SUBCHAPTER A GENERAL PROVISIONS
- Texas Section 39.001 - Legislative Policy And Purpose
(a) The legislature finds that the production and sale of electricity is not a monopoly warranting regulation of rates, operations, and services and that the...
- Texas Section 39.002 - Applicability
This chapter, other than Sections 39.155, 39.157(e), 39.203, 39.903, 39.904, 39.9051, 39.9052, and 39.914(e), does not apply to a municipally owned utility or an electric...
SUBCHAPTER B TRANSITION TO COMPETITIVE RETAIL ELECTRIC MARKET
- Texas Section 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...
- Texas Section 39.051 - Unbundling
(a) On or before September 1, 2000, each electric utility shall separate from its regulated utility activities its customer energy services business activities that are...
- Texas Section 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...
- Texas Section 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...
- Texas Section 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...
SUBCHAPTER C RETAIL COMPETITION
- Texas Section 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...
- Texas Section 39.101 - Customer Safeguards
(a) Before customer choice begins on January 1, 2002, the commission shall ensure that retail customer protections are established that entitle a customer: (1) to...
- Texas Section 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...
- Texas Section 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...
- Texas Section 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...
- Texas Section 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...
- Texas Section 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...
- Texas Section 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...
- Texas Section 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...
- Texas Section 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...
- Texas Section 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...
SUBCHAPTER D MARKET STRUCTURE
- Texas Section 39.112 - Notice Of Expiration And Price Change
(a) In this section, "fixed rate product" means a retail electric product with a term of at least three months for which the price for...
- Texas Section 39.151 - Essential Organizations
(a) A power region must establish one or more independent organizations to perform the following functions: (1) ensure access to the transmission and distribution systems...
- Texas Section 39.1511 - Public Meetings Of The Governing Body Of An Independent Organization
(a) Meetings of the governing body of an independent organization certified under Section 39.151 and meetings of a subcommittee that includes a member of the...
- Texas Section 39.1512 - Disclosure Of Interest In Matter Before Independent Organization's Governing Body; Participation In Decision
(a) If a matter comes before the governing body of an independent organization certified under Section 39.151 and a member has a direct interest in...
- Texas Section 39.1515 - Wholesale Electric Market Monitor
(a) An independent organization certified under Section 39.151 shall contract with an entity selected by the commission to act as the commission's wholesale electric market...
- Texas Section 39.152 - Qualifying Power Regions
(a) The commission shall certify a power region if: (1) a sufficient number of interconnected utilities in the power region fall under the operational control...
- Texas Section 39.153 - Capacity Auction
(a) Each electric utility subject to this section shall sell at auction, at least 60 days before the date set for customer choice to begin,...
- Texas Section 39.154 - Limitation Of Ownership Of Installed Capacity
(a) Beginning on the date of introduction of customer choice, a power generation company may not own and control more than 20 percent of the...
- Texas Section 39.155 - Commission Assessment Of Market Power
(a) Each person, municipally owned utility, electric cooperative, and river authority that owns generation facilities and offers electricity for sale in this state shall report...
- Texas Section 39.156 - Market Power Mitigation Plan
(a) In this section, "market power mitigation plan" or "plan" means a written proposal by an electric utility or a power generation company for reducing...
- Texas Section 39.157 - Commission Authority To Address Market Power
(a) The commission shall monitor market power associated with the generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity in this state. On a finding that market...
SUBCHAPTER E PRICE REGULATION AFTER COMPETITION
- Texas Section 39.158 - Mergers And Consolidations
(a) An owner of electric generation facilities that offers electricity for sale in the state and proposes to merge, consolidate, or otherwise become affiliated with...
- Texas Section 39.201 - Cost Of Service Tariffs And Charges
(a) Each electric utility shall, on or before April 1, 2000, file proposed tariffs for its proposed transmission and distribution utility. (b) The filing under...
- Texas Section 39.202 - Price To Beat
(a) From January 1, 2002, until January 1, 2007, an affiliated retail electric provider shall make available to residential and small commercial customers of its...
- Texas Section 39.203 - Transmission And Distribution Service
(a) All transmission and distribution utilities shall provide transmission service at wholesale under Subchapter A, Chapter 35. In addition, on and after January 1, 2002,...
- Texas Section 39.204 - Tariffs For Open Access
Each transmission and distribution utility shall file a tariff implementing the open access rules with the commission or the federal regulatory authority having jurisdiction over...
- Texas Section 39.205 - Regulation Of Costs Following Freeze Period
At the conclusion of the freeze period, any remaining costs associated with nuclear decommissioning obligations continue to be subject to cost of service rate regulation...
SUBCHAPTER F RECOVERY OF STRANDED COSTS THROUGH COMPETITION TRANSITION CHARGE
- Texas Section 39.206 - Nuclear Generating Unit Decommissioning Cost Plan
(a) For purposes of this section: (1) "Decommissioning" includes decommissioning and decontamination of a nuclear generating unit consistent with federal Nuclear Regulatory Commission requirements. (2)...
- Texas Section 39.251 - Definitions
In this subchapter: (1) "Above market purchased power costs" means wholesale demand and energy costs that a utility is obligated to pay under an existing...
- Texas Section 39.252 - Right To Recover Stranded Costs
(a) An electric utility is allowed to recover all of its net, verifiable, nonmitigable stranded costs incurred in purchasing power and providing electric generation service....
- Texas Section 39.253 - Allocation Of Stranded Costs
(a) Any capital costs incurred by an electric utility to improve air quality under Section 39.263 or 39.264 that are included in a utility's invested...
- Texas Section 39.254 - Use Of Revenues For Utilities With Stranded Costs
This subchapter provides a number of tools to an electric utility to mitigate stranded costs. Each electric utility that was reported by the commission to...
- Texas Section 39.255 - Use Of Revenues For Utilities With No Stranded Costs
(a) An electric utility that does not have stranded costs described by Section 39.254 shall be permitted to use any positive difference under the report...
- Texas Section 39.256 - Option To Redirect Depreciation
(a) For the calendar years of 1998, 1999, 2000, and 2001, an electric utility described by Section 39.254 may redirect all or a part of...
- Texas Section 39.257 - Annual Report
(a) Beginning with the 1999 calendar year, each electric utility shall file a report with the commission not later than 90 days after the end...
- Texas Section 39.258 - Annual Report: Determination Of Annual Costs
For the purposes of determining the annual costs in each annual report, the following amounts shall be used: (1) the lesser of: (A) the utility's...
- Texas Section 39.259 - Annual Report: Determination Of Invested Capital
(a) For the purposes of determining invested capital in each annual report, the net plant in service, regulatory assets, and deferred federal income taxes shall...
- Texas Section 39.260 - Use Of Generally Accepted Accounting Principles
(a) The definition and identification of invested capital and other terms used in this subchapter and Subchapter G that affect the net book value of...
- Texas Section 39.261 - Review Of Annual Report
(a) The annual report filed under this subchapter is a public document and shall be reviewed by the staff of the commission and the office....
- Texas Section 39.262 - True-up Proceeding
(a) An electric utility, together with its affiliated retail electric provider and its affiliated transmission and distribution utility, may not be permitted to overrecover stranded...
- Texas Section 39.263 - Stranded Cost Recovery Of Environmental Cleanup Costs
(a) Subject to Subsection (c), capital costs incurred by an electric utility to improve air quality before January 1, 2002, are eligible for inclusion as...
- Texas Section 39.264 - Emissions Reductions Of "Grandfathered Facilities"
(a) In this section: (1) "Conservation commission" means the Texas Natural Resource Conservation Commission. (2) "Electric generating facility" means a facility that generates electric energy...
SUBCHAPTER G SECURITIZATION
- Texas Section 39.265 - Rights Not Affected
This chapter is not intended to alter any rights of utilities to recover stranded costs from wholesale customers. Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch....
- Texas Section 39.301 - Purpose
The purpose of this subchapter is to enable utilities to use securitization financing to recover regulatory assets, all other amounts determined under Section 39.262, and...
- Texas Section 39.302 - Definitions
In this subchapter: (1) "Assignee" means any individual, corporation, or other legally recognized entity to which an interest in transition property is transferred, other than...
- Texas Section 39.303 - Financing Orders; Terms
(a) The commission shall adopt a financing order, on application of a utility to recover the utility's regulatory assets and other amounts determined under Section...
- Texas Section 39.304 - Property Rights
(a) The rights and interests of an electric utility or successor under a financing order, including the right to impose, collect, and receive transition charges...
- Texas Section 39.305 - No Setoff
The interest of an assignee or pledgee in transition property and in the revenues and collections arising from that property are not subject to setoff,...
- Texas Section 39.306 - No Bypass
A financing order shall include terms ensuring that the imposition and collection of transition charges authorized in the order shall be nonbypassable. Added by Acts...
- Texas Section 39.307 - True-up
A financing order shall include a mechanism requiring that transition charges be reviewed and adjusted at least annually, within 45 days of the anniversary date...
- Texas Section 39.308 - True Sale
An agreement by an electric utility or assignee to transfer transition property that expressly states that the transfer is a sale or other absolute transfer...
- Texas Section 39.309 - Security Interests; Assignment; Commingling; Default
(a) Transition property does not constitute an account or general intangible under Section 9.106, Business & Commerce Code. The creation, granting, perfection, and enforcement of...
- Texas Section 39.310 - Pledge Of State
Transition bonds are not a debt or obligation of the state and are not a charge on its full faith and credit or taxing power....
- Texas Section 39.311 - Tax Exemption
Transactions involving the transfer and ownership of transition property and the receipt of transition charges are exempt from state and local income, sales, franchise, gross...
- Texas Section 39.312 - Not Public Utility
An assignee or financing party may not be considered to be a public utility or person providing electric service solely by virtue of the transactions...
SUBCHAPTER H CERTIFICATION AND REGISTRATION; PENALTIES
- Texas Section 39.313 - Severability
Effective on the date the first utility transition bonds are issued under this subchapter, if any provision in this title or portion of this title...
- Texas Section 39.351 - Registration Of Power Generation Companies
(a) A person may not generate electricity unless the person is registered with the commission as a power generation company in accordance with this section....
- Texas Section 39.352 - Certification Of Retail Electric Providers
(a) After the date of customer choice, a person, including an affiliate of an electric utility, may not provide retail electric service in this state...
- Texas Section 39.353 - Registration Of Aggregators
(a) A person may not provide aggregation services in the state unless the person is registered with the commission as an aggregator. (b) In this...
- Texas Section 39.3535 - Military Bases Aggregators
(a) In this section, "military bases aggregator" means a person joining two or more military bases that are located in areas of the state offering...
- Texas Section 39.354 - Registration Of Municipal Aggregators
(a) A municipal aggregator may not provide aggregation services in the state unless the municipal aggregator registers with the commission. (b) In this section, "municipal...
- Texas Section 39.3545 - Registration Of Political Subdivision Aggregators
(a) A political subdivision aggregator may not provide aggregation services in the state unless the political subdivision aggregator registers with the commission. (b) In this...
- Texas Section 39.355 - Registration Of Power Marketers
A person may not sell electric energy at wholesale as a power marketer unless the person registers with the commission pursuant to Section 35.032. Added...
- Texas Section 39.356 - Revocation Of Certification
(a) The commission may suspend, revoke, or amend a retail electric provider's certificate for significant violations of this title or the rules adopted under this...
- Texas Section 39.357 - Administrative Penalty
In addition to the suspension, revocation, or amendment of a certification, the commission may impose an administrative penalty, as provided by Section 15.023, for violations...
- Texas Section 39.358 - Local Registration Of Retail Electric Provider
(a) A municipality may require a retail electric provider to register with the municipality as a condition of serving residents of the municipality. The municipality...
SUBCHAPTER I PROVISIONS FOR CERTAIN NON-ERCOT UTILITIES
- Texas Section 39.359 - Bill Payment Assistance For Burned Veterans
(a) A retail electric provider may establish a bill payment assistance program for a customer who is a military veteran who a medical doctor certifies...
- Texas Section 39.401 - Applicability
This subchapter shall apply to investor-owned electric utilities operating solely outside of ERCOT having fewer than six synchronous interconnections with voltage levels above 69 kilovolts...
- Texas Section 39.402 - Regulation Of Utility And Transition To Competition
(a) Until the date on which an electric utility subject to this subchapter is authorized by the commission to implement customer choice, the rates of...
- Texas Section 39.407 - Customer Choice And Relevant Market And Related Matters
(a) If an electric utility chooses on or after January 1, 2007, to participate in customer choice, the commission may not authorize customer choice until...
- Texas Section 39.408 - Hiring Assistance For Federal 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 the...
- Texas Section 39.409 - Recoupment Of Transition To Competition Costs
An electric utility subject to this subchapter is entitled to recover, as provided by this section, all reasonable and necessary expenditures made or incurred before...
SUBCHAPTER J TRANSITION TO COMPETITION IN CERTAIN
- Texas Section 39.410 - Contractual Obligations
This subchapter may not: (1) interfere with or abrogate the rights or obligations of any party, including a retail or wholesale customer, to a contract...
- Texas Section 39.451 - Applicability
This subchapter applies only to an investor-owned electric utility that is operating solely outside of ERCOT in areas of this state that were included in...
- Texas Section 39.452 - Regulation Of Utility And Transition To Competition
(a) Until the date on which an electric utility subject to this subchapter is authorized by the commission to implement customer choice under Section 39.453,...
- Texas Section 39.4525 - Hiring Assistance For Federal 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 the...
- Texas Section 39.453 - Customer Choice And Relevant Market And Related Matters
(a) The commission may not authorize customer choice until the commission certifies the applicable power region as a qualifying power region under Section 39.152(a). Sections...
- Texas Section 39.454 - Recoupment Of Transition To Competition Costs
An electric utility subject to this subchapter is entitled to recover, as provided by this section, all reasonable and necessary expenditures made or incurred before...
- Texas Section 39.455 - Recovery Of Incremental Capacity Costs
An electric utility subject to this subchapter is entitled to recover, through a rate rider mechanism, reasonable and necessary costs of incremental resources required to...
- Texas Section 39.456 - Franchise Agreements
A municipality, with the agreement of an electric utility, may accelerate the expiration date of a franchise agreement that was in existence on September 1,...
- Texas Section 39.457 - Contractual Rights
In the event that the electric utility subject to this subchapter either merges, consolidates, or otherwise becomes affiliated with another owner of electric generation, or...
- Texas Section 39.461 - Nonbypassable Charges
The commission may include terms in the financing order to ensure that the imposition and collection of transition charges associated with the recovery of hurricane...
- Texas Section 39.462 - Determination Of Hurricane Reconstruction Costs
(a) An electric utility subject to this subchapter is entitled to recover hurricane reconstruction costs consistent with the provisions of this subchapter and is entitled...
SUBCHAPTER K TRANSITION TO COMPETITION FOR CERTAIN
- Texas Section 39.463 - Severability
Effective on the date the first utility transition bonds associated with hurricane reconstruction costs are issued under this subchapter, if any provision in this title...
- Texas Section 39.501 - Applicability
(a) This subchapter applies to an investor-owned electric utility: (1) that is operating solely outside of ERCOT in areas of this state that were included...
- Texas Section 39.502 - Cost-of-service Regulation
(a) Until the date on which an electric utility subject to this subchapter is authorized by the commission under Section 39.503(f) to implement retail customer...
- Texas Section 39.503 - Transition To Competition
(a) The events prescribed by Subsections (b)-(f) shall be followed to introduce retail competition in the service area of an electric utility subject to this...
SUBCHAPTER L TRANSITION TO COMPETITION AND OTHER PROVISIONS FOR CERTAIN AREAS OUTSIDE OF ERCOT
- Texas Section 39.504 - Hiring Assistance For Federal 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 the...
- Texas Section 39.551 - Applicability
(a) This subchapter applies only to an investor-owned electric utility: (1) that is operating solely outside of ERCOT in areas of this state that were...
- Texas Section 39.552 - Cost-of-service Regulation
(a) Until the date on which an electric utility subject to this subchapter is authorized by the commission under Section 39.553(f) to implement retail customer...
- Texas Section 39.553 - Transition To Competition
(a) The events prescribed by Subsections (b)-(f) shall be followed to introduce retail competition in the service area of an electric utility subject to this...
- Texas Section 39.554 - Interconnection Of Distributed Renewable Generation
(a) In this section: (1) "Distributed renewable generation" has the meaning assigned by Section 39.916. (2) "Distributed renewable generation owner" means an owner of distributed...
SUBCHAPTER Z MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
- Texas Section 39.555 - Marketing Of Energy Efficiency And Renewable Energy Programs
An electric utility subject to this subchapter may market an energy efficiency or renewable energy program directly to a retail electric customer in its service...
- Texas Section 39.9016 - Nuclear Safety Fee
An electric utility that operates a nuclear asset located in a county on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico shall pay a nuclear safety...
- Texas Section 39.902 - Customer Education
(a) On or before January 1, 2001, the commission shall develop and implement an educational program to inform customers, including low-income and non-English-speaking customers, about...
- Texas Section 39.9025 - Home Electric Energy Reports
The commission may encourage retail electric providers to deliver individualized home electric energy reports to educate consumers about electric energy use and energy efficiency to...
- Texas Section 39.903 - System Benefit Fund
Sec. 39.903. SYSTEM BENEFIT FUND. (a) The system benefit fund is an account in the general revenue fund. Money in the account may be appropriated...
- Texas Section 39.9039 - Elimination Of System Benefit Fund Balance
(a) Notwithstanding Section 39.903(b), the commission shall set the nonbypassable system benefit fund fee at the amount of zero cents per megawatt hour for the...
- Texas Section 39.904 - Goal For Renewable Energy
(a) It is the intent of the legislature that by January 1, 2015, an additional 5,000 megawatts of generating capacity from renewable energy technologies will...
- Texas Section 39.9044 - Goal For Natural Gas
(a) It is the intent of the legislature that 50 percent of the megawatts of generating capacity installed in this state after January 1, 2000,...
- Texas Section 39.9048 - Natural Gas Fuel
It is the intent of the legislature that: (1) the cost of generating electricity remain as low as possible; and (2) the state establish and...
- Texas Section 39.905 - Goal For Energy Efficiency
(a) It is the goal of the legislature that: (1) electric utilities will administer energy efficiency incentive programs in a market-neutral, nondiscriminatory manner but will...
- Texas Section 39.9051 - Energy Efficiency For Municipally Owned Utilities
(a) In this section, "municipally owned utility" has the meaning assigned by Section 11.003. (b) This section applies only to a municipally owned utility that...
- Texas Section 39.9052 - Energy Efficiency For Electric Cooperatives
(a) An electric cooperative shall consider adopting and implementing energy efficiency programs that reduce the cooperative's annual growth in demand in a manner consistent with...
- Texas Section 39.9054 - Energy Efficiency Plans And Reports; Public Information
(a) An electric utility shall submit electronically an energy efficiency plan and report in a searchable form prescribed by the commission on or before April...
- Texas Section 39.9055 - Examination Of Demand Response Potential Of Seawater Desalination Projects
The commission and the ERCOT independent system operator shall study the potential for seawater desalination projects to participate in existing demand response opportunities in the...
- Texas Section 39.906 - Displaced Workers
In order to mitigate potential negative impacts on utility personnel directly affected by electric industry restructuring, the commission shall allow the recovery of reasonable employee-related...
- Texas Section 39.908 - Effect Of Sunset Provision
(a) If the commission is abolished and the other provisions of this title expire as provided by Chapter 325, Government Code (Texas Sunset Act), this...
- Texas Section 39.909 - Plan And Report Of Workforce Diversity And Other Business Practices
(a) In this section, "small business" and "historically underutilized business" have the meanings assigned by former Section 481.191, Government Code, as that section existed on...
- Texas Section 39.910 - Incentive Program And Goal For Energy Efficiency For Military Bases
(a) The commission by rule shall establish an electric energy efficiency incentive program under which each electric utility in an area where customer choice is...
- Texas Section 39.911 - Alternative Funding For Energy Efficiency And Renewable Energy Systems
The State Energy Conservation Office, in coordination with the governor, the Department of Agriculture, the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, the Texas Education Agency, the...
- Texas Section 39.912 - Report On Combined Heating And Power Technology
The commission shall study the installation and use of combined heating and power technology in this state, and shall submit a report regarding the commission's...
- Texas Section 39.913 - Combining Certain Reports
The commission may combine the reports required under Sections 39.905(b-2) and 39.912. Added by Acts 2007, 80th Leg., R.S., Ch. 939 (H.B. 3693), Sec. 23,...
- Texas Section 39.914 - Credit For Surplus Solar Generation By Public Schools
(a) An electric utility or retail electric provider shall provide for net metering and contract with an independent school district so that: (1) surplus electricity...
- Texas Section 39.915 - Consideration And Approval Of Certain Transactions
(a) To protect retail customers in this state, and to ensure the continuation of cost-effective energy efficiency measures and delivery systems, notwithstanding any other provision...
- Texas Section 39.916 - Interconnection Of Distributed Renewable Generation
(a) In this section: (1) "Distributed renewable generation" means electric generation with a capacity of not more than 2,000 kilowatts provided by a renewable energy...