| (a) Any party to a rate proceeding before the governing
body of a municipality may appeal the decision of the governing body
to the commission. This subsection does not apply to a municipally
owned utility, but does include privately owned utilities operating
within the corporate limits of a municipality. An appeal under this
subsection may be initiated by filing with the commission a petition
signed by a responsible official of the party to the rate proceeding
or its authorized representative and by serving a copy of the petition
on all parties to the original proceeding. The petition should be
filed in accordance with Chapter 22 of this title (relating to Procedural
Rules). The appeal must be initiated within 90 days after the date
of notice of the final decision of the governing body, or within 30
days if the appeal relates to the rates of a Class A utility, by filing
a petition for review with the commission and by serving a copy of
the petition on all parties to the original rate proceeding.
(b) An appeal under Texas Water Code (TWC) §13.043(b)
must be initiated within 90 days after the effective date of the rate
change or, if appealing under TWC §13.043(b)(2) or (5), within
90 days after the date on which the governing body of the municipality
or affected county makes a final decision. An appeal is initiated
by filing a petition for review with the commission and by sending
a copy of the petition to the entity providing service and with the
governing body whose decision is being appealed if it is not the entity
providing service. The petition must be signed by the lesser of 10,000
or 10% of the ratepayers whose rates have been changed and who are
eligible to appeal under subsection (c) of this section.
(c) Retail ratepayers of the following entities may
appeal the decision of the governing body of the entity affecting
their water utility, sewer utility, or drainage rates to the commission:
(1) a nonprofit water supply or sewer service corporation
created and operating under TWC, Chapter 67;
(2) a utility under the jurisdiction of a municipality
inside the corporate limits of the municipality;
(3) a municipally owned utility, if the ratepayers
reside outside the corporate limits of the municipality, including
a decision of a governing body that results in an increase in rates
when the municipally owned utility takes over the provision of service
to ratepayers previously served by another retail public utility;
(A) A municipally owned utility must:
(i) disclose to any person, on request, the number
of ratepayer(s) who reside outside the corporate limits of the municipality;
and
(ii) subject to subparagraph (B) of this paragraph,
provide to any person, on request, a list of the names and addresses
of the ratepayers who reside outside the corporate limits of the municipality.
(B) If a ratepayer has requested that a municipally
owned utility keep the ratepayer's personal information confidential
under Tex. Util. Code §182.052, the municipally owned utility
may not disclose the address of the ratepayer under subparagraph (A)(ii)
of this paragraph to any person. A municipally owned utility must
inform ratepayers of their right to request that their personal information
be kept confidential under Tex. Util. Code §182.052 in any notice
provided under the requirement of TWC§13.043(i).
(C) In complying with this subsection, the municipally
owned utility:
(i) may not charge a fee for disclosing the information
under subparagraph (A)(i) of this paragraph;
(ii) will provide information requested under subparagraph
(A)(i) of this paragraph by telephone or in writing as preferred by
the person making the request; and
(iii) may charge a reasonable fee for providing information
under subparagraph (A)(ii) of this paragraph.
(D) Paragraph (3) of this subsection does not apply
to a municipally owned utility that takes over the provision of service
to ratepayers previously served by another retail public utility if
the municipally owned utility:
(i) takes over the service at the request of the ratepayer;
(ii) takes over the service in the manner provided
by TWC Chapter 13, Subchapter H; or
(iii) is required to take over the service by state
law, an order of the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, or
an order of the commission.
(4) a district or authority created under Article III, §52,
or Article XVI, §59 of the Texas Constitution, that provides
water or sewer service to household users;
(5) a utility owned by an affected county, if the ratepayers'
rates are actually or may be adversely affected. For the purposes
of this subchapter, ratepayers who reside outside the boundaries of
the district or authority will be considered a separate class from
ratepayers who reside inside those boundaries; and
(6) in an appeal under this subsection, the retail
public utility must provide written notice of hearing to all affected
customers in a form prescribed by the commission.
(d) In an appeal under TWC §13.043(b), each person
receiving a separate bill is considered a ratepayer, but one person
may not be considered more than one ratepayer regardless of the number
of bills the person receives. The petition for review is considered
properly signed if signed by a person, or the spouse of the person,
in whose name utility service is carried.
(e) The commission will hear an appeal under this section
de novo and fix in its final order the rates the governing body should
have fixed in the action from which the appeal was taken. The commission
may:
(1) in an appeal under TWC §13.043(a), include
reasonable expenses incurred in the appeal proceedings;
(2) in an appeal under TWC §13.043(b), include
reasonable expenses incurred by the retail public utility in the appeal
proceedings;
(3) establish the effective date;
(4) order refunds or allow surcharges to recover lost
revenues;
(5) consider only the information that was available
to the governing body at the time the governing body made its decision
and evidence of reasonable expenses incurred in the appeal proceedings;
or
(6) establish interim rates to be in effect until a
final decision is made.
(f) A retail public utility that receives water or
sewer service from another retail public utility or political subdivision
of the state, including an affected county, may appeal to the commission,
a decision of the provider of water or sewer service affecting the
amount paid for water or sewer service. An appeal under this subsection
must be initiated within 90 days after notice of the decision is received
from the provider of the service by filing a petition by the retail
public utility.
(g) An applicant requesting service from an affected
county or a water supply or sewer service corporation may appeal to
the commission a decision of the county or water supply or sewer service
corporation affecting the amount to be paid to obtain service other
than the regular membership or tap fees. An appeal under TWC §13.043(g)
must be initiated within 90 days after written notice of the amount
to be paid to obtain service is provided to the service applicant
or member of the decision of an affected county or water supply or
sewer service corporation affecting the amount to be paid to obtain
service as requested in the applicant's initial request for that service.
(1) If the commission finds the amount charged to be
clearly unreasonable, it will establish the fee to be paid and will
establish conditions for the applicant to pay any amount(s) due to
the affected county or water supply or sewer service corporation.
Unless otherwise ordered, any portion of the charges paid by the applicant
that exceed the amount(s) determined in the commission's order must
be refunded to the applicant within 30 days of the date the commission
issues the order, at an interest rate determined by the commission.
(2) In an appeal brought under this subsection, the
commission will affirm the decision of the water supply or sewer service
corporation if the amount paid by the applicant or demanded by the
water supply or sewer service corporation is consistent with the tariff
of the water supply or sewer service corporation and is reasonably
related to the cost of installing on-site and off-site facilities
to provide service to that applicant, in addition to the factors specified
under subsection (i) of this section.
(3) A determination made by the commission on an appeal
from an applicant for service from a water supply or sewer service
corporation under this subsection is binding on all similarly situated
applicants for service, and the commission may not consider other
appeals on the same issue until the applicable provisions of the tariff
of the water supply or sewer service corporation are amended.
Cont'd... |
