Title UT, Utilities Code

Sec. 37.057. DEADLINE FOR APPLICATION FOR NEW TRANSMISSION FACILITY. The commission must approve or deny an application for a certificate for a new transmission facility not later than the 180th day after the date the application is filed. If the commission does not approve or de…

Sec. 37.058. CERTIFICATE AND DETERMINATION ISSUED TO CERTAIN NON-ERCOT UTILITIES FOR GENERATING FACILITY. (a) This section applies only to an electric utility that operates solely outside of ERCOT. (b) An electric utility may file with the commission a request that the commission…

Sec. 37.059. REVOCATION OR AMENDMENT OF CERTIFICATE. (a) The commission may revoke or amend a certificate after notice and hearing if the commission finds that the certificate holder has never provided or is no longer providing service in all or any part of the certificated area.…

Sec. 37.060. DIVISION OF MULTIPLY CERTIFICATED SERVICE AREAS. (a) This subsection and Subsections (b)-(g) apply only to areas in which each retail electric utility that is authorized to provide retail electric utility service to the area is providing customer choice. For purposes…

Sec. 37.061. EXISTING SERVICE AREA AGREEMENTS. (a) Notwithstanding any other provision of this title, the commission shall allow a municipally owned utility to amend the service area boundaries of its certificate if: (1) the municipally owned utility was the holder of a certifica…

Sec. 37.101. SERVICE IN ANNEXED OR INCORPORATED AREA. (a) If an area is or will be included within a municipality as the result of annexation, incorporation, or another reason, each electric utility and each electric cooperative that holds or is entitled to hold a certificate und…

Sec. 37.102. GRANT OF CERTIFICATE FOR CERTAIN MUNICIPALITIES. (a) If a municipal corporation offers retail electric utility service in a municipality having a population of more than 151,000 that is located in a county having a population of more than 2.5 million, the commission …

Sec. 37.151. PROVISION OF SERVICE. Except as provided by Sections 37.152 and 37.153, a certificate holder shall: (1) serve every consumer in the utility's certificated area; and (2) provide continuous and adequate service in that area. Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 166, Sec. 1, eff. …

Sec. 37.152. GROUNDS FOR REDUCTION OF SERVICE. (a) Unless the commission issues a certificate that the present and future convenience and necessity will not be adversely affected, a certificate holder may not discontinue, reduce, or impair service to any part of the holder's cert…

Sec. 37.153. REQUIRED REFUSAL OF SERVICE. A certificate holder shall refuse to serve a customer in the holder's certificated area if the holder is prohibited from providing the service under Section 212.012, 232.029, or 232.0291, Local Government Code. Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 1…

Sec. 37.154. TRANSFER OF CERTIFICATE. (a) An electric utility or municipally owned utility may sell, assign, or lease a certificate or a right obtained under a certificate if the purchaser, assignee, or lessee is already certificated by the commission to provide electric service …

Sec. 37.155. APPLICATION OF CONTRACTS. A contract approved by the commission between retail electric utilities that designates areas and customers to be served by the utilities: (1) is valid and enforceable; and (2) shall be incorporated into the appropriate areas of certificatio…

Sec. 37.156. INTERFERENCE WITH ANOTHER UTILITY. If an electric utility constructing or extending the utility's lines, plant, or system interferes or attempts to interfere with the operation of a line, plant, or system of another utility, the commission by order may: (1) prohibit …

Sec. 37.157. MAPS. (a) An electric utility shall file with the commission one or more maps that show each utility facility and that separately illustrate each utility facility for the generation, transmission, or distribution of the utility's services on a date the commission ord…

Sec. 38.001. GENERAL STANDARD. An electric utility and an electric cooperative shall furnish service, instrumentalities, and facilities that are safe, adequate, efficient, and reasonable. Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 166, Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997. Amended by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., …

Sec. 38.002. AUTHORITY OF REGULATORY AUTHORITY CONCERNING STANDARDS. A regulatory authority, on its own motion or on complaint and after reasonable notice and hearing, may: (1) adopt just and reasonable standards, classifications, rules, or practices an electric utility must foll…

Sec. 38.003. RULE OR STANDARD. (a) An electric utility may not impose a rule except as provided by this title. (b) An electric utility may file with the regulatory authority a standard, classification, rule, or practice the utility follows. (c) The standard, classification, rule,…

Sec. 38.004. MINIMUM CLEARANCE STANDARD. (a) Notwithstanding any other law, a transmission or distribution line owned by an electric utility or an electric cooperative must be constructed, operated, and maintained, as to clearances, in the manner described by the National Electri…

Sec. 38.005. ELECTRIC SERVICE RELIABILITY MEASURES. (a) The commission shall implement service quality and reliability standards relating to the delivery of electricity to retail customers by electric utilities and transmission and distribution utilities. The commission by rule s…

Sec. 38.006. STRUCTURAL INTEGRITY STANDARDS FOR TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION POLES. (a) This section applies only to an electric utility, municipally owned utility, or electric cooperative that operates transmission or distribution assets. (b) The commission by rule shall adopt …

Sec. 38.021. UNREASONABLE PREFERENCE OR PREJUDICE CONCERNING SERVICE PROHIBITED. In providing a service to persons in a classification, an electric utility may not: (1) grant an unreasonable preference or advantage to a person in the classification; or (2) subject a person in the…

Sec. 38.022. DISCRIMINATION AND RESTRICTION ON COMPETITION. An electric utility may not: (1) discriminate against a person or electric cooperative who sells or leases equipment or performs services in competition with the electric utility; or (2) engage in a practice that tends t…

Sec. 38.051. EXAMINATION AND TEST OF INSTRUMENT OR EQUIPMENT; INSPECTION. (a) A regulatory authority may: (1) examine and test equipment, including meters and instruments, used to measure service of an electric utility; and (2) set up and use on the premises occupied by an electr…

Sec. 38.052. INSPECTION FOR CONSUMER. (a) A consumer may have a meter or other measuring device tested by an electric utility: (1) once without charge, after a reasonable period of presumed accuracy the regulatory authority establishes by rule; and (2) at a shorter interval on pa…

Sec. 38.071. IMPROVEMENTS IN SERVICE; INTERCONNECTING SERVICE. The commission, after notice and hearing, may: (1) order an electric utility to provide specified improvements in its service in a specified area if: (A) service in the area is inadequate or substantially inferior to …

Sec. 38.072. PRIORITIES FOR POWER RESTORATION TO CERTAIN MEDICAL FACILITIES. (a) In this section: (1) "Assisted living facility" has the meaning assigned by Section 247.002, Health and Safety Code. (2) "End stage renal disease facility" has the meaning assigned by Section 251.001…

Sec. 38.0725. LIST OF PRIORITY FACILITIES. (a) In this section, "priority facility" means: (1) a facility listed in Section 38.072(b); or (2) a facility for which electric service is considered crucial for the protection or maintenance of public safety, including: (A) a hospital;…

Sec. 38.073. AUTHORITY OF COMMISSION DURING AN EMERGENCY. (a) On a declaration of a natural disaster or other emergency by the governor, the commission may require an electric utility, municipally owned utility, electric cooperative, qualifying facility, power generation company,…

Sec. 38.074. CRITICAL NATURAL GAS FACILITIES AND ENTITIES. (a) The commission shall collaborate with the Railroad Commission of Texas to adopt rules to establish a process to designate certain natural gas facilities and entities associated with providing natural gas in this state…

Sec. 38.075. WEATHER EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS. (a) The commission by rule shall require each electric cooperative, municipally owned utility, and transmission and distribution utility providing transmission service in the ERCOT power region to implement measures to prepare the coop…

Sec. 38.076. INVOLUNTARY AND VOLUNTARY LOAD SHEDDING. (a) The commission by rule shall adopt a system to allocate load shedding among electric cooperatives, municipally owned utilities, and transmission and distribution utilities providing transmission service in the ERCOT power …

Sec. 38.077. RELIABILITY EXERCISES. (a) In this section, "critical facility" means a transmission substation and any associated control centers that, if rendered inoperable or damaged because of a physical attack, could cause widespread instability, uncontrolled separation, or ca…

Sec. 38.078. CIRCUIT SEGMENTATION STUDY AND COST RECOVERY. (a) Not later than September 15, 2023, the commission shall direct each transmission and distribution utility to perform a circuit segmentation study. (b) A circuit segmentation study must: (1) use an engineering analysis…

Sec. 38.079. TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM RESILIENCY PLAN AND COST RECOVERY. (a) In this section, "plan" means a transmission and distribution system resiliency plan described by Subsection (b). (b) An electric utility may file, in a manner authorized by commission rule, …

Sec. 38.080. WILDFIRE MITIGATION PLAN. (a) In this section: (1) "Division" means the Texas Division of Emergency Management. (2) "First responder" has the meaning assigned by Section 418.251, Government Code. (3) "Plan" means a wildfire mitigation plan described by Subsection (b)…

Sec. 38.081. EVIDENCE IN ACTIONS FOR DAMAGES CAUSED BY WILDFIRE. (a) An electric utility, municipally owned utility, or electric cooperative that submits and obtains commission approval for a wildfire mitigation plan under Section 38.080 may use the plan as evidence in an action …

Sec. 38.101. REPORT ON INFRASTRUCTURE IMPROVEMENT AND MAINTENANCE. (a) Not later than May 1 of each year, each electric utility shall submit to the commission a report describing the utility's activities related to: (1) identifying areas that are susceptible to damage during seve…

Sec. 38.102. REPORTS ON SAFETY PROCESSES AND INSPECTIONS. (a) Each electric utility, municipally owned utility, and electric cooperative that owns or operates overhead transmission or distribution assets shall submit to the commission a report that includes: (1) a summary descrip…

Sec. 38.103. DISTRIBUTION POLE PLAN. (a) Each electric cooperative, electric utility, and municipally owned utility that distributes electric energy to the public shall submit to the commission a plan for the management and inspection of distribution poles the cooperative or util…

Sec. 38.201. TEXAS ELECTRICITY SUPPLY CHAIN SECURITY AND MAPPING COMMITTEE. (a) In this subchapter, "electricity supply chain" means: (1) facilities and methods used for producing, treating, processing, pressurizing, storing, or transporting natural gas for delivery to electric g…

Sec. 38.202. ADMINISTRATION. (a) The committee shall meet at least once each calendar quarter at a time determined by the committee and at the call of the chair. (b) A member who is an ex officio member from a state agency shall be reimbursed for actual and necessary expenses in …

Sec. 38.203. POWERS AND DUTIES OF COMMITTEE. (a) The committee shall: (1) map the state's electricity supply chain in order to designate priority electricity service needs during extreme weather events; (2) identify and designate the sources in the electricity supply chain necess…

Sec. 38.204. MAPPING REPORT. (a) Not later than January 1, 2022, the committee shall submit a report to the governor, the lieutenant governor, the speaker of the house of representatives, the legislature, and the Texas Energy Reliability Council on the activities and findings of …

Sec. 39.001. LEGISLATIVE POLICY AND PURPOSE. (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 tra…

Sec. 39.002. APPLICABILITY. This chapter, other than Sections 39.151, 39.1516, 39.155, 39.157(e), 39.161, 39.162, 39.163, 39.169, 39.170, 39.203, 39.9051, 39.9052, and 39.914(e), and Subchapters M and N, does not apply to a municipally owned utility or an electric cooperative. Se…

Sec. 39.003. CONTESTED CASES. Unless specifically provided otherwise, each commission proceeding under this chapter, other than a rulemaking proceeding, report, notification, or registration, shall be conducted as a contested case and the burden of proof is on the incumbent elect…