| (a) If an application to obtain or amend a certificate
of convenience and necessity (CCN) is filed, the applicant will prepare
the notice prescribed in the commission's application form, which
will include the following:
(1) all information outlined in the Administrative
Procedure Act, Texas Government Code, Chapter 2001;
(2) all information listed in the commission's instructions
for completing a CCN application;
(3) the following statement: "Persons who wish to intervene
in the proceeding or comment upon action sought should contact the
Public Utility Commission, P.O. Box 13326, Austin, Texas 78711-3326,
or call the Public Utility Commission at (512) 936-7120 or (888) 782-8477.
Hearing- and speech-impaired individuals may contact the commission
through Relay Texas at 1-800-735-2989. The deadline for intervention
in the proceeding is (30 days from the mailing or publication of notice,
whichever occurs later, unless otherwise provided by the presiding
officer). You must send a letter requesting intervention to the commission
which is received by that date."; and
(4) except for publication of notice, the notice must
include a map showing the requested area.
(b) After reviewing and, if necessary, modifying the
proposed notice, the commission will provide the notice to the applicant
for publication and/or mailing.
(1) For applications for a new CCN or a CCN amendment,
the applicant must mail the notice to the following:
(A) cities, districts, and neighboring retail public
utilities providing the same utility service whose corporate boundaries
or certificated service area are located within two miles from the
outer boundary of the requested area.
(B) the county judge of each county that is wholly
or partially included in the requested area; and
(C) each groundwater conservation district that is
wholly or partially included in the requested area.
(2) Except as otherwise provided by this subsection,
in addition to the notice required by subsection (a) of this section,
the applicant must mail notice to each owner of a tract of land that
is at least 25 acres and is wholly or partially included in the requested
area. Notice required under this subsection must be mailed by first
class mail to the owner of the tract of land according to the most
current tax appraisal rolls of the applicable central appraisal district
at the time the commission received the application for the CCN. Good
faith efforts to comply with the requirements of this subsection may
be considered adequate mailed notice to landowners. Notice under this
subsection is not required for a matter filed with the commission
under:
(A) TWC §13.248 or §13.255; or
(B) TWC Chapter 65.
(3) Utilities that are required to possess a CCN but
that are currently providing service without a CCN must provide individual
mailed notice to all current customers. The notice must contain the
current rates, the effective date of the current rates, and any other
information required in the application or notice form or by the commission.
(4) Within 30 days of the date of the notice, the applicant
must file in the docket an affidavit specifying every person and entity
to whom notice was provided and the date that the notice was provided.
(c) The applicant must publish the notice in a newspaper
having general circulation in the county where a CCN is being requested,
once each week for two consecutive weeks beginning with the week after
the proposed notice is approved by the commission. Proof of publication
in the form of a publisher's affidavit must be filed with the commission
within 30 days of the last publication date. The affidavit must state
with specificity each county in which the newspaper is of general
circulation.
(d) The commission may require the applicant to deliver
notice to other affected persons or agencies.
(e) The recording in the county records required by
this section must be completed not later than the 31st day after the
date a CCN holder receives a final order from the commission that
grants or amends a CCN and thus changes the CCN holder's certificated
service area.
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