82R9808 ALL-F
By: Carona S.B. No. 1219
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the website operated by the Public Utility Commission
of Texas to provide information regarding the power to choose and a
study on standardized electric service products and contracts.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. The legislature finds that:
(1) a competitive electric services market requires
timely, accurate, and adequate information about the products and
services offered to consumers in the market;
(2) the Public Utility Commission of Texas operates a
website regarding the power to choose retail electric providers on
which offers by those providers are published;
(3) the website is not easily usable and does not
provide the transparency necessary for consumers to make informed
choices in purchasing electric service products;
(4) the website does not use a user-centered design
approach;
(5) the website is not accessible to people with
disabilities; and
(6) a more structured approach to the design of that
website is required to truly affect a consumer's power to choose.
SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 39, Utilities Code, is
amended by adding Section 39.110 to read as follows:
Sec. 39.110. POWER TO CHOOSE WEBSITE. (a) The commission
shall publish and operate a power to choose website redesigned
using a user-centered design approach. The user-centered design
approach must enable a residential, governmental, commercial, or
industrial user to search by physical address all offers available
in the user's service area.
(b) At a minimum, the redesigned website must include:
(1) a web page on which all fees, deposits, required
balances, and rates for each product offered by a retail electric
provider are posted and visible without the need to click on a link
and be redirected to another web page for the information;
(2) a web page on which terms of service for each
product offered by a retail electric provider are posted;
(3) features that make the website fully accessible to
people with disabilities;
(4) a research trail feature that will allow the user
to track the user's research;
(5) a clear identification with each price offer
posted on the website of whether the underlying product is a prepay
product or a variable, index, or fixed rate product;
(6) a searchable and sortable database of each retail
electric provider offer on the website that allows the information
to be read into a commercially available electronic database;
(7) features to accommodate language, cultural, and
educational differences among users; and
(8) comprehensive information, prominently displayed,
appropriately linked, and searchable by the user's physical
address, about each of the following programs available in the
user's service area through a state agency, utility, or retail
electric provider:
(A) energy efficiency programs, including
weatherization and rebate programs;
(B) distributed renewable generation policies
and programs, including rebate programs, net metering, and policies
affecting consumers' rights; and
(C) low-income utility assistance programs,
including bill payment assistance, weatherization, and rebate
programs.
(c) The commission shall establish a project to implement
this section. The commission may create a working committee to
provide input on the implementation of this section that is
composed of members of commission staff, consumer advocates, and
representatives of various categories of potential users of the
redesigned power to choose website, including people with
disabilities and low-income customers. The Department of
Information Resources shall participate in the project and shall
provide technical assistance to the commission and, if a working
committee is created, to the working committee.
(d) The commission by rule shall establish protocols
relating to the frequency with which information posted on the
website is updated.
(e) The commission shall consult and cooperate with other
state agencies in the design, both for content and usability, of the
website, including agencies providing low-income consumer
assistance and energy efficiency assistance and the interagency
coordinating group established under Section 535.053, Government
Code.
SECTION 3. Section 39.116, Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
Sec. 39.116. NOTICE REGARDING CUSTOMER CHOICE INFORMATION.
A retail electric provider shall include on each residential
customer's bill a statement, in at least 12-point type on the front
of the first page, that reads: "For more information about
residential electric service please visit www.powertochoose.com."
This section expires September 1, 2015 [2011].
SECTION 4. The Public Utility Commission of Texas shall
publish and begin operation of a redesigned power to choose website
using a user-centered design approach as provided by Section
39.110, Utilities Code, as added by this Act, not later than
September 1, 2012.
SECTION 5. The Public Utility Commission of Texas, with
input from the working committee, if a committee is created under
Section 39.110(c), Utilities Code, as added by this Act, shall
conduct a study on the feasibility of establishing standardized
electric service products and standardized terms to be included in
electric service contracts to facilitate consumer comparisons of
those products and terms. Not later than September 1, 2012, the
commission shall report its findings to the legislature and publish
those findings on the power to choose website.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.