84R11576 GRM-D
By: Keffer H.B. No. 3288
A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
relating to regulation of congestion charges in the electricity
market.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:
SECTION 1. Section 13.003(a), Utilities Code, is amended to
read as follows:
(a) 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 electricity consumers or small commercial electricity
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 14.204;
(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 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 advise persons who are interested parties for
purposes of Section 37.054 on procedural matters related to
proceedings before the commission on an application for a
certificate of convenience and necessity filed under Section
37.053; and
(10) shall advocate for the allocation of congestion
charges in a power region to ensure timely upgrades and development
of sufficient transmission and distribution systems designed to
provide for congestion relief.
SECTION 2. Section 39.001, Utilities Code, is amended by
amending Subsection (a) and adding Subsections (d-1) and (d-2) to
read as follows:
(a) The legislature finds that the production and sale of
electricity is not a monopoly warranting regulation of rates,
operations, and services and that the public interest in
competitive electric markets requires that, except for
transmission and distribution services and for the recovery of
stranded costs, electric services, congestion charges, and the
[their] prices of electric services and congestion charges should
be determined by customer choices and the normal forces of
competition. As a result, this chapter is enacted to protect the
public interest during the transition to and in the establishment
of a fully competitive electric power industry.
(d-1) The legislature finds that congestion charges impede
fair competition for all retail customer classes, do not protect
the public interest, disrupt competitive energy services in certain
power regions, and arbitrarily discriminate against certain
consumers based on their geographic location.
(d-2) A regulatory authority, other than the governing body
of a municipally owned electric utility that has not opted for
customer choice or the body vested with the power to manage and
operate a municipally owned electric utility that has not opted for
customer choice, shall ensure that the rules it adopts and the
orders it issues are designed to:
(1) correct the disruptive effects congestion charges
have on the competitive market; and
(2) impose the least impairment to competition
practicable.
SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2015.