| (a) Application. This section applies to a retail electric
provider (REP) that is responsible for issuing electric service bills
to retail customers, unless the REP is issuing a consolidated bill
(both energy services and transmission and distribution services)
on behalf of an electric cooperative or municipally owned utility.
This section does not apply to a municipally owned utility or electric
cooperative issuing bills to its customers in its own service territory.
(b) Frequency and delivery of bills.
(1) A REP must issue a bill monthly to each customer
unless service is provided for a period of less than one month. A
REP may issue a bill less frequently than monthly if both the customer
and the REP agree to such an arrangement.
(2) A bill must be issued no later than 30 days after
the REP receives the usage data and any related invoices for non-bypassable
charges, unless validation of the usage data and invoice received
from a transmission and distribution utility by the REP or other efforts
to determine the accuracy of usage data or invoices delay billing
by a REP past 30 days. The number of days to issue a bill must be
extended beyond 30 days to the extent necessary to support agreements
between REPs and customers for less frequent billing, as provided
in paragraph (1) of this subsection or for consolidated billing.
(3) A REP must issue bills to residential customers
in writing and delivered via the United States Postal Service. REPs
may provide bills to a customer electronically in lieu of written
mailings if both the customer and the REP agree to such an arrangement.
An affiliated REP or a provider of last resort must not require a
customer to agree to such an arrangement as a condition of receiving
electric service.
(4) A REP must not charge a customer a fee for issuing
a standard bill, which is a bill delivered via U.S. mail that complies
with the requirements of this section. The customer may be charged
a fee or given a discount for non-standard billing in accordance with
the terms of service document.
(c) Bill content.
(1) Each customer's bill must include the following
information:
(A) The certified name and address of the REP and the
number of the license issued to the REP by the commission;
(B) A toll-free telephone number, in bold-face type,
which the customer can call during specified hours for inquiries and
to make complaints to the REP about the bill;
(C) A toll-free telephone number that the customer
may call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to report power outages
and concerns about the safety of the electric power system;
(D) The service address, electric service identifier
(ESI), and account number of the customer;
(E) The service period for which the bill is rendered;
(F) The date on which the bill was issued;
(G) The payment due date of the bill and, if different,
the date by which payment from the customer must be received by the
REP to avoid a late charge or other collection action;
(H) The current charges for electric service as disclosed
in the customer's terms of service document, including applicable
taxes and fees labeled "current charges." If the customer is on a
level or average payment plan, the level or average payment due must
be clearly shown in addition to the current charges;
(I) A calculation of the average unit price for electric
service for the current billing period, labeled, "The average price
you paid for electric service this month." The calculation of the
average price for electric service must reflect the total of all fixed
and variable recurring charges, but not include state and local sales
taxes, reimbursement for the state miscellaneous gross receipts tax,
and any nonrecurring charges or credits, divided by the kilowatt-hour
consumption, and must be expressed as a cents per kilowatt-hour amount
rounded to the nearest one-tenth of one cent.
(J) The identification and itemization of charges other
than for electric service as disclosed in the customer's terms of
service document;
(K) The itemization and amount of any non-recurring
charge, including late fees, returned check fees, restoration of service
fees, or other fees disclosed in the REP's terms of service document
provided to the customer;
(L) The balances from the preceding bill, payments
made by the customer since the preceding bill, and the amount the
customer is required to pay by the due date, labeled "amount due;"
(M) A notice that the customer has the opportunity
to voluntarily donate money to the bill payment assistance program,
pursuant to §25.480(g)(2) of this title ( relating to Bill Payment
and Adjustments);
(N) If available to the REP on a standard electronic
transaction, if the bill is based on kilowatt-hour (kWh) usage, the
following information:
(i) the meter reading at the beginning of the period
for which the customer is being billed, labeled "previous meter read,"
and the meter reading at the end of the period for which the customer
is being billed, labeled "current meter read," and the dates of such
readings;
(ii) the kind and number of units measured, including
kWh, actual kilowatts (kW), or kilovolt ampere (kVa);
(iii) if applicable, billed kW or kVa;
(iv) whether the bill was issued based on estimated
usage; and
(v) any conversions from meter reading units to billing
units, or any other calculations to determine billing units from recording
or other devices, or any other factors used in determining the bill,
unless the customer is provided conversion charts;
(O) Any amount owed under a written guarantee agreement,
provided the guarantor was previously notified in writing by the REP
of an obligation on a guarantee as required by §25.478 of this
title (relating to Credit Requirements and Deposits);
(P) A conspicuous notice of any services or products
being provided to the customer that have been added since the previous
bill;
(Q) Notification of any changes in the customer's prices
or charges due to the operation of a variable rate feature previously
disclosed by the REP in the customer's terms of service document;
(R) The notice required by §25.481(d) of this
title (relating to Unauthorized Charges); and
(S) For residential customers, on the first page of
the bill in at least 12-point font the phrase, "for more information
about residential electric service please visit www.powertochoose.com."
(2) If a REP separately identifies a charge defined
by one of the terms in this paragraph on the customer's bill, then
the term in this paragraph must be used to identify that charge, and
such term and its definition must be easily located on the REP's website
and available to a customer free of charge upon request. Nothing in
this paragraph precludes a REP from aggregating transmission and distribution
utility (TDU) or REP charges. For any TDU charge(s) listed in this
paragraph, the amount billed by the REP must not exceed the amount
of the TDU tariff charge(s). The label for any TDU charge(s) may also
identify the TDU that issued the charge(s). A REP may use a different
term than a defined term by adding or deleting a suffix, by adding
the word "total" to a defined term, where appropriate, changing the
use of lowercase or capital letters or punctuation, or using
the acceptable abbreviation specified in this paragraph for a defined
term. If an abbreviation other than the acceptable abbreviation is
used for the term, then the term must also be identified on the customer's
bill.
(A) Advanced metering charge--A charge assessed to
recover a TDU's charges for Advanced Metering Systems, to the extent
that they are not recovered in a TDU's standard metering charge. Acceptable
abbreviation: Advanced Meter.
(B) Competition Transition Charge--A charge assessed
to recover a TDU's charges for nonsecuritized costs associated with
the transition to competition. Acceptable abbreviation: Competition
Transition.
(C) Energy Efficiency Cost Recovery Factor--A charge
assessed to recover a TDU's costs for energy efficiency programs,
to the extent that the TDU charge is a separate charge exclusively
for that purpose that is approved by the Public Utility Commission.
Acceptable abbreviation: Energy Efficiency.
(D) Late Payment Penalty--A charge assessed for late
payment in accordance with Public Utility Commission rules.
(E) Meter Charge--A charge assessed to recover a TDU's
charges for metering a customer's consumption, to the extent that
the TDU charge is a separate charge exclusively for that purpose that
is approved by the Public Utility Commission.
(F) Miscellaneous Gross Receipts Tax Reimbursement--A
fee assessed to recover he miscellaneous gross receipts tax imposed
on retail electric providers operating in an incorporated city or
town having a population of more than 1,000. Acceptable abbreviation:
Gross Receipts Reimb.
(G) Nuclear Decommissioning Fee--A charge assessed
to recover a TDU's charges for decommissioning of nuclear generating
sites. Acceptable abbreviation: Nuclear Decommission.
(H) PUC Assessment--A fee assessed to recover the statutory
fee for administering the Public Utility Regulatory Act.
(I) Sales tax--Sales tax collected by authorized taxing
authorities, such as the state, cities and special purpose districts.
(J) TDU Delivery Charges--The total amounts assessed
by a TDU for the delivery of electricity to a customer over poles
and wires and other TDU facilities not including discretionary charges.
(K) Transmission Distribution Surcharges--One or more
TDU surcharge(s) on a customer's bill in any combination. Surcharges
include charges billed as tariff riders by the TDU. Acceptable abbreviation:
TDU Surcharges.
(L) Transition Charge--A charge assessed to recover
a TDU's charges for securitized costs associated with the transition
to competition.
(3) If the REP includes any of the following terms
in its bills, the term must be applied in a manner consistent with
the definitions, and such term and its definition must be easily located
on the REP's website and available to a customer free of charge upon
request:
(A) Base Charge--A charge assessed during each billing
cycle without regard to the customer's demand or energy consumption.
(B) Demand Charge--A charge based on the rate at which
electric energy is delivered to or by a system at a given instant,
or averaged over a designated period, during the billing cycle.
(C) Energy Charge--A charge based on the electric energy
(kWh) consumed.
(4) A REP must provide an itemization of charges, including
non-bypassable charges, to the customer upon the customer's request
and, to the extent that the charges are consistent with the terms
set out in paragraph (2), of this subsection, the terms must be used
in the itemization.
(5) A customer's electric bill must not contain charges
for electric service from a service provider other than the customer's
designated REP.
(6) A REP must include on each residential and small
commercial billing statement, in boldfaced and underlined type, the
date, as provided for in §25.475(c)(3)(B) of this title (relating
to General Retail Electric Provider Requirements and Information Disclosure
to Residential and Small Commercial Customers) that a fixed rate product
will expire.
(7) To the extent that a REP uses the concepts identified
in this paragraph in a customer's bill, it must use the term set out
in this paragraph, and the definitions in this paragraph must be easily
located on the REP's website. A REP may not use a different term for
a concept that is defined in this paragraph.
(A) kW--Kilowatt, the standard unit for measuring electricity
demand, equal to 1,000 watts;
(B) kWh--Kilowatt-hour, the standard unit for measuring
electricity energy consumption, equal to 1,000 watt-hours; and
(8) Notice of contract expiration may be provided in
a bill in accordance with §25.475 of this title.
(d) Public service notices. A REP must, as required
by the commission after reasonable notice, provide brief public service
notices to its customers. The REP must provide these public service
notices to its customers on its billing statements, as a separate
document issued with its bill, by electronic communication, or by
other acceptable mass communication methods, as approved by the commission.
Additionally, in April and October of each year, or as otherwise directed
by the commission, the REP must provide information to each customer
along with the customer's bill about:
(1) The electric utility's procedures for implementing
involuntary load shedding initiated by the independent organization
certified for the ERCOT power region under PURA §39.151;
(2) The types of customers who may be considered critical
care residential customers, critical load industrial customers, or
critical load according to commission rules adopted under PURA §38.076;
(3) The procedure for a customer to apply to be considered
a critical care customer, a critical load industrial customer, or
critical load according to commission rules adopted under PURA §38.076;
and
Cont'd... |
