Texas Administrative Code › Title 16 - ECONOMIC REGULATION › Part 2 - PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION OF TEXAS › Chapter 25 - SUBSTANTIVE RULES APPLICABLE TO ELECTRIC SERVICE PROVIDERS › Subchapter B - CUSTOMER SERVICE AND PROTECTION › Section 25.41 - Price to Beat

Current through Reg. 49, No. 28; July 12, 2024
(a) Applicability.
				  This section applies to all affiliated retail electric providers (REPs) and
				  transmission and distribution utilities, except river authorities. This section
				  does not apply to an electric utility subject to Public Utility Regulatory Act
				  (PURA) §39.102(c) until the end of the utility's rate freeze.
(b) Purpose. The purpose of this section is
				  to promote the competitiveness of the retail electric market through the
				  establishment of the price to beat that affiliated REPs must offer to retail
				  customers beginning on January 1, 2002 pursuant to PURA §39.202.
(c) Definitions. The following words and
				  terms, when used in this section, shall have the following meanings, unless the
				  context indicates otherwise:
(1) Affiliated
				  electric utility--The electric utility from which an affiliated REP was
				  unbundled in accordance with PURA §39.051.
(2) Competitive retailer--A REP or a
				  municipally owned utility or distribution cooperative that offers customer
				  choice in the restructured competitive electric power market or any other
				  entity authorized to sell electric power and energy at retail in
				  Texas.
(3) Headroom--The difference
				  between the average price to beat (in cents per kilowatt hour (kWh)) and the
				  sum of the average non-bypassable charges or credits approved by the commission
				  in a proceeding pursuant to PURA §39.201, or PURA Subchapter G (in cents
				  per kWh) and the representative power price (in cents per kWh). Headroom may be
				  a positive or negative number. A separate headroom number shall be calculated
				  for the typical residential customer and the typical small commercial customer.
				  The calculation for the typical residential customer shall assume 1,000 kWh per
				  month in usage. The calculation of the typical small commercial customer shall
				  assume 35 kilowatts (kW) of demand and 15,000 kWh per month in usage.
(4) Nonaffiliated REP--Any competitive
				  retailer conducting business in a transmission and distribution utility's
				  (TDU's) certificated service territory that is not affiliated with that TDU
				  unless the competitive retailer is a successor in interest to a retail electric
				  provider affiliated with that TDU.
(5) Peak demand--The highest 15-minute or
				  30-minute demand recorded during a 12-month period.
(6) Price to beat period--The price to beat
				  period shall be from January 1, 2002 to January 1, 2007. In a power region
				  outside the Electric Reliability Council of Texas (ERCOT) if customer choice is
				  introduced before the date the commission certifies the power region pursuant
				  to PURA §39.152(a) are met, the price to beat period continues, unless
				  changed by the commission in accordance with PURA Chapter 39, until the later
				  of 60 months after the date customer choice is introduced in the power region
				  or the date the commission certifies the power region as a qualified power
				  region.
(7) Provider of last resort
				  (POLR)--As defined in §
											RSA
				  25.43 of this title (relating to Provider of
				  Last Resort).
(8) Representative
				  power price--The simple average of the results of:
(A) a request for proposals (RFP) for
				  full-requirements service of 10% of price to beat load for a duration of three
				  years expressed in cents per kWh; and
(B) the price resulting from the capacity
				  auctions of the affiliated power generation company (PGC) required by §
												RSA
				  25.381 of this title (relating to Capacity
				  Auctions) for baseload capacity entitlements auctioned in the ERCOT zone where
				  the majority of price to beat customers reside, expressed in cents per kWh. The
				  calculation of the price resulting from the capacity auctions shall assume
				  dispatch of 100% of the entitlement and shall use the most recent auction of a
				  12-month forward strip of entitlements, or the most recent aggregated forward
				  12 months of entitlements. The affiliated REP, at its option, may conduct an
				  RFP or purchase auction for an amount equivalent to the amount, in MWs, of the
				  affiliated PGC's capacity auction for the September 2001 12-month forward strip
				  baseload entitlements.
(9) Residential customer--Retail customers
				  classified as residential by the applicable transmission and distribution
				  utility tariff or, in the absence of classification under a residential rate
				  class, those retail customers that are primarily end users consuming
				  electricity for personal, family or household purposes and who are not
				  resellers of electricity.
(10)
				  Small commercial customer--A non-residential retail customer having a peak
				  demand of 1,000 kilowatts (kW) or less. For purposes of this section, the term
				  small commercial customer refers to a metered point of delivery. Additionally,
				  any non-residential, non-metered point of delivery with peak demand of less
				  than 1,000 kW shall also be considered a small commercial customer. For
				  purposes of subsection (i) of this section, unmetered guard and security lights
				  are not considered small commercial customers unless such an account has
				  historically been treated as a separate customer for billing
				  purposes.
(11) Transmission and
				  distribution utility--As defined in §
											RSA 25.5
				  of this title (relating to Definitions), except for purposes of this section,
				  this term does not include a river authority.