever the electrical corporation files a general rate proceeding, it shall submit concurrently with its submission of the rate schedules that initiate such general rate proceeding a verified statement confirming that it is using the qualification process for the competitive bidding of construction and construction-related services for distribution system projects required by this section for no less than ten percent of the combined external installation expenditures made by the electrical corporation's operating units in Missouri for construction and construction-related services for distribution system projects, and that such process conforms with the requirements set forth in this section to ensure compliance with this subsection.
4. Nothing in this section shall be construed as requiring any electrical corporation to use a qualified contractor or competitive bidding process in the case of an emergency project, or to terminate any existing contract with a contractor prior to its expiration, provided that the use of any pre-existing contract for construction or construction-related services for distribution system projects shall not qualify as fulfilling the ten percent requirement set forth in subsection 3 of this section. For contractors not qualifying through the competitive bid process, the electrical corporation, upon request from the contractor, shall provide information from the process in which the contractor can be informed as to how to be better positioned to qualify for such bid opportunities in the future.
5. By December 31, 2020, and annually thereafter, the commission shall submit a report to the general assembly on the effects of this section, including electrical corporation compliance, potential legislative action regarding this section, the costs of constructing distribution system projects prior to the implementation of this section compared to after the implementation of this section, and any other information regarding the processes established under this section that the commission deems necessary.