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A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
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AN ACT
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relating to expenses incurred in the appeal of rates for water or |
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sewer service charged to certain customers. |
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BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS: |
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SECTION 1. Section 13.043, Water Code, is amended by adding |
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Subsection (e-1) to read as follows: |
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(e-1) A ratepayer of a municipally owned utility who resides |
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outside the corporate limits of the municipality and is represented |
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by an attorney may allege that rates prescribed by the municipally |
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owned utility are excessive and, if the ratepayer is a prevailing |
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party in a proceeding for review of the municipally owned utility's |
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rates, and the regulatory authority finds that a rate increase by |
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the municipally owned utility had no basis in fact or law, in the |
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same action the ratepayer may recover reasonable fees for attorneys |
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and expert witnesses and other costs incurred for the proceeding by |
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the ratepayer. The amount of the attorney's fees shall be fixed by |
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the utility commission. |
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SECTION 2. The changes in law made by this Act apply only to |
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an appeal under Section 13.043(b), Water Code, that is filed on or |
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after the effective date of this Act. An appeal that is filed |
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before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in |
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effect on the date the appeal was filed, and the former law is |
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continued in effect for that purpose. |
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SECTION 3. This Act takes effect September 1, 2025. |