83R169 JJT-D
By: Hilderbran H.B. No. 3382
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to powers and duties of the Office of Public Utility
Counsel to represent residential and small commercial consumers in
certain water or sewer utility service matters before the Texas
Commission on Environmental Quality.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 5.273(a), Water Code, is amended to read
as follows:
(a) The counsel shall represent the public interest and be a
party to all proceedings before the commission, other than a
proceeding under Chapter 13.
SECTION 2. Subchapter B, Chapter 13, Water Code, is amended
by adding Section 13.017 to read as follows:
Sec. 13.017. OFFICE OF PUBLIC UTILITY COUNSEL; POWERS AND
DUTIES. (a) In this section, "counsellor" and "office" have the
meanings assigned by Section 11.003, Utilities Code.
(b) The independent Office of Public Utility Counsel
represents the interests of residential and small commercial
consumers under this chapter. The office:
(1) shall assess the effect of utility rate changes
and other regulatory actions on residential consumers in this
state;
(2) shall advocate in the office's own name a position
determined by the counsellor to be most advantageous to a
substantial number of residential consumers;
(3) may appear or intervene, as a party or otherwise,
as a matter of right on behalf of:
(A) residential consumers, as a class, in any
proceeding before the commission, including an alternative dispute
resolution proceeding; and
(B) small commercial consumers, as a class, in
any proceeding in which the counsellor determines that small
commercial consumers are in need of representation, including an
alternative dispute resolution proceeding;
(4) may initiate or intervene as a matter of right or
otherwise appear in a judicial proceeding:
(A) that involves an action taken by an
administrative agency in a proceeding, including an alternative
dispute resolution proceeding, in which the counsellor is
authorized to appear; or
(B) in which the counsellor determines that
residential consumers or small commercial consumers are in need of
representation;
(5) is entitled to the same access as a party, other
than commission staff, to records gathered by the commission under
Section 13.133;
(6) is entitled to discovery of any nonprivileged
matter that is relevant to the subject matter of a proceeding or
petition before the commission;
(7) may represent an individual residential or small
commercial consumer with respect to the consumer's disputed
complaint concerning retail utility services that is unresolved
before the commission;
(8) may recommend legislation to the legislature that
the office determines would positively affect the interests of
residential and small commercial consumers; and
(9) may conduct customer outreach and education
programs for residential and small commercial consumers.
(c) This section does not:
(1) affect a duty the office is required to perform
under other law; or
(2) limit the authority of the commission to represent
residential or small commercial consumers.
(d) The appearance of the counsellor in a proceeding does
not preclude the appearance of other parties on behalf of
residential or small commercial consumers. The counsellor may not
be grouped with any other party.
SECTION 3. (a) Not later than January 1, 2014, the
following are transferred from the Office of Public Interest
Counsel to the Office of Public Utility Counsel:
(1) the powers, duties, functions, programs, and
activities of the Office of Public Interest Counsel relating to
water and sewer services regulated under Chapter 13, Water Code;
(2) all obligations and contracts of the Office of
Public Interest Counsel that are related to a power, duty,
function, program, or activity transferred under this subsection;
and
(3) all property and records in the custody of the
Office of Public Interest Counsel that are related to a power, duty,
function, program, or activity transferred under this subsection
and all funds appropriated by the legislature for that power, duty,
function, program, or activity.
(b) A rule or form adopted by the Office of Public Interest
Counsel that relates to a power, duty, function, program, or
activity transferred under Subsection (a) of this section is a rule
or form of the Office of Public Utility Counsel and remains in
effect until altered by the Office of Public Utility Counsel.
(c) A reference in law to the Office of Public Interest
Counsel that relates to a power, duty, function, program, or
activity transferred under Subsection (a) of this section means the
Office of Public Utility Counsel.
SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2013.