Texas Administrative Code › Title 16 - ECONOMIC REGULATION › Part 2 - PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION OF TEXAS › Chapter 24 - SUBSTANTIVE RULES APPLICABLE TO WATER AND SEWER SERVICE PROVIDERS › Subchapter D - RATE-MAKING APPEALS › Section 24.101 - Appeal of Rate-making Decision, Pursuant to the Texas Water Code Section 13.043

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) Any party to a
				  rate proceeding before the governing body of a municipality may appeal the
				  decision of the governing body to the commission. This subsection does not
				  apply to a municipally owned utility, but does include privately owned
				  utilities operating within the corporate limits of a municipality. An appeal
				  under this subsection may be initiated by filing with the commission a petition
				  signed by a responsible official of the party to the rate proceeding or its
				  authorized representative and by serving a copy of the petition on all parties
				  to the original proceeding. The petition should be filed in accordance with
				  Chapter 22 of this title (relating to Procedural Rules). The appeal must be
				  initiated within 90 days after the date of notice of the final decision of the
				  governing body, or within 30 days if the appeal relates to the rates of a Class
				  A utility, by filing a petition for review with the commission and by serving a
				  copy of the petition on all parties to the original rate proceeding.
(b) An appeal under Texas Water Code (TWC)
				  §13.043(b) must be initiated within 90 days after the effective date of
				  the rate change or, if appealing under TWC §13.043(b)(2) or (5), within 90
				  days after the date on which the governing body of the municipality or affected
				  county makes a final decision. An appeal is initiated by filing a petition for
				  review with the commission and by sending a copy of the petition to the entity
				  providing service and with the governing body whose decision is being appealed
				  if it is not the entity providing service. The petition must be signed by the
				  lesser of 10,000 or 10% of the ratepayers whose rates have been changed and who
				  are eligible to appeal under subsection (c) of this section.
(c) Retail ratepayers of the following
				  entities may appeal the decision of the governing body of the entity affecting
				  their water utility, sewer utility, or drainage rates to the commission:
(1) a nonprofit water supply or sewer service
				  corporation created and operating under TWC, Chapter 67;
(2) a utility under the jurisdiction of a
				  municipality inside the corporate limits of the municipality;
(3) a municipally owned utility, if the
				  ratepayers reside outside the corporate limits of the municipality, including a
				  decision of a governing body that results in an increase in rates when the
				  municipally owned utility takes over the provision of service to ratepayers
				  previously served by another retail public utility;
(A) A municipally owned utility must:
(i) disclose to any person, on request, the
				  number of ratepayer(s) who reside outside the corporate limits of the
				  municipality; and
(ii) subject to
				  subparagraph (B) of this paragraph, provide to any person, on request, a list
				  of the names and addresses of the ratepayers who reside outside the corporate
				  limits of the municipality.
(B) If a ratepayer has requested that a
				  municipally owned utility keep the ratepayer's personal information
				  confidential under Tex. Util. Code §182.052, the municipally owned utility
				  may not disclose the address of the ratepayer under subparagraph (A)(ii) of
				  this paragraph to any person. A municipally owned utility must inform
				  ratepayers of their right to request that their personal information be kept
				  confidential under Tex. Util. Code §182.052 in any notice provided under
				  the requirement of TWC§13.043(i).
(C) In complying with this subsection, the
				  municipally owned utility:
(i) may not charge
				  a fee for disclosing the information under subparagraph (A)(i) of this
				  paragraph;
(ii) will provide
				  information requested under subparagraph (A)(i) of this paragraph by telephone
				  or in writing as preferred by the person making the request; and
(iii) may charge a reasonable fee for
				  providing information under subparagraph (A)(ii) of this paragraph.
(D) Paragraph (3) of this
				  subsection does not apply to a municipally owned utility that takes over the
				  provision of service to ratepayers previously served by another retail public
				  utility if the municipally owned utility:
(i)
				  takes over the service at the request of the ratepayer;
(ii) takes over the service in the manner
				  provided by TWC Chapter 13, Subchapter H; or
(iii) is required to take over the service by
				  state law, an order of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, or an
				  order of the commission.
(4) a district or authority created under
				  Article III, §52, or Article XVI, §59 of the Texas Constitution, that
				  provides water or sewer service to household users;
(5) a utility owned by an affected county, if
				  the ratepayers' rates are actually or may be adversely affected. For the
				  purposes of this subchapter, ratepayers who reside outside the boundaries of
				  the district or authority will be considered a separate class from ratepayers
				  who reside inside those boundaries; and
(6) in an appeal under this subsection, the
				  retail public utility must provide written notice of hearing to all affected
				  customers in a form prescribed by the commission.