By: Turner of Harris H.B. No. 2305
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to retail electric providers protecting customer
deposits, establishing a customer deposit fund, and establishing a
customer deposit interest fund.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 39.101(a), Utilities Code, is amended by
adding new subsection (10) to read as follows:
(10) to a refund of any deposit or other money owed to a
customer, exclusive of interest, upon the exit of its retail
electric provider from the Texas market.
SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 39, Utilities Code, is
amended by adding Section 39.1015 to read as follows:
Sec. 39.1015 CUSTOMER DEPOSIT FUND.
(a) The commission shall adopt and enforce rules requiring
retail electric providers to establish a customer deposit fund as a
trust fund outside of the state treasury to be used only for the
purposes provided in this section. The commission shall provide
for the fund to be held by a financial institution eligible to be a
depository for state funds under Chapter 404, Government Code.
Money in the fund may be disbursed from the fund only as provided in
this section. Interest earned on the fund shall be credited to a
customer deposit interest fund as provided under Section 39.107(j).
(b) The customer deposit fund established under Subsection
(a) is financed by customer deposits remitted by customers to their
retail electric providers. A retail electric provider shall remit
the customer deposits in accordance with procedures prescribed by
commission rule.
(c) The commission annually shall review customer deposit
fund accounts and projected interest credited to the customer
deposit interest fund as provided under Section 39.107(j). The
commission by rule shall adopt reporting requirements, payment
schedules, and review procedures, including a method for
administrative review, as the commission determines is necessary to
ensure the customer deposit fund is funded by retail electric
providers by deposits received from their customers and that
disbursements from the fund to customers are properly made.
(d) Retail electric providers shall file regular reports as
required by commission rule. The commission may require a retail
electric provider to provide additional information as necessary to
assess contributions to and disbursements from the customer deposit
fund and the customer deposit interest fund as provided under
Section 39.107(j).
(e) The commission shall issue quarterly reports of
revenues to and expenditures from the customer deposit fund and the
customer deposit interest fund as provided under Section 39.107(j).
SECTION 3. Section 39.107, Utilities Code, is amended by
adding new subsection (j) to read as follows:
(j) Interest earned on the customer deposit fund
established under Section 39.1015 shall be credited to a separate
fund, a customer deposit interest fund, to offset any charge to a
low-income residential customer, if passed on and charged by a
retail electric provider, for any nonbypassable surcharge approved
by the commission for an electric utility or transmission and
distribution utility used to recover reasonable and necessary costs
incurred during deploying advanced metering and advanced meter
information networks under subsection (h). If any such
nonbypassable surcharge expires or is included in a utility or
transmission and distribution provider's base rates, the customer
deposit interest fund shall be utilized to fund programs as
provided in Section 39.903(e)(1)(A)-(B).
(j-1) The commission shall adopt and enforce rules for a
retail electric provider to determine which residential customers
are eligible for a waiver of a standard nonbypassable surcharge
under Subsection (h), if passed on and charged by the retail
electric provider, and shall require a retail electric provider to
apply the same reduction to any rate plan under which a low-income
residential customer is receiving service. All records and reports
related to the low-income residential customer surcharge waiver
under this subsection are subject to audit on commission request.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.