Texas Utilities Code Title 3, Chapter 104 - Rates And Services

SUBCHAPTER A GENERAL PROVISIONS

• Texas Section 104.001 - Authorization To Establish And Regulate Rates
  (a) The railroad commission is vested with all the authority and power of this state to ensure compliance with the obligations of gas utilities in...
• Texas Section 104.002 - Compliance With Subtitle
  A gas utility may not: (1) charge, collect, or receive a rate for utility service except as provided by this subtitle; or (2) impose a...
• Texas Section 104.003 - Just And Reasonable Rates
  (a) The regulatory authority shall ensure that each rate a gas utility or two or more gas utilities jointly make, demand, or receive is just...
• Texas Section 104.004 - Unreasonable Preference Or Prejudice Prohibited
  A gas utility may not: (1) grant an unreasonable preference or advantage concerning rates or services to a person in a classification; (2) subject a...
• Texas Section 104.005 - Equality Of Rates And Services
  (a) A gas utility may not directly or indirectly charge, demand, collect, or receive from a person a greater or lesser compensation for a service...
• Texas Section 104.006 - Rates For Area Not In Municipality
  Without the approval of the railroad commission, a gas utility's rates for an area not in a municipality may not exceed 115 percent of the...
• Texas Section 104.007 - Discrimination And Restriction On Competition
  A gas utility may not: (1) discriminate against a person who sells or leases equipment or performs services in competition with the gas utility; or...

SUBCHAPTER B COMPUTATION OF RATES

• Texas Section 104.008 - Burden Of Proof
  In a proceeding involving a proposed rate change, the gas utility has the burden of proving that: (1) the rate change is just and reasonable,...
• Texas Section 104.051 - Establishing Overall Revenues
  In establishing a gas utility's rates, the regulatory authority shall establish the utility's overall revenues at an amount that will permit the utility a reasonable...
• Texas Section 104.052 - Establishing Fair Rate Of Return
  The regulatory authority may not establish a rate that yields more than a fair return on the adjusted value of the invested capital used and...
• Texas Section 104.053 - Components Of Adjusted Value Of Invested Capital
  (a) Gas utility rates shall be based on the adjusted value of invested capital used and useful to the utility in providing service and that...
• Texas Section 104.054 - Depreciation, Amortization, And Depletion
  (a) The railroad commission shall establish proper and adequate rates and methods of depreciation, amortization, or depletion for each class of property of a gas...
• Texas Section 104.055 - Net Income; Allowable Expenses
  (a) Net income shall be used to establish just and reasonable rates. For that purpose, "net income" means the total revenues of the gas utility...
• Texas Section 104.056 - Treatment Of Certain Tax Benefits
  (a) In determining the allocation of tax savings derived from liberalized depreciation and amortization, the investment tax credit, and the application of similar methods, the...
• Texas Section 104.057 - Consideration Of Certain Expenses
  (a) In establishing a gas utility's rates, the regulatory authority may not allow as a cost or expense an expenditure: (1) described by Section 102.154...
• Texas Section 104.058 - Consideration Of Profit Or Loss From Sale Or Lease Of Merchandise
  In establishing a gas utility's or municipally owned utility's rates, the regulatory authority may not consider a profit or loss that results from the sale...

SUBCHAPTER C RATE CHANGES PROPOSED BY UTILITY

• Texas Section 104.059 - Pension And Other Postemployment Benefits
  (a) In establishing a gas utility's rates, the regulatory authority shall allow recovery of the gas utility's costs of pensions and other postemployment benefits, as...
• Texas Section 104.101 - Definition
  In this subchapter, "major change" means an increase in rates that would increase the aggregate revenues of the applicant more than the greater of $100,000...
• Texas Section 104.102 - Statement Of Intent To Increase Rates
  (a) A gas utility may not increase its rates unless the utility files a statement of its intent with the regulatory authority that has original...
• Texas Section 104.103 - Notice Of Intent To Increase Rates
  (a) The gas utility shall: (1) publish, in conspicuous form, notice to the public of the proposed increase once each week for four successive weeks...
• Texas Section 104.104 - Early Effective Date Of Rate Increase
  (a) For good cause shown, the regulatory authority may allow a rate increase, other than a major change, to take effect: (1) before the end...
• Texas Section 104.105 - Determination Of Propriety Of Rate Change; Hearing
  (a) If a schedule modifying or increasing rates is filed with a regulatory authority, the regulatory authority shall, on complaint by an affected person, or...
• Texas Section 104.106 - Preference To Hearing
  The regulatory authority shall: (1) give preference to the hearing under this subchapter and to deciding questions arising under this subchapter over any other question...
• Texas Section 104.107 - Rate Suspension; Deadline
  (a) Pending the hearing and a decision: (1) the local regulatory authority, after delivering to the gas utility a written statement of the regulatory authority's...
• Texas Section 104.108 - Temporary Rates
  (a) The regulatory authority may establish temporary rates to be in effect during the applicable suspension period under Section 104.107. (b) If the regulatory authority...
• Texas Section 104.109 - Bonded Rates
  (a) A gas utility may put a changed rate into effect by filing a bond with the regulatory authority if the regulatory authority fails to...
• Texas Section 104.110 - Establishment Of Final Rates
  (a) If, after hearing, the regulatory authority finds the rates are unreasonable or in violation of law, the regulatory authority shall: (1) enter an order...
• Texas Section 104.111 - Approval Of Decrease In Rates
  Notwithstanding any other provision in this subtitle, the regulatory authority may, without reference to the cost of service standard prescribed by Section 104.051, administratively approve...

SUBCHAPTER D RATE CHANGES PROPOSED BY COMMISSION

• Texas Section 104.112 - Surcharge To Recover Relocation Costs
  (a) This section applies to a gas utility's costs of relocating a facility to accommodate construction or improvement of a highway, road, street, public way,...
• Texas Section 104.151 - Unreasonable Or Violative Existing Rates
  (a) If the regulatory authority, on its own motion or on complaint by an affected person, after reasonable notice and hearing, finds that the existing...

SUBCHAPTER E RATES FOR GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES

• Texas Section 104.152 - Investigating Costs Of Obtaining Service From Another Source
  If a gas utility does not produce the service that it distributes, transmits, or furnishes to the public for compensation but obtains the service from...
• Texas Section 104.201 - Transportation Rates Between Gas Utility Or Municipally Owned Utility And State Agency
  (a) Notwithstanding Section 104.003(b), absent a contract for transportation service between a state agency and a gas utility or municipally owned utility, the railroad commission,...
• Texas Section 104.202 - Excluded Expenses
  (a) The rates that a gas utility or municipally owned utility charges a state agency may not include an amount representing a gross receipts assessment,...

SUBCHAPTER F SERVICES

• Texas Section 104.203 - Payment In Lieu Of Tax
  (a) A payment made in lieu of a tax by a municipally owned utility to the municipality by which the utility is owned may not...
• Texas Section 104.251 - General Standard
  A gas utility shall furnish service, instrumentalities, and facilities that are safe, adequate, efficient, and reasonable. Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 166, Sec. 1, eff....
• Texas Section 104.252 - Authority Of Regulatory Authority Concerning Standards
  A regulatory authority, on its own motion or on complaint and after reasonable notice and hearing, may: (1) adopt just and reasonable standards, classifications, regulations,...
• Texas Section 104.253 - Rule Or Standard
  (a) A gas utility may file with the regulatory authority a standard, classification, regulation, or practice the utility follows. (b) The standard, classification, regulation, or...
• Texas Section 104.254 - Service
  A gas utility or municipally owned utility may not refuse to provide service to a state agency if pipeline capacity is available on an existing...
• Texas Section 104.2545 - Required Service To Public Retail Customer
  (a) In this section, "service site" means facilities or buildings operated by a public retail customer or a group of adjacent facilities or buildings operated...
• Texas Section 104.255 - Billing
  (a) A gas utility or municipally owned utility may not bill or otherwise require the state or a state agency or institution to pay for...
• Texas Section 104.2551 - Electronic Billing
  A gas utility or municipally owned utility may transmit the utility's bill for services through the Internet or by other electronic means instead of through...
• Texas Section 104.256 - Examination And Test Of Instrument Or Equipment; Inspection
  (a) A regulatory authority may: (1) examine and test equipment, including meters and instruments, used to measure service of a gas utility; and (2) set...
• Texas Section 104.257 - Inspection For Consumer
  (a) A consumer may have a meter or other measuring device tested by a gas utility: (1) once without charge, after a reasonable period of...

SUBCHAPTER G INTERIM COST RECOVERY AND RATE ADJUSTMENT

• Texas Section 104.258 - Disconnection Of Gas Service
  (a) In this section: (1) "Extreme weather emergency" means a period during which the previous day's highest temperature did not exceed 32 degrees Fahrenheit and...

SUBCHAPTER H PROTECTION AGAINST UTILITY SERVICE DISCONNECTION

• Texas Section 104.301 - Interim Adjustment For Changes In Investment
  (a) A gas utility that has filed a rate case under Subchapter C within the preceding two years may file with the regulatory authority a...
• Texas Section 104.351 - Definitions
  In this subchapter: (1) "Customer" means any person in whose name gas utility service is billed, including individuals, governmental units at all levels of government,...
• Texas Section 104.352 - Notice Of Disconnection To Municipalities For Nonsubmetered Master Metered Multifamily Properties
  (a) A gas utility shall send a written notice of service disconnection to a municipality before the gas utility disconnects service to a nonsubmetered master...
• Texas Section 104.353 - Additional Safeguards
  (a) The customer safeguards provided by this subchapter are in addition to safeguards provided by other law or agency rules. (b) This subchapter does not...

Last modified: September 28, 2016