Texas Administrative Code › Title 16 - ECONOMIC REGULATION › Part 2 - PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION OF TEXAS › Chapter 25 - SUBSTANTIVE RULES APPLICABLE TO ELECTRIC SERVICE PROVIDERS › Subchapter E - CERTIFICATION, LICENSING AND REGISTRATION › Section 25.111 - Registration of Aggregators

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a)
				  Application. Any person, municipality, political subdivision, or political
				  subdivision corporation that aggregates the loads of two or more electric
				  service customers for purposes of purchasing electricity services shall
				  register with the Public Utility Commission of Texas (commission) pursuant to
				  this section. A single electricity customer, including a municipality or
				  political subdivision, negotiating service in multiple locations for its own
				  use, does not need to register with the commission.
(b) Purpose statement. The role of an
				  aggregator in the restructured electric market is to be a buyer's agent for
				  customer groups. An entity that joins customers together as a single purchasing
				  unit and negotiates on their behalf for the purchase of electricity service in
				  Texas is considered an aggregator and must register pursuant to this section.
				  In contrast, an entity that sells electricity is a retail electric provider
				  (REP) and is subject to other commission rules. This section sets out
				  conditions for registering and operating as an aggregator, including the
				  condition that the aggregator, a buyer's agent, may not be affiliated with a
				  REP or other seller's agent representing the REP.
(c) Definitions. The following words and
				  terms, when used in this section, shall have the following meanings, unless the
				  context indicates otherwise:
(1) Aggregation
				  - to join two or more electricity customers into a purchasing unit to negotiate
				  the purchase of electricity by the electricity customer as part of a voluntary
				  association of electricity customers, provided that an electricity customer may
				  not avoid any non-bypassable charges or fees as a result of aggregating its
				  load.
(2) Aggregator - An entity is
				  an aggregator, as opposed to a consultant, if it conducts any activity that
				  joins two or more customers into a purchasing unit to negotiate the purchase of
				  electricity from retail electric providers (REPs). If an entity conducts
				  activities only in the capacity of advisor to a customer or set of customers,
				  without contact with REPs specific to that customer or customer group, then it
				  is a consultant that does not need to register pursuant to this section. An
				  aggregator that provides aggregation services to Texas electricity customers
				  must meet one of the following definitions:
(A) Class I aggregator - a person joining two
				  or more customers, other than municipalities and political subdivision
				  corporations, into a single purchasing unit to negotiate the purchase of
				  electricity from REPs.
(B) Class II
				  aggregator - a person or municipality or other political subdivision that
				  provides aggregation services to municipalities or other political subdivisions
				  in the manner stated below:
(i) A person
				  authorized by two or more municipal governing bodies to join the bodies into a
				  single purchasing unit to negotiate the purchase of electricity from REPs or a
				  municipality aggregating under Local Government Code, Chapter 303.
(ii) A person or political subdivision
				  corporation authorized by two or more political subdivision governing bodies to
				  join the bodies into a single purchasing unit or multiple purchasing units to
				  negotiate the purchase of electricity from REPs for the facilities of the
				  aggregated political subdivisions or a person or political subdivision
				  aggregating under Local Government Code, Chapter 303.
(3) Person - an individual, a
				  partnership of two or more persons having a joint or common interest, a mutual
				  or cooperative association, or a corporation, but not including a municipal
				  corporation or an electric cooperative. For purposes of this section, a
				  political subdivision or political subdivision corporation is not a
				  person.
(4) Political subdivision -
				  a county, municipality, hospital district, or any other political subdivision
				  receiving electric service from an entity that has implemented customer
				  choice.
(5) Political subdivision
				  corporation - an entity consisting of two or more political subdivisions
				  created to act as an agent, or otherwise, to negotiate the purchase of
				  electricity for the use of the respective public facilities in accordance with
				  Local Government Code §
											RSA
				  303.001.
(6) Proprietary customer information - any
				  information compiled by an aggregator on a customer in the normal course of
				  aggregating electric service that makes possible the identification of any
				  individual customer by matching such information with the customer's name,
				  address, account number, type or classification of service, historical
				  electricity usage, expected patterns of use, types of facilities used in
				  providing service, individual contract terms and conditions, price, current
				  charges, billing records, or any other information that the customer has
				  expressly requested not be disclosed. Information that is redacted or organized
				  in such a way as to make it impossible to identify the customer to whom the
				  information relates does not constitute propriety customer
				  information.
(7) Revocation - the
				  cessation of all aggregation business operations in the state of Texas,
				  pursuant to commission order.
(8)
				  Suspension - the cessation of all aggregation business operations in the state
				  of Texas associated with obtaining new customers, pursuant to commission
				  order.