| TO: | Honorable John Carona, Chair, Senate Committee on Business & Commerce |
| FROM: | Ursula Parks, Director, Legislative Budget Board |
| IN RE: | SB241 by Carona (Relating to the authority of an electric customer to choose not to have a utility's advanced meter.), As Introduced |
The bill would amend the Utilities Code relating to the authority of an electric customer to choose not to have a utility's advanced meter. The bill would require a utility to send by mail to each customer scheduled to receive an advanced meter and to each customer that has already received an advanced meter a notice to inform the customer that he or she may decline to have the meter installed or may choose to have the meter removed. If a customer declines to have the advanced meter installed or chooses to have the advanced meter removed, the bill would allow the utility to charge the customer a reasonable fee for the costs associated with: (1) the refusal of installation and providing traditional metering services; or (2) removing the advanced meter, installing a conventional meter, and providing traditional metering services. The bill would require the Public Utility Commission (PUC) to adopt rules to establish a mechanism for charging the fees authorized by the bill.
Based on information provided by the PUC, duties and responsibilities associated with implementing the provisions of the bill could be accomplished by utilizing existing resources.
| Source Agencies: | 473 Public Utility Commission of Texas
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| LBB Staff: | UP, RB, ED
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