UTILITIES CODE

TITLE 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

CHAPTER 1. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Sec. 1.001. PURPOSE OF CODE. (

a) This code is enacted as a part of the state's continuing statutory revision program, begun by the Texas Legislative Council in 1963 as directed by the legislature in the law codified as

Section 323.007 , Government Code. The program contemplates a topic-by-topic revision of the state's general and permanent statute law without substantive change.

(

b) Consistent with the objectives of the statutory revision program, the purpose of this code is to make the law encompassed by this code more accessible and understandable by:

(1) rearranging the statutes into a more logical order;

(2) employing a format and numbering system designed to facilitate citation of the law and to accommodate future expansion of the law;

(3) eliminating repealed, duplicative, unconstitutional, expired, executed, and other ineffective provisions; and

Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 166,

Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.

Sec. 1.002. CONSTRUCTION OF CODE.

Chapter 311 , Government Code (Code Construction Act), applies to the construction of each provision in this code except as otherwise expressly provided by this code.

Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 166,

Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.

Sec. 1.003. REFERENCE IN LAW TO STATUTE REVISED BY CODE. A reference in a law to a statute or a part of a statute revised by this code is considered to be a reference to the part of this code that revises that statute or part of that statute.

Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 166,

Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.

UTILITIES CODE

TITLE 3. GAS REGULATION

SUBTITLE A. GAS UTILITY REGULATORY ACT

CHAPTER 101. GENERAL PROVISIONS AND OFFICE OF PUBLIC UTILITY COUNSEL

SUBCHAPTER A. GENERAL PROVISIONS

Sec. 101.001.

SHORT TITLE. This subtitle may be cited as the Gas Utility Regulatory Act.

Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 166,

Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.

Sec. 101.002. PURPOSE AND FINDINGS. (

a) This subtitle is enacted to protect the public interest inherent in the rates and services of gas utilities. The purpose of this subtitle is to establish a comprehensive and adequate regulatory system for gas utilities to assure rates, operations, and services that are just and reasonable to the consumers and to the utilities.

(

b) Gas utilities are by definition monopolies in the areas they serve. As a result, the normal forces of competition that regulate prices in a free enterprise society do not operate. Public agencies regulate utility rates, operations, and services as a substitute for competition.

Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 166,

Sec. 1, eff. Sept. 1, 1997.

Sec. 101.003.

DEFINITIONS. In this subtitle:

(1) "Affected person" means:

(

A) a gas utility affected by an action of a regulatory authority;

(

B) a person whose utility service or rates are affected by a proceeding before a regulatory authority; or

(

C) a person who:

(

i) is a competitor of a gas utility with respect to a service performed by the utility; or

(ii) wants to enter into competition with a gas utility.

(2) "Affiliate" means:

(

A) a person who directly or indirectly owns or holds at least five percent of the voting securities of a gas utility;

(

B) a person in a chain of successive ownership of at least five percent of the voting securities of a gas utility;

(

C) a corporation that has at least five percent of its voting securities owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by a gas utility;

(

D) a corporation that has at least five percent of its voting securities owned or controlled, directly or indirectly, by:

(

i) a person who directly or indirectly owns or controls at least five percent of the voting securities of a gas utility; or

(ii) a person in a chain of successive ownership of at least five percent of the voting securities of a gas utility;

(

E) a person who is an officer or director of a gas utility or of a corporation in a chain of successive ownership of at least five percent of the voting securities of a gas utility; or

(

F) a person determined to be an affiliate under

Section 101.004 .

(3) "Allocation" means the division among municipalities or among municipalities and unincorporated areas of the plant, revenues, expenses, taxes, and reserves of a gas utility used to provide gas utility service in a municipality or for a municipality and unincorporated areas.

(4) "Corporation" means a domestic or foreign corporation, joint-stock company, or association, and each lessee, assignee, trustee, receiver, or other successor in interest of the corporation, company, or association, that has any of the powers or privileges of a corporation not possessed by an individual or partnership. The term does not include a municipal corporation, except as expressly provided by this subtitle.

(5) "Counsellor" means the chief executive of the Office of Public Utility Counsel.

(6) "Facilities" means all of the plant and equipment of a gas utility and includes the tangible and intangible property, without limitation, owned, operated, leased, licensed, used, controlled, or supplied for, by, or in connection with the business of the gas utility.

(7) "Gas utility" includes a person or river authority that owns or operates for compensation in this state equipment or facilities to transmit or distribute combustible hydrocarbon natural gas or synthetic natural gas for sale or resale in a manner not subject to the jurisdiction of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission under the Natural Gas Act (15 U.S.C.

Section 717 et seq.). The term includes a lessee, trustee, or receiver of a gas utility. The term does not include:

(

A) a municipal corporation;

(

B) a person or river authority to the extent the person or river authority:

(

i) produces, gathers, transports, or sells natural gas or synthetic natural gas under

Section 121.004 or 121.005 ;

(ii) distributes or sells liquefied petroleum gas; or

(iii) transports, delivers, or sells natural gas for fuel for irrigation wells or any other direct agricultural use;

(

C) a person to the extent the person:

(

i) sells natural gas for use as vehicle fuel;

(ii) sells natural gas to a person who later sells the natural gas for use as vehicle fuel; or

(iii) owns or operates equipment or facilities to sell or transport natural gas for ultimate use as vehicle fuel;

(

D) a person not otherwise a gas utility who furnishes gas or gas service only to itself, its employees, or its tenants as an incident of employment or tenancy, if the gas or gas service is not resold to or used by others;

(

E) a person excluded from being considered a gas utility under

Section 121.007 ; or

(

F) an electric cooperative, as that term is defined by

Section 11.003 , or its subsidiary, that is excluded from regulation as a gas utility by

Section 121.008 .

(8) "Municipally owned utility" means a utility owned, operated, and controlled by a municipality or by a nonprofit corporation the directors of which are appointed by one or more municipalities.

(9) "Order" means all or a part of a final disposition by a regulatory authority in a matter other than rulemaking, without regard to whether the disposition is affirmative or negative or injunctive or declaratory. The term includes the setting of a rate.

(10) "Person" includes an individual, a partnership of two or more persons having a joint or common interest, a mutual or cooperative association, a limited liability company, and a corporation.

(11) "Proceeding" means a hearing, investigation, inquiry, or other procedure for finding facts or making a decision under this subtitle. The term includes a denial of relief or dismissal of a complaint.

(12) "Rate" means:

(

A) any compensation, tariff, charge, fare, toll, rental, or classification that is directly or indirectly demanded, observed, charged, or collected by a gas utility for a service, product, or commodity described in the definition of gas utility in this section; and

(

B) a rule, regulation, practice, or contract affecting the compensation, tariff, c