reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
TX Util § 39.003 (2021)
2021 Texas Statutes|Utilities Code|Title 2 - Public Utility Regulatory Act|Subtitle B - Electric Utilities|Chapter 39 - Restructuring of Electric Utility Industry|Subchapter A. General Provisions|Section 39.003. Contested Cases

Sec. 39.003.  CONTESTED CASES.  Unless specifically provided otherwise, each commission proceeding under this chapter, other than a rulemaking proceeding, report, notification, or registration, shall be conducted as a contested case and the burden of proof is on the incumbent electric utility.|Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 405, Sec. 39, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.|For expiration of this section, see Subsection (h).
TX Util § 39.004 (2021)
2021 Texas Statutes|Utilities Code|Title 2 - Public Utility Regulatory Act|Subtitle B - Electric Utilities|Chapter 39 - Restructuring of Electric Utility Industry|Subchapter A. General Provisions|Section 39.004. Hiring Assistance for Regional Proceedings

Sec. 39.004.  HIRING ASSISTANCE FOR REGIONAL PROCEEDINGS.  (a)  The commission may retain any consultant, accountant, auditor, engineer, or attorney the commission considers necessary to represent the commission in a proceeding before a regional transmission organization, or before a court reviewing proceedings of a regional transmission organization, related to:(1)  the relationship of an electric utility to a power region, regional transmission organization, or independent system operator;(2)  the approval of an agreement among an electric utility and the electric utility's affiliates concerning the coordination of the operations of the electric utility and the electric utility's affiliates; or(3)  other matters related to an electric utility that may affect the ultimate rates paid by retail customers in this state.(b)  Notwithstanding Sections 39.402(a), 39.452(d), and 39.502(b), this section applies to an electric utility to which Subchapter I, J, or K applies.(c)  Assistance for which a consultant, accountant, auditor, engineer, or attorney may be retained under Subsection (a) may include:(1)  conducting a study;(2)  conducting an investigation;(3)  presenting evidence;(4)  advising the commission; or(5)  representing the commission.(d)  The electric utility that is the subject of the proceeding shall pay timely the reasonable costs of the services of a person retained under Subsection (a), as determined by the commission.  The total costs an electric utility is required to pay under this subsection may not exceed $1.5 million in a 12-month period.(e)  The commission shall allow an electric utility to recover both the total costs the electric utility paid under Subsection (d) and the carrying charges for those costs through a rider established annually to recover the costs paid and carrying charges incurred during the preceding calendar year.  The rider may not be implemented before the rider is reviewed and approved by the commission.(f)  The commission shall consult the attorney general before the commission retains a consultant, accountant, auditor, or engineer under Subsection (a).  The retention of an attorney under Subsection (a) is subject to the approval of the attorney general under Section 402.0212, Government Code.(g)  The commission shall be precluded from engaging any individual who is required to register under Section 305.003, Government Code.(h)  This section expires September 1, 2023.|Added by Acts 2019, 86th Leg., R.S., Ch. 1312 (H.B. 3867), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2019.|
TX Util § 39.052 (2021)
2021 Texas Statutes|Utilities Code|Title 2 - Public Utility Regulatory Act|Subtitle B - Electric Utilities|Chapter 39 - Restructuring of Electric Utility Industry|Subchapter B. Transition to Competitive Retail Electric Market|Section 39.052. Freeze on Existing Retail Base Rate Tariffs

Sec. 39.052.  FREEZE ON EXISTING RETAIL BASE RATE TARIFFS.  (a)  Until January 1, 2002, an electric utility shall provide retail electric service within its certificated service area in accordance with the electric utility's retail base rate tariffs in effect on September 1, 1999, including its purchased power cost recovery factor.(b)  During the freeze period, an electric utility may not increase its retail base rates above the rates provided by this section except for losses caused by force majeure as provided by Section 39.055.(c)  Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, during the freeze period the regulatory authority may not reduce the retail base rates of an electric utility, except as may be ordered as stipulated to by an electric utility in a proceeding for which a final order had not been issued by January 1, 1999.(d)  During the freeze period, the retail base rates, overall revenues, return on invested capital, and net income of an electric utility are not subject to complaint, hearing, or determination as to reasonableness.(e)  An electric utility that has a rate proceeding pending before the commission as of January 2, 1999, shall provide service in accordance with the tariffs approved in that proceeding from the date of approval until the end of the freeze period.(f)  Nothing in this section affects the authority of the commission to fulfill its obligations under Section 39.262.(g)  Nothing in this section shall deny a utility its right to have the commission conduct proceedings and issue a final order pertaining to any matter that may be remanded to the commission by a court having jurisdiction, except that the final order may not affect the rates charged to customers during the freeze period but shall be taken into account during the utility's true-up proceeding under Section 39.262.(h)  Nothing in this title shall be construed to prevent an electric utility or a transmission and distribution utility from filing, and the commission from approving, a change in wholesale transmission service rates during the freeze period.|Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 405, Sec. 39, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.|
TX Util § 39.053 (2021)
2021 Texas Statutes|Utilities Code|Title 2 - Public Utility Regulatory Act|Subtitle B - Electric Utilities|Chapter 39 - Restructuring of Electric Utility Industry|Subchapter B. Transition to Competitive Retail Electric Market|Section 39.053. Cost Recovery Adjustments

Sec. 39.053.  COST RECOVERY ADJUSTMENTS.  This subchapter does not limit or alter the ability of an electric utility during the freeze period to revise its fuel factor or to reconcile fuel expenses and to either refund fuel overcollections or surcharge fuel undercollections to customers, as authorized by its tariffs and Sections 36.203 and 36.205.|Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 405, Sec. 39, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.|
TX Util § 39.054 (2021)
2021 Texas Statutes|Utilities Code|Title 2 - Public Utility Regulatory Act|Subtitle B - Electric Utilities|Chapter 39 - Restructuring of Electric Utility Industry|Subchapter B. Transition to Competitive Retail Electric Market|Section 39.054. Retail Electric Service During Freeze Period

Sec. 39.054.  RETAIL ELECTRIC SERVICE DURING FREEZE PERIOD.  (a)  An electric utility shall provide retail electric service during the freeze period in accordance with any contract terms applicable to a particular retail customer approved by the regulatory authority and in effect on December 31, 1998.(b)  Nothing in Sections 39.052(c) and (d) shall be construed to restrict any customer's right to complain during the freeze period to the regulatory authority regarding the quality of retail electric service provided by the electric utility or the applicability of an electric utility's particular tariff to the customer.(c)  Nothing in this title shall be construed to restrict an electric utility, voluntarily and at its sole discretion, from offering new services or new tariff options to its customers during the freeze period, consistent with Section 39.051(a).(d)  Any offering of new services or tariff options under this section shall be equal to or greater than an electric utility's long-run marginal cost and may not be unreasonably preferential, prejudicial, discriminatory, predatory, or anticompetitive.(e)  Revenue from any new offering under this section shall be accounted for in a manner consistent with Section 36.007.|Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 405, Sec. 39, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.|
TX Util § 39.055 (2021)
2021 Texas Statutes|Utilities Code|Title 2 - Public Utility Regulatory Act|Subtitle B - Electric Utilities|Chapter 39 - Restructuring of Electric Utility Industry|Subchapter B. Transition to Competitive Retail Electric Market|Section 39.055. Force Majeure

Sec. 39.055.  FORCE MAJEURE.  (a)  An electric utility may recover losses resulting from force majeure through an increase in its retail base rates during the freeze period.(b)  Notwithstanding Subchapter C, Chapter 36, the regulatory authority, after a hearing to determine the electric utility's losses from force majeure, shall permit the utility to fully collect any approved force majeure increase through an appropriate customer surcharge mechanism.(c)  For purposes of this section, "force majeure" means a major event or combination of major events, including new or expanded state or federal statutory or regulatory requirements;  hurricanes, tornadoes, ice storms, or other natural disasters;  or acts of war, terrorism, or civil disturbance, beyond the control of an electric utility that the regulatory authority finds increases the utility's total reasonable and necessary nonfuel costs or decreases the utility's total nonfuel revenues related to the generation and delivery of electricity by more than 10 percent for any calendar year during the freeze period.  The term does not include any changes in general economic conditions such as inflation, interest rates, or other factors of general application.|Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 405, Sec. 39, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.|
TX Util § 39.102 (2021)
2021 Texas Statutes|Utilities Code|Title 2 - Public Utility Regulatory Act|Subtitle B - Electric Utilities|Chapter 39 - Restructuring of Electric Utility Industry|Subchapter C. Retail Competition|Section 39.102. Retail Customer Choice

Sec. 39.102.  RETAIL CUSTOMER CHOICE.  (a)  Each retail customer in this state, except retail customers of electric cooperatives and municipally owned utilities that have not opted for customer choice, shall have customer choice on and after January 1, 2002.(b)  The affiliated retail electric provider of the electric utility serving a retail customer on December 31, 2001, may continue to serve that customer until the customer chooses service from a different retail electric provider, an electric cooperative offering customer choice, or a municipally owned utility offering customer choice.(c)  An electric utility that has in effect a systemwide freeze for residential and commercial customers in effect September 1, 1997, extending beyond December 31, 2001, that has been found by a regulatory authority to be in the public interest is not subject to this chapter.  At the expiration of the utility's freeze period, the utility shall be subject to this chapter and, at that time, has no claim for stranded cost recovery.(d)  The commission shall oversee the compliance with this chapter by electric utilities that were not subject to this chapter before September 1, 2003, and in so doing shall establish schedules and procedures and require commission approvals as it deems necessary to achieve the objectives of this chapter.  This subsection does not apply to an electric utility to which Subsection (c) applies.(e)  In establishing a schedule under Subsection (d), the commission shall consider:(1)  the effect of customer choice on the reliability of service provided by the electric utility;(2)  whether the electric utility's service area is located in more than one power region;(3)  whether any applicable power region has been certified as a qualifying power region under Section 39.152(a);(4)  whether other electric utilities in the power region offer retail customer choice;  and(5)  any other relevant factor.|Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 405, Sec. 39, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.  Amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1327, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.|
TX Util § 39.1025 (2021)
2021 Texas Statutes|Utilities Code|Title 2 - Public Utility Regulatory Act|Subtitle B - Electric Utilities|Chapter 39 - Restructuring of Electric Utility Industry|Subchapter C. Retail Competition|Section 39.1025. Limitations on Telephone Solicitation

Sec. 39.1025.  LIMITATIONS ON TELEPHONE SOLICITATION.  (a)  A person may not make or cause to be made a telephone solicitation to a nonresidential electric customer who has given notice to the commission of the customer's objection to receiving telephone solicitations relating to the customer's choice of retail electric providers.(b)  The commission shall establish and provide for the operation of a database to compile a list of nonresidential electric customers who object to receiving telephone solicitations.  The commission may operate the database or contract with another entity to operate the database.(c)  A customer shall pay a fee of not more than $5 for inclusion in the database.  The commission shall prescribe the amount of the fee.|Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 405, Sec. 39, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.Amended by: Acts 2005, 79th Leg., Ch. 171 (H.B. 210), Sec. 3, eff. May 27, 2005.|
TX Util § 39.103 (2021)
2021 Texas Statutes|Utilities Code|Title 2 - Public Utility Regulatory Act|Subtitle B - Electric Utilities|Chapter 39 - Restructuring of Electric Utility Industry|Subchapter C. Retail Competition|Section 39.103. Commission Authority to Delay Competition and Set New Rates

Sec. 39.103.  COMMISSION AUTHORITY TO DELAY COMPETITION AND SET NEW RATES.  If the commission determines under Section 39.104 that a power region is unable to offer fair competition and reliable service to all retail customer classes on January 1, 2002, the commission shall delay customer choice for the power region and may on or after January 1, 2002, establish new rates for all electric utilities in the power region as provided by Chapter 36.|Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 405, Sec. 39, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.|
TX Util § 39.104 (2021)
2021 Texas Statutes|Utilities Code|Title 2 - Public Utility Regulatory Act|Subtitle B - Electric Utilities|Chapter 39 - Restructuring of Electric Utility Industry|Subchapter C. Retail Competition|Section 39.104. Customer Choice Pilot Projects

Sec. 39.104.  CUSTOMER CHOICE PILOT PROJECTS.  (a)  Customer choice pilot projects may be used to allow the commission to evaluate the ability of each power region and electric utility to implement customer choice.  However, in a multiply certificated area, an electric utility may not include customers that were served by an electric cooperative or a municipally owned utility on May 1, 1999.(b)  The commission shall require each electric utility to offer customer choice in its service area within this state amounting to five percent of the utility's combined load of all customer classes within this state beginning on June 1, 2001.(c)  The load designated for customer choice under this section shall be distributed among all customer classes of a utility consistent with the purpose of this section and subject to commission approval.(d)  Customers participating in a pilot project under this section may buy electric energy from any retail electric provider certified by the commission under Section 39.352, including an affiliated retail electric provider;  provided, however, that a retail electric provider may not participate in a pilot project in the certificated service area served by the electric utility with which it is affiliated.(e)  Each utility operating a pilot project under this section shall charge residential and small commercial customers in accordance with Section 39.052.(f)  The commission may prescribe reporting requirements it considers necessary to evaluate a pilot project consistent with the purpose of this section.(g)  Customers having customer choice under this section shall be billed as provided by Section 39.107.(h)  The commission may prescribe terms and conditions it considers necessary to prohibit anticompetitive practices and to encourage customer choice offered under this section.(i)  Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, a retail electric provider participating in a pilot project under this section is not an electric utility or a retail electric utility.(j)  Twenty percent of the load designated for customer choice under this section shall be initially set aside for aggregated loads.|Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 405, Sec. 39, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.|
TX Util § 39.105 (2021)
2021 Texas Statutes|Utilities Code|Title 2 - Public Utility Regulatory Act|Subtitle B - Electric Utilities|Chapter 39 - Restructuring of Electric Utility Industry|Subchapter C. Retail Competition|Section 39.105. Limitation on Sale of Electricity

Sec. 39.105.  LIMITATION ON SALE OF ELECTRICITY.  (a)  After January 1, 2002, a transmission and distribution utility may not sell electricity or otherwise participate in the market for electricity except for the purpose of buying electricity to serve its own needs.(b)  A person or retail electric utility may not provide, furnish, or make available electric service at retail within the certificated service area of an electric cooperative that has not adopted customer choice or a municipally owned utility that has not adopted customer choice.  However, this subsection does not prohibit the provision of electric service in multiply certificated service areas to customers of any other retail electric utility.|Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 405, Sec. 39, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.|
TX Util § 39.106 (2021)
2021 Texas Statutes|Utilities Code|Title 2 - Public Utility Regulatory Act|Subtitle B - Electric Utilities|Chapter 39 - Restructuring of Electric Utility Industry|Subchapter C. Retail Competition|Section 39.106. Provider of Last Resort

Sec. 39.106.  PROVIDER OF LAST RESORT.  (a)  The commission shall designate retail electric providers in areas of the state in which customer choice is in effect to serve as providers of last resort.(b)  A provider of last resort shall offer a standard retail service package for each class of customers designated by the commission at a fixed, nondiscountable rate approved by the commission.(c)  A provider of last resort shall provide the standard retail service package to any requesting customer in the territory for which it is the provider of last resort.(d)  The commission shall designate the provider or providers of last resort not later than June 1, 2001.(e)  The commission shall determine the procedures and criteria, which may include the solicitation of bids, for designating a provider or providers of last resort.  The commission may redesignate the provider of last resort according to a schedule it considers appropriate.(f)  In the event that no retail electric provider applies to be the provider of last resort for a given area of the state on reasonable terms and conditions, the commission may require a retail electric provider to become the provider of last resort as a condition of receiving or maintaining a certificate under Section 39.352.(g)  In the event that a retail electric provider fails to serve any or all of its customers, the provider of last resort shall offer that customer the standard retail service package for that customer class with no interruption of service to any customer.|Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 405, Sec. 39, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.|
TX Util § 39.108 (2021)
2021 Texas Statutes|Utilities Code|Title 2 - Public Utility Regulatory Act|Subtitle B - Electric Utilities|Chapter 39 - Restructuring of Electric Utility Industry|Subchapter C. Retail Competition|Section 39.108. Contractual Obligations

Sec. 39.108.  CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS.  This chapter may not:(1)  interfere with or abrogate the rights or obligations of any party, including a retail or wholesale customer, to a contract with an investor-owned electric utility, river authority, municipally owned utility, or electric cooperative;(2)  interfere with or abrogate the rights or obligations of a party under a contract or agreement concerning certificated utility service areas;  or(3)  result in a change in wholesale power costs to wholesale customers in Texas purchasing electricity under wholesale power contracts the pricing provisions of which are based on formulary rates, fuel adjustments, or average system costs.|Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 405, Sec. 39, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.|
TX Util § 39.109 (2021)
2021 Texas Statutes|Utilities Code|Title 2 - Public Utility Regulatory Act|Subtitle B - Electric Utilities|Chapter 39 - Restructuring of Electric Utility Industry|Subchapter C. Retail Competition|Section 39.109. New Owner or Successor

Sec. 39.109.  NEW OWNER OR SUCCESSOR.  (a)  To ensure the continued safe and reliable operation of electric generating facilities, the commission shall require a generating facility that is transferred to a new owner or successor in interest between June 1, 1999, and January 1, 2002, to continue to be operated and maintained by the same operating personnel for not less than two years, except that the personnel may be dismissed for cause.(b)  This section shall apply only if the facility is actually operated during the two-year period after the sale.(c)  This section shall not require that the purchaser cause the facility to be operated in whole or in part, nor shall it preclude a temporary closure of the facility during the two-year period.(d)  This section shall not create any obligation extending after the two-year period following the sale.|Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 405, Sec. 39, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.|
TX Util § 39.110 (2021)
2021 Texas Statutes|Utilities Code|Title 2 - Public Utility Regulatory Act|Subtitle B - Electric Utilities|Chapter 39 - Restructuring of Electric Utility Industry|Subchapter C. Retail Competition|Section 39.110. Wholesale Indexed Products Prohibited

Sec. 39.110.  WHOLESALE INDEXED PRODUCTS PROHIBITED.  (a)  In this section, "wholesale indexed product" means a retail electric product in which the price a customer pays for electricity includes a direct pass-through of real-time settlement point prices determined by the independent organization certified under Section 39.151 for the ERCOT power region.(b)  An aggregator, a broker, or a retail electric provider may not offer a wholesale indexed product to a residential or small commercial customer.(c)  An aggregator, a broker, or a retail electric provider may enroll a customer other than a residential and small commercial customer in a wholesale indexed product only if the provider, aggregator, or broker obtains before the customer's enrollment an acknowledgment signed by the customer that the customer accepts the potential price risks associated with a wholesale indexed product.(d)  An acknowledgment required by Subsection (c) must include the following statement, in clear, boldfaced text:"I understand that the volatility and fluctuation of wholesale energy pricing may cause my energy bill to be multiple times higher in a month in which wholesale energy prices are high.  I understand that I will be responsible for charges caused by fluctuations in wholesale energy prices."(e)  An acknowledgment required by Subsection (c) may be included as an addendum to a contract.(f)  A retail electric provider that provides a wholesale indexed product to a customer must keep on file the acknowledgment required by Subsection (c) for each customer while the customer is enrolled with the retail electric provider in the wholesale indexed product.|Added by Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 132 (H.B. 16), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2021.|