By: Carona, Davis S.B. No. 1219
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to the Internet website operated by the Public Utility
Commission of Texas to provide information regarding a customer's
power to choose retail electric providers.
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; and
(2) the Public Utility Commission of Texas operates an
Internet website regarding the power to choose retail electric
providers on which offers by those providers are published.
SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 39, Utilities Code, is
amended by adding Section 39.110 to read as follows:
Sec. 39.110. TEXAS ELECTRIC CHOICE WEBSITE. (a) The
commission shall publish and maintain a website that allows
customers to view competitive offers from retail electric
providers. The website must enable a user to search by zip code
offers available to a residential customer in the user's service
area. Retail electric providers may, but are not required to, post
offers available to residential customers on this website.
(b) At a minimum, the Internet website must include:
(1) features that make the website accessible to
people with disabilities;
(2) a clear identification, with each price offer
posted on the website, of the category of the product as defined by
commission rules;
(3) 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; and
(4) information 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 shall create a working committee to
provide input on the implementation of this section that is
composed of members of commission staff, experts in user-centered
web design, experts in consumer-choice web design, retail electric
providers, consumer advocates, and representatives of various
categories of potential users of the redesigned website, including
people with disabilities and low-income customers.
(d) The commission 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, 2013 [2011].
SECTION 4. The Public Utility Commission of Texas shall
publish and begin operation of a redesigned website 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 is
authorized to accept funds from any source, including gifts,
grants, or donations, for implementation of this Act. However, the
commission may not incorporate a preference of information
displayed directly or indirectly in favor of any funding source,
and no entity will be required to contribute funds to have
information posted on the site. Implementation of this Act is
contingent on a finding by the commission that complete funding
exists or is likely to exist to carry out the provisions of this
Act.
SECTION 6. This Act takes effect September 1, 2011.