Texas Administrative Code
Title 16 - ECONOMIC REGULATION
Part 2 - PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION OF TEXAS
Chapter 25 - SUBSTANTIVE RULES APPLICABLE TO ELECTRIC SERVICE PROVIDERS
Subchapter R - CUSTOMER PROTECTION RULES FOR RETAIL ELECTRIC SERVICE PROVIDERS
Section 25.476 - Renewable and Green Energy Verification
Universal Citation: 16 TX Admin Code § 25.476
Current through Reg. 50, No. 13; March 28, 2025
(a) Purpose. The purpose of this section is to establish the procedures by which retail electric providers (REPs) calculate and compose their renewable content pursuant to § 25.475 of this title (relating to General Retail Electric Provider Requirements and Information Disclosures to Residential and Small Commercial Customers) and to establish guidelines and verification for claims of "green" products.
(b) Application.
(1) This section applies to all REPs.
Additionally, some of the reporting requirements established in this section
apply to the registration agent and to all owners of generation assets as
defined in subsection (c) of this section.
(2) Nothing in this section shall be
construed as protecting a REP against prosecution under deceptive trade
practices statutes.
(3) In
accordance with the Public Utility Regulatory Act (PURA) §39.001(b)(4),
the commission and the registration agent will ensure the confidentiality of
competitively sensitive information, reported to the commission or the
registration agent under this section.
(c) Definitions. The definitions set forth in § 25.471(d) of this title (relating to General Provisions of Customer Protection Rules) apply to this section. In addition, the following words and terms, when used in this section, shall have the following meanings unless the context indicates otherwise:
(1) Default scorecard--The
estimated fuel mix and environmental impact of all electricity in Texas that is
not authenticated by retiring renewable energy credits (RECs).
(2) Generation owner--A power generation
company, river authority, municipally owned utility, electric cooperative, or
any other entity that owns electric generating facilities in the state of
Texas.
(3) Generator scorecard--The
aggregated fuel mix and environmental impact of all generating facilities
located in Texas that are owned by the same generation owner.
(4) New product--An electricity product
during the first year it is marketed to customers.
(5) Renewable energy credit offset (REC
offset)--A non-tradable allowance as defined and created by §
25.173 of this title (relating to
Goal for Renewable Energy). For the purposes of this section, a REC offset
authenticates the renewable attributes, but not the quantity, of generation
produced by its associated facility.
(d) Marketing standards for "green" and "renewable" electricity products.
(1) A REP
may market an electricity product as "green" if:
(A) All of the product's fuel mix is
renewable energy as defined in PURA §39.904(d), Texas natural gas as
specified in PURA §39.904(d)(2), or a combination thereof; and
(B) All statements representing the product
as "green," if not containing 100% renewable energy, as defined in PURA
§39.904(d), include a footnote, parenthetical note, or other obvious
disclaimer that "A 'green' product may include Texas natural gas and renewable
energy."
(2) A REP may
market an electricity product as "renewable" or label an electricity product on
the EFL as "renewable" only if:
(A) All of
the product's fuel mix is renewable energy as defined in PURA §39.904(d);
or
(B) All statements representing
the product as "renewable" use the format "x% renewable," where "x" is the
product's renewable energy fuel mix percentage.
(3) If a REP makes marketing claims about a
product's "green" content on the basis of its use of natural gas as a fuel, the
REP must include with the report required under subsection (f)(1) of this
section proof that the natural gas used to generate the electricity was
produced in Texas.
(e) Compilation of scorecard data.
(1) The
registration agent shall create and maintain a database of generator scorecards
reflecting each generation owner's company-wide fuel mix and environmental
impact data based on generating facilities located in Texas.
(2) Each generation owner's fuel mix and
environmental impact data for the preceding calendar year shall be published on
the registration agent's Internet web site by April 1 of each year and shall
state:
(A) the percentage of MWhs generated
from each of the following fuel sources: coal and lignite, natural gas,
nuclear, renewable energy, and other sources; and
(B) the MWh-weighted average annual emissions
rates in pounds per 1,000 kWh for the aggregate generation sources of the
generation owner for carbon dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particulates, sulfur
dioxide, and spent nuclear fuel produced (with spent nuclear fuel annualized
using standard industry conversion factors).
(3) Not later than March 1 of each year, each
generation owner shall report to the registration agent the following data for
the preceding calendar year: net generation in MWh from each of its generating
units in Texas; the type of fuel used by each of its generating units in Texas;
and the MWh-weighted average annual emissions rate, on an aggregate basis for
all of its generating units in Texas (in pounds per 1,000 kWh) for carbon
dioxide, nitrogen oxides, particulates, sulfur dioxide, and nuclear waste. For
purposes of calculating its average emissions rates, each generation owner
shall rely upon emissions data that it submits to the United States
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Texas Commission on Environmental
Quality (TCEQ), or the best available data if the generation owner does not
submit pertinent data to the EPA or TCEQ. A generation owner shall not be
required to submit information to the registration agent regarding the net
generation of its generating units located within the Electric Reliability
Council of Texas (ERCOT) region if, upon request, the registration agent
advises the owner of generation assets that it already has such information
available from its polled settlement meter data.
(4) Not later than April 1 of each year, the
registration agent shall calculate and publish on its Internet website a state
average fuel mix, statewide system average emission rates for each type of
emission, and a default scorecard to account for all electric generation in the
state that is not authenticated as defined in subsection (c)(1) of this
section.
(A) The default fuel mix shall be
the percentage of total MWh of generation not authenticated that has been
obtained from each fuel type.
(B)
Default emission rates for each type of emission shall be calculated by
dividing total pounds of emissions or waste by total MWh, using data only for
generation not authenticated.
(f) Calculating renewable generation and authenticating "green" claims.
(1) Not later
than March 15 of each year, each REP shall report to the registration agent
attestations from power generators that the natural gas used to generate
electricity supplied to the REP was produced in Texas, if during the preceding
calendar year and the current calendar year the REP markets "green" electricity
on the basis of that power.
(2) For
power purchased from sources outside of Texas, a supply contract between a REP
and the owner of a generating facility may be used to authenticate the fuel mix
for electricity generated at that facility and sold at retail in Texas.
(A) The contract must identify a specific
generating facility from which the REP has obtained electricity that it sold to
retail customers in Texas during the preceding calendar year.
(B) A REP that intends to rely upon a supply
contract with an out-of-state generator to authenticate fuel mix shall submit a
report to the registration agent for the specified generating facility no later
than March 1 of each year that reports the facility's annual fuel
mix.
(3) For the
purposes of EFL disclosures, the retirement of RECs shall be the only method of
authenticating generation for which a REC has been issued under §
25.173 of this title. The
retirement of a REC shall be equivalent to one megawatt-hour of generation from
renewable resources. The use of RECs to authenticate the use of renewable fuels
must be consistent with REC account information maintained by the Renewable
Energy Credits Trading Program Administrator. A REC offset may be used to
authenticate the renewable attributes of the current MWh output from its
associated supply contract.
(4) In
determining the renewable content percentages to be disclosed on the EFL for a
product pursuant to §
25.475 of this title, the REP
shall rely upon the following sources of information: the Texas State Average
Fuel Mix published by the registration agent under subsection (e) of this
section; retired RECs; and actual energy production during the calendar year
from resources that are awarded REC offsets by the REC program administrator.
The REP may also rely on power purchased from sources outside of Texas, if it
has a supply contract with the owner of a generating facility and submits a
report to the registration agent concerning the fuel mix of the facility, in
accordance with this section.
(5)
If a REP offers multiple electricity products that differ with regard to
renewable energy content the REP:
(A) may
apply any supply contract to the calculation of any product EFL as long as the
sum of MWh applied does not exceed the MWh acquired under the contract;
and
(B) may apply any number of
RECs to the calculation of any product EFL as long as:
(i) the number of RECs applied to all product
EFLs is consistent with the number of RECs the retailer has retired with the
REC Trading Program Administrator; and
(ii) the number of RECs applied to each
product EFL results in a renewable energy content for each product that is
equal to or greater than a benchmark to be calculated from data maintained by
the REC Trading Program Administrator. The benchmark shall be defined on an
annual basis as:
(6) Any REP may anticipate the renewable
content of a new product. The EFL shall state that the renewable content is an
estimate that will be verified.
(g) Fuel Mix for Renewable Energy.
(1) The fuel mix percentage for renewable
energy shall be disclosed on the EFL for the product pursuant to §
25.475 of this title. The
percentage used shall be rounded to the nearest whole number.
(2) Renewable energy claims. A REP may
authenticate its sales of renewable energy by requesting that the program
administrator of the renewable energy credits trading program established
pursuant to §
25.173(d) of
this title retire a renewable energy credit for each megawatt-hour of renewable
energy sold to its customers.
(h) Annual update. Each REP shall update its EFL for each of its currently offered products or products offered during the preceding calendar year no later than July 1 of each year, so that the EFL displays the renewable energy percentages determined pursuant to this section and reported to the registration agent for that product for generation purchased during the preceding calendar year.
(i) Compliance and enforcement.
(1) Upon request from the commission staff, a
REP shall provide a detailed explanation or accounting of the means by which it
has authenticated any renewable or "green" energy claims in an EFL or any
information used for marketing a product.
(2) The commission shall coordinate its
enforcement efforts regarding the prosecution of fraudulent, misleading,
deceptive, and anticompetitive business practices with the Office of the
Attorney General, Consumer Protection Division in order to ensure consistent
treatment of specific alleged violations.
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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