Texas Administrative Code
Title 16 - ECONOMIC REGULATION
Part 2 - PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION OF TEXAS
Chapter 25 - SUBSTANTIVE RULES APPLICABLE TO ELECTRIC SERVICE PROVIDERS
Subchapter I - TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION
Division 2 - TRANSMISSION AND DISTRIBUTION APPLICABLE TO ALL ELECTRIC UTILITIES
Section 25.223 - Unbundling of Energy Service
Universal Citation: 16 TX Admin Code § 25.223
Current through Reg. 50, No. 13; March 28, 2025
(a) Purpose. The purpose of this section is to identify all energy services, and determine which energy services must be provided by tariff and which energy services are currently provided in competition with non-utility suppliers. This section also allows the commission to set forth the terms and conditions for public access to non-proprietary utility information.
(b) Application. This section applies to electric utilities that provide retail electric service in Texas. This section does not apply to municipal utilities.
(c) Definitions. The following words and terms when used in this section shall have the following meanings unless the context clearly indicates otherwise:
(1)
Accessible utility information--Information compiled by an affected utility
during the normal course of providing electric service. This includes, but is
not limited to, information used to prepare electric tariffs, to provide
electric service to customers, or to market, sell, or demonstrate any electric
or energy-related service or product. Accessible utility information does not
include:
(A) administrative information
necessary for the operation of the affected utility;
(B) proprietary customer
information;
(C) trade secrets;
or
(D) information that the
affected utility demonstrates is competitively sensitive.
(2) Affected utilities--Refers to all
utilities to which this section applies.
(3) Customer service--As defined in §
25.221 of this title (relating to
Electric Cost Separation).
(4)
Distribution service--As defined in §
25.221 of this title.
(5) Energy service--A service provided by an
affected utility that is related to the provision of electric service by the
affected utility. Energy service may be a component of either customer service
or distribution service, or may be a separate, competitively-available service.
Energy service includes, but is not limited to:
(A) explanation of tariff options and
determination of the appropriate rate schedule for a retail customer and
related software and services;
(B)
administration of commission-authorized demand-side resource
contracts;
(C) administration of
commission-authorized low-income programs and activities;
(D) sale, financing, installation, operation,
warranty, or repair of energy-consuming, customer-premise equipment;
(E) the provision of energy efficiency and
load management services;
(F) the
provision of technical assistance relating to any customer-premises process or
device that consumes electricity, including energy audits;
(G) sale, financing, installation, operation,
warranty, or repair of customer-premises power quality and reliability
equipment and related diagnostic services;
(H) the provision of anything of value to
trade groups, builders, developers, financial institutions, architects and
engineers, landlords, and other persons involved in making decisions relating
to investments in energy-consuming equipment or buildings on behalf of the
ultimate retail electricity customer;
(I) sale, financing, installation, operation,
warranty, or repair of customer-premises power-generation equipment and related
services;
(J) the provision of
information relating to customer usage other than as required for the rendering
of a monthly electric bill, including electrical pulse service;
(K) communications services related to any
energy service not essential for the retail sale of electricity;
(L) home and property security
services;
(M) non-roadway, outdoor
security lighting;
(N) building or
facility design and related engineering services, or analysis and design of
energy-related industrial processes;
(O) hedging and risk management
services;
(P) propane and other
energy-based services;
(Q) retail
marketing, selling, demonstration, and merchant activities;
(R) customer education, including school
programs and community education activities;
(S) advertising, including safety
advertising;
(T) economic
development and community affairs; and
(U) other activities identified by the
commission.
(6)
Proprietary customer information--Any information compiled by an electric
utility on a customer in the normal course of providing electric service which
makes possible the identification of any individual customer by matching such
information with the customer's name, address, account number, type or
classification of service, historical electricity usage, expected patterns of
use, types of facilities used in providing service, individual contract terms
and conditions, price, current charges, billing records, or any other
information that the customer has expressly requested not be disclosed.
Information that is aggregated, redacted, or organized in such a way as to make
it impossible to identify the customer to whom the information relates does not
constitute proprietary customer information.
(d) Review of energy services. The commission will review the energy services of affected utilities through the filing procedures set forth in this section.
(e) Accessible utility information. All affected utilities shall make accessible utility information available on the following terms:
(1) Public access. Affected
utilities shall file service regulations that allow non-discriminatory public
access to accessible utility information. The service regulations shall
describe the information, available formats, procedures for obtaining access,
and the charges, if any, for accessing this information. The service
regulations shall comply with the confidentiality and disclosure protections of
this section. Individual customer information shall be eliminated from the data
as necessary to comply with this section, and customer information shall be
aggregated only to the extent necessary to protect proprietary customer
information, except where a customer has waived in writing the protection of
proprietary customer information.
(2) Access plan. Affected utilities shall
submit to the commission a plan relating to the creation and maintenance of
accessible utility information. The plan shall indicate the utility operating
unit responsible for the information, the access required by other operating
units, the type of information to be maintained, and the type of information to
be created and maintained in the future. The utility shall indicate whether any
accessible utility information has been destroyed during the past three
years.
(3) Historic information.
Information relating to the period prior to the effective date of this section
shall include a description of the information and the year to which it
relates. Such information shall be made available according to the following
schedule:
(A) Non-customer-specific
load-research data, hourly-load-profile data, appliance- and
equipment-saturation surveys, and market surveys shall be made available within
60 days of the effective date of this section. This subparagraph applies to the
most recent data of each type.
(B)
All other accessible utility information shall be made available upon
request.
(4) New
information. Accessible utility information collected subsequent to the
effective date of this section shall be described in separate service
regulations. Internet accessibility is encouraged to provide equal access to
the other operating units of the affected utility, to interested persons, and
to affiliates of the utility.
(5)
Protection of information. This section does not require a utility to divulge
competitively-sensitive information, proprietary customer information,
corporate support service information, or trade secrets.
(f) Filing. Affected utilities shall file descriptions of the energy services provided by the utility on forms provided by the commission, their plan for accessible utility information, and any new service regulations relating to accessible utility information. The commission shall review these materials and notify the utility of acceptance within 120 days. Affected utilities shall make a filing for this section according to the following schedule:
(1) Affected utilities
with more than one million meters on the effective date of this rule and any
electric utility affiliated with such utilities shall file within 30 days of
the effective date of this section.
(2) Affected utilities with more than 100,000
meters but fewer than one million meters on the effective date of this rule and
any electric utility affiliated with such utilities shall file within 45 days
of the effective date of this section.
(3) All other affected utilities shall file
within 60 days of the effective date of this section.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Texas may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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