Title UT, Utilities Code

Sec. 39.051. UNBUNDLING. (a) On or before September 1, 2000, each electric utility shall separate from its regulated utility activities its customer energy services business activities that are otherwise also already widely available in the competitive market. (b) Not later than …

Sec. 39.052. FREEZE ON EXISTING RETAIL BASE RATE TARIFFS. (a) Until January 1, 2002, an electric utility shall provide retail electric service within its certificated service area in accordance with the electric utility's retail base rate tariffs in effect on September 1, 1999, i…

Sec. 39.053. COST RECOVERY ADJUSTMENTS. This subchapter does not limit or alter the ability of an electric utility during the freeze period to revise its fuel factor or to reconcile fuel expenses and to either refund fuel overcollections or surcharge fuel undercollections to cust…

Sec. 39.054. RETAIL ELECTRIC SERVICE DURING FREEZE PERIOD. (a) An electric utility shall provide retail electric service during the freeze period in accordance with any contract terms applicable to a particular retail customer approved by the regulatory authority and in effect on…

Sec. 39.055. FORCE MAJEURE. (a) An electric utility may recover losses resulting from force majeure through an increase in its retail base rates during the freeze period. (b) Notwithstanding Subchapter C, Chapter 36, the regulatory authority, after a hearing to determine the elec…

Sec. 39.101. CUSTOMER SAFEGUARDS. (a) Before customer choice begins on January 1, 2002, the commission shall ensure that retail customer protections are established that entitle a customer: (1) to safe, reliable, and reasonably priced electricity, including protection against ser…

Sec. 39.102. RETAIL CUSTOMER CHOICE. (a) Each retail customer in this state, except retail customers of electric cooperatives and municipally owned utilities that have not opted for customer choice, shall have customer choice on and after January 1, 2002. (b) The affiliated retai…

Sec. 39.1025. LIMITATIONS ON TELEPHONE SOLICITATION. (a) A person may not make or cause to be made a telephone solicitation to a nonresidential electric customer who has given notice to the commission of the customer's objection to receiving telephone solicitations relating to th…

Sec. 39.103. COMMISSION AUTHORITY TO DELAY COMPETITION AND SET NEW RATES. If the commission determines under Section 39.104 that a power region is unable to offer fair competition and reliable service to all retail customer classes on January 1, 2002, the commission shall delay c…

Sec. 39.104. CUSTOMER CHOICE PILOT PROJECTS. (a) Customer choice pilot projects may be used to allow the commission to evaluate the ability of each power region and electric utility to implement customer choice. However, in a multiply certificated area, an electric utility may no…

Sec. 39.105. LIMITATION ON SALE OF ELECTRICITY. (a) After January 1, 2002, a transmission and distribution utility may not sell electricity or otherwise participate in the market for electricity except for the purpose of buying electricity to serve its own needs. (b) A person or …

Sec. 39.106. PROVIDER OF LAST RESORT. (a) The commission shall designate retail electric providers in areas of the state in which customer choice is in effect to serve as providers of last resort. (b) A provider of last resort shall offer a standard retail service package for eac…

Sec. 39.107. METERING AND BILLING SERVICES. (a) On introduction of customer choice in a service area, metering services for the area shall continue to be provided by the transmission and distribution utility affiliate of the electric utility that was serving the area before the i…

Sec. 39.108. CONTRACTUAL OBLIGATIONS. This chapter may not: (1) interfere with or abrogate the rights or obligations of any party, including a retail or wholesale customer, to a contract with an investor-owned electric utility, river authority, municipally owned utility, or elect…

Sec. 39.109. NEW OWNER OR SUCCESSOR. (a) To ensure the continued safe and reliable operation of electric generating facilities, the commission shall require a generating facility that is transferred to a new owner or successor in interest between June 1, 1999, and January 1, 2002…

Sec. 39.110. WHOLESALE INDEXED PRODUCTS PROHIBITED. (a) In this section, "wholesale indexed product" means a retail electric product in which the price a customer pays for electricity includes a direct pass-through of real-time settlement point prices determined by the independen…

Sec. 39.112. NOTICE OF EXPIRATION AND PRICE CHANGE. (a) In this section, "fixed rate product" means a retail electric product with a term of at least three months for which the price for each billing period, including recurring charges, does not change throughout the term of the …

Sec. 39.113. RATE TRANSPARENCY. (a) A transmission and distribution utility shall provide with each statement of intent to change rates filed under Chapter 36, and any other filing made with a regulatory authority under this subtitle regarding a change in the utility's rates, a s…

Sec. 39.151. ESSENTIAL ORGANIZATIONS. (a) A power region must establish one or more independent organizations to perform the following functions: (1) ensure access to the transmission and distribution systems for all buyers and sellers of electricity on nondiscriminatory terms; (…

Sec. 39.1511. PUBLIC MEETINGS OF THE GOVERNING BODY OF AN INDEPENDENT ORGANIZATION. (a) Meetings of the governing body of an independent organization certified under Section 39.151 and meetings of a subcommittee that includes a member of the governing body must be open to the pub…

Sec. 39.1512. DISCLOSURE OF INTEREST IN MATTER BEFORE INDEPENDENT ORGANIZATION'S GOVERNING BODY; PARTICIPATION IN DECISION. (a) If a matter comes before the governing body of an independent organization certified under Section 39.151 and a member has a direct interest in that mat…

Sec. 39.1513. ERCOT BOARD SELECTION COMMITTEE. (a) The ERCOT board selection committee is composed of: (1) one member appointed by the governor; (2) one member appointed by the lieutenant governor; and (3) one member appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives. (b) A…

Sec. 39.1514. COMMISSION DIRECTIVES TO INDEPENDENT ORGANIZATION. (a) The commission may not use a verbal directive to direct an independent organization certified under Section 39.151 to take an official action. The commission may direct the organization to take an official actio…

Sec. 39.1515. WHOLESALE ELECTRIC MARKET MONITOR. (a) An independent organization certified under Section 39.151 shall contract with an entity selected by the commission to act as the commission's wholesale electric market monitor to detect and prevent market manipulation strategi…

Sec. 39.1516. CYBERSECURITY MONITOR. (a) In this section, "monitored utility" means: (1) a transmission and distribution utility; (2) a corporation described in Section 32.053; (3) a municipally owned utility or electric cooperative that owns or operates equipment or facilities i…

Sec. 39.152. QUALIFYING POWER REGIONS. (a) The commission shall certify a power region if: (1) a sufficient number of interconnected utilities in the power region fall under the operational control of an independent organization as described by Section 39.151; (2) the power regio…

Sec. 39.153. CAPACITY AUCTION. (a) Each electric utility subject to this section shall sell at auction, at least 60 days before the date set for customer choice to begin, entitlements to at least 15 percent of the electric utility's Texas jurisdictional installed generation capac…

Sec. 39.154. LIMITATION OF OWNERSHIP OF INSTALLED CAPACITY. (a) Beginning on the date of introduction of customer choice, a power generation company may not own and control more than 20 percent of the installed generation capacity located in, or capable of delivering electricity …

Sec. 39.155. COMMISSION ASSESSMENT OF MARKET POWER. (a) Each person, municipally owned utility, electric cooperative, and river authority that owns generation facilities and offers electricity for sale in this state shall report to the commission its installed generation capacity…

Sec. 39.156. MARKET POWER MITIGATION PLAN. (a) In this section, "market power mitigation plan" or "plan" means a written proposal by an electric utility or a power generation company for reducing its ownership and control of installed generation capacity as required by Section 39…

Sec. 39.157. COMMISSION AUTHORITY TO ADDRESS MARKET POWER. (a) The commission shall monitor market power associated with the generation, transmission, distribution, and sale of electricity in this state. On a finding that market power abuses or other violations of this section ar…

Sec. 39.158. MERGERS AND CONSOLIDATIONS. (a) A power generation company that offers electricity for sale in this state in a power region open to customer choice and proposes a transaction to merge, consolidate, or otherwise become affiliated with another power generation company …

Sec. 39.159. POWER REGION RELIABILITY AND DISPATCHABLE GENERATION. (a) For the purposes of this section, a generation facility is considered to be non-dispatchable if the facility's output is controlled primarily by forces outside of human control. (b) The commission shall ensure…

Sec. 39.1591. REPORT ON DISPATCHABLE AND NON-DISPATCHABLE GENERATION FACILITIES. Not later than December 1 of each year, the commission shall file a report with the legislature that: (1) includes: (A) the estimated annual costs incurred by load-serving entities under this subchap…

Sec. 39.1592. GENERATION RELIABILITY REQUIREMENTS. (a) This section applies only to an electric generation facility in the ERCOT power region for which a standard generator interconnection agreement is signed on or after January 1, 2027, that has been in operation for at least on…

Sec. 39.1593. COST ALLOCATION OF RELIABILITY SERVICES. (a) The commission shall direct the independent organization certified under Section 39.151 for the ERCOT power region to evaluate with input from a technical advisory committee established under the bylaws of the independent…

Sec. 39.1594. RELIABILITY PROGRAM. (a) Under Section 39.159(b), as added by Chapter 426 (S.B. 3), Acts of the 87th Legislature, Regular Session, 2021, or other law, the commission may not require retail customers or load-serving entities in the ERCOT power region to purchase cred…

Sec. 39.1595. GRID RELIABILITY LEGISLATIVE OVERSIGHT COMMITTEE. (a) In this section, "committee" means the Grid Reliability Legislative Oversight Committee established under this section. (b) The Grid Reliability Legislative Oversight Committee is created to oversee the commissio…

Sec. 39.160. WHOLESALE PRICING PROCEDURES. (a) The commission by rule shall establish an emergency pricing program for the wholesale electric market. (b) The emergency pricing program must take effect if the high system-wide offer cap has been in effect for 12 hours in a 24-hour …

Sec. 39.161. CHARGES FOR CERTAIN MARKET PARTICIPANTS. Notwithstanding any other law, no default or uplift charge or repayment may be allocated to or collected from a market participant that: (1) otherwise would be subject to an uplift charge solely as a result of acting as a cent…

Sec. 39.162. DEFAULT OF MARKET PARTICIPANT. (a) The commission shall require that all market participants pay or make provision for the full and prompt payment of amounts owed calculated solely according to the protocols in effect during the period of emergency to the independent…

Sec. 39.163. AMOUNTS OWED TO INDEPENDENT ORGANIZATION BY MARKET PARTICIPANTS. (a) The commission shall require that all market participants fully and promptly pay to the independent organization certified under Section 39.151 for the ERCOT power region all amounts owed to the ind…

Sec. 39.164. AUDIT OF INDEPENDENT ORGANIZATION CERTIFIED FOR ERCOT POWER REGION. (a) The commission annually shall have an independent audit made of each independent organization certified under Section 39.151 for the ERCOT power region. (b) An audit under this section must exami…

Sec. 39.165. GRID RELIABILITY ASSESSMENT. (a) The independent organization certified under Section 39.151 for the ERCOT power region shall conduct a biennial assessment of the ERCOT power grid to assess the grid's reliability in extreme weather scenarios. (b) Each assessment must…

Sec. 39.166. RELIABILITY PLAN FOR REGIONS WITH RAPID ELECTRICAL LOAD GROWTH. (a) The commission shall direct the independent organization certified under Section 39.151 for the ERCOT power region to: (1) identify each region in which transmission capacity is insufficient to meet …

Sec. 39.1675. ELECTRIC INDUSTRY REPORT. (a) Not later than January 15 of each odd-numbered year, the commission, in consultation with the independent organization certified under Section 39.151 for the ERCOT power region, shall prepare and submit to the legislature an electric in…