Current through Reg. 50, No. 13; March 28, 2025
(a) Any retail public utility which possesses
or is required by law to possess a certificate of convenience and necessity or
a person who possesses facilities used to provide utility service must provide
continuous and adequate service to every customer and every qualified applicant
for service whose primary point of use is within the certificated area and may
not discontinue, reduce or impair utility service except for:
(1) nonpayment of charges for services
provided by the certificate holder or a person who possesses facilities used to
provide utility service;
(2)
nonpayment of charges for sewer service provided by another retail public
utility under an agreement between the retail public utility and the
certificate holder or a person who possesses facilities used to provide utility
service or under a commission order;
(4) other similar reasons in the usual course
of business without conforming to the conditions, restrictions, and limitations
prescribed by the commission.
(b) After notice and hearing, the commission
may:
(1) order any retail public utility that
is required by law to possess a certificate of public convenience and necessity
or any retail public utility that possesses a certificate of public convenience
and necessity and is located in an affected county as defined in TWC
§16.341, to:
(A) provide specified
improvements in its service in a defined area if:
(i) service in that area is inadequate as set
forth in §
24.205 and §
24.207 of this title (relating to
Adequacy of Water Utility Service; and Adequacy of Sewer Service); or
(ii) is substantially inferior to service in
a comparable area; and
(iii) it is
reasonable to require the retail public utility to provide the improved
service; or
(B) develop,
implement, and follow financial, managerial, and technical practices that are
acceptable to the commission to ensure that continuous and adequate service is
provided to any areas currently certificated to the retail public utility if
the retail public utility has not provided continuous and adequate service to
any of those areas and, for a utility, to provide financial assurance of the
retail public utility's ability to operate the system in accordance with
applicable laws and rules as specified in §
24.11 of this title (relating to
Financial Assurance), or as specified by the commission. The obligation to
obtain financial assurance under this chapter does not relieve an applicant
from any requirements to obtain financial assurance in satisfaction of another
state agency's rules;
(2) order two or more public utilities or
water supply or sewer service corporations to establish specified facilities
for interconnecting service after TCEQ approves the interconnecting service
pursuant to 30 TAC Chapter 290 (relating to Public Drinking Water) or 30 TAC
217 (relating to Design Criteria for Domestic Wastewater Systems);
(3) order a public utility or water supply or
sewer service corporation that has not demonstrated that it can provide
continuous and adequate service from its drinking water source or sewer
treatment facility to obtain service sufficient to meet its obligation to
provide continuous and adequate service on at least a wholesale basis from
another consenting utility service provider; or
(4) issue an emergency order, with or without
a hearing, under §
24.14 of this title (relating to
Emergency Orders).
(c)
If the commission has reason to believe that improvements and repairs to a
water or sewer service system are necessary to enable a retail public utility
to provide continuous and adequate service in any portion of its service area
and the retail public utility has provided financial assurance under Texas
Health and Safety Code, §
341.0355, or
under this chapter, the commission, after providing to the retail public
utility notice and an opportunity to be heard by the commissioners at a
commission meeting, may:
(1) immediately
order specified improvements and repairs to the water or sewer system, the
costs of which may be paid by the financial assurance in an amount determined
by the commission not to exceed the amount of the financial assurance. The
order requiring the improvements may be an emergency order if it is issued
after the retail public utility has had an opportunity to be heard by the
commissioners at a commission meeting; and
(2) require a retail public utility to
obligate additional money to replace the financial assurance used for the
improvements.
