Texas Utilities Code - Section 39.107. Metering And Billing Services
Legal Research Home >
Texas Laws > Utilities Code > Texas Utilities Code - Section 39.107. Metering And Billing Services
§ 39.107. METERING AND BILLING SERVICES. (a) On
introduction of customer choice in a service area, metering
services for the area shall continue to be provided by the
transmission and distribution utility affiliate of the electric
utility that was serving the area before the introduction of
customer choice. Metering services provided to commercial and
industrial customers that are required by the independent system
operator to have an interval data recorder meter may be provided on
a competitive basis.
(b) Metering services provided to residential customers and
to nonresidential customers other than those required by the
independent system operator to have an interval data recorder meter
shall continue to be provided by the transmission and distribution
utility affiliate of the electric utility that was serving the area
before the introduction of customer choice. Retail electric
providers serving residential and nonresidential customers other
than those required by the independent system operator to have an
interval data recorder meter may request that the transmission and
distribution utility provide specialized meters, meter features,
or add-on accessories so long as they are technically feasible and
generally available in the market and provided that the retail
electric provider pays the differential cost of such a meter or
accessory. Metering and billing services provided to residential
customers shall be governed by the customer safeguards adopted by
the commission under Section 39.101. All meter data, including all
data generated, provided, or otherwise made available, by advanced
meters and meter information networks, shall belong to a customer,
including data used to calculate charges for service, historical
load data, and any other proprietary customer information. A
customer may authorize its data to be provided to one or more retail
electric providers under rules and charges established by the
commission.
(c) Beginning on the date of introduction of customer choice
in a service area, tenants of leased or rented property that is
separately metered shall have the right to choose a retail electric
provider, an electric cooperative offering customer choice, or a
municipally owned utility offering customer choice, and the owner
of the property must grant reasonable and nondiscriminatory access
to transmission and distribution utilities, retail electric
providers, electric cooperatives, and municipally owned utilities
for metering purposes.
(d) Beginning on the date of introduction of customer choice
in a service area, a transmission and distribution utility, or an
electric cooperative or municipally owned utility providing the
customer's energy requirements shall bill a customer's retail
electric provider for nonbypassable delivery charges as determined
under Section 39.201. The retail electric provider or the electric
cooperative or municipally owned utility, as appropriate, must pay
these charges.
(e) A transmission and distribution utility may bill retail
customers at the request of a retail electric provider or, if an
electric cooperative or municipally owned utility is providing the
customer's energy requirements, at the request of the electric
cooperative or municipally owned utility. A transmission and
distribution utility that provides billing service on such request
shall offer billing service on comparable terms and conditions to
those of any such requesting retail electric provider or, as
applicable, the electric cooperative or municipally owned utility
providing energy requirements to a customer served by the
transmission and distribution utility.
(f) Beginning on the date of introduction of customer choice
in a service area, any charges for metering and billing services
shall comply with rules adopted by the commission relating to
nondiscriminatory rates of service.
(g) Metered electric service sold to residential customers
on a prepaid basis may not be sold at a price that is higher than the
price charged by the provider of last resort.
(h) The commission shall establish a nonbypassable
surcharge for an electric utility or transmission and distribution
utility to use to recover reasonable and necessary costs incurred
in deploying advanced metering and meter information networks to
residential customers and nonresidential customers other than
those required by the independent system operator to have an
interval data recorder meter. The commission shall ensure that the
nonbypassable surcharge reflects a deployment of advanced meters
that is no more than one-third of the utility's total meters over
each calendar year and shall ensure that the nonbypassable
surcharge does not result in the utility recovering more than its
actual, fully allocated meter and meter information network costs.
The expenses must be allocated to the customer classes receiving
the services, based on the electric utility's most recently
approved tariffs.
Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 405, § 39, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.
Amended by Acts 2005, 79th Leg., ch. 1095, § 7, eff. Sept. 1,
2005.
Section: 39.101 39.102 39.1025 39.103 39.104 39.105 39.106 39.107 39.108 39.109 39.151 39.1511 39.1512 39.1515 39.152
Last modified: August 11, 2007
|
