By: Turner of Harris H.B. No. 2305

A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to retail electric providers protecting customer deposits, establishing a customer deposit fund, and establishing a customer deposit interest fund.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:

SECTION 1. Section 39.101(a), Utilities Code, is amended by adding new subsection (10) to read as follows:

(10) to a refund of any deposit or other money owed to a customer, exclusive of interest, upon the exit of its retail electric provider from the Texas market.

SECTION 2. Subchapter C, Chapter 39, Utilities Code, is amended by adding Section 39.1015 to read as follows:

Sec. 39.1015 CUSTOMER DEPOSIT FUND.

(a) The commission shall adopt and enforce rules requiring retail electric providers to establish a customer deposit fund as a trust fund outside of the state treasury to be used only for the purposes provided in this section. The commission shall provide for the fund to be held by a financial institution eligible to be a depository for state funds under Chapter 404, Government Code. Money in the fund may be disbursed from the fund only as provided in this section. Interest earned on the fund shall be credited to a customer deposit interest fund as provided under Section 39.107(j).

(b) The customer deposit fund established under Subsection (a) is financed by customer deposits remitted by customers to their retail electric providers. A retail electric provider shall remit the customer deposits in accordance with procedures prescribed by commission rule.

(c) The commission annually shall review customer deposit fund accounts and projected interest credited to the customer deposit interest fund as provided under Section 39.107(j). The commission by rule shall adopt reporting requirements, payment schedules, and review procedures, including a method for administrative review, as the commission determines is necessary to ensure the customer deposit fund is funded by retail electric providers by deposits received from their customers and that disbursements from the fund to customers are properly made.

(d) Retail electric providers shall file regular reports as required by commission rule. The commission may require a retail electric provider to provide additional information as necessary to assess contributions to and disbursements from the customer deposit fund and the customer deposit interest fund as provided under Section 39.107(j).

(e) The commission shall issue quarterly reports of revenues to and expenditures from the customer deposit fund and the customer deposit interest fund as provided under Section 39.107(j).

SECTION 3. Section 39.107, Utilities Code, is amended by adding new subsection (j) to read as follows:

(j) Interest earned on the customer deposit fund established under Section 39.1015 shall be credited to a separate fund, a customer deposit interest fund, to offset any charge to a low-income residential customer, if passed on and charged by a retail electric provider, for any nonbypassable surcharge approved by the commission for an electric utility or transmission and distribution utility used to recover reasonable and necessary costs incurred during deploying advanced metering and advanced meter information networks under subsection (h). If any such nonbypassable surcharge expires or is included in a utility or transmission and distribution provider's base rates, the customer deposit interest fund shall be utilized to fund programs as provided in Section 39.903(e)(1)(A)-(B).

(j-1) The commission shall adopt and enforce rules for a retail electric provider to determine which residential customers are eligible for a waiver of a standard nonbypassable surcharge under Subsection (h), if passed on and charged by the retail electric provider, and shall require a retail electric provider to apply the same reduction to any rate plan under which a low-income residential customer is receiving service. All records and reports related to the low-income residential customer surcharge waiver under this subsection are subject to audit on commission request.

SECTION 4. This Act takes effect September 1, 2009.