| (a) Definitions. The following words and terms, when
used in this section, shall have the following meanings unless the
context indicates otherwise.
(1) Critical Load Public Safety Customer--A customer
for whom electric service is considered crucial for the protection
or maintenance of public safety, including but not limited to hospitals,
police stations, fire stations, and critical water and wastewater
facilities.
(2) Critical Load Industrial Customer--An industrial
customer for whom an interruption or suspension of electric service
will create a dangerous or life-threatening condition on the retail
customer's premises, is a "critical load industrial customer."
(3) Chronic Condition Residential Customer--A residential
customer who has a person permanently residing in his or her home
who has been diagnosed by a physician as having a serious medical
condition that requires an electric-powered medical device or electric
heating or cooling to prevent the impairment of a major life function
through a significant deterioration or exacerbation of the person's
medical condition. If that serious medical condition is diagnosed
or re-diagnosed by a physician as a life-long condition, the designation
is effective under this section for the shorter of one year or until
such time as the person with the medical condition no longer resides
in the home. Otherwise, the designation or re-designation is effective
for 90 days.
(4) Critical Care Residential Customer--A residential
customer who has a person permanently residing in his or her home
who has been diagnosed by a physician as being dependent upon an electric-powered
medical device to sustain life. The designation or redesignation is
effective for two years under this section.
(b) Eligibility for protections. In order to be considered
for designation under this section, an application for designation
must be submitted by or on behalf of the customer.
(1) To be designated as a Critical Care Residential
Customer or Chronic Condition Residential Customer, the commission-approved
application form must be submitted to the TDU by a physician, in accordance
with provisions of this section.
(2) To be designated as a Critical Load Public Safety
Customer or a Critical Load Industrial Customer, the customer must
notify the TDU. To be eligible for the protections provided under
this section, the customer must have a determination of eligibility
pending with or approved by the TDU. Eligibility shall be determined
through a collaborative process among the customer, REP, and TDU,
but in the event that the customer, REP and TDU are unable to agree
on the designation, the TDU has the authority to make or decline to
make the designation.
(c) Benefits for Critical Load Public Safety Customers,
Critical Load Industrial Customers, Critical Care Residential Customers,
and Chronic Condition Residential Customers.
(1) A Critical Load Public Safety Customer or a Critical
Load Industrial Customer qualifies for notifications of interruptions
or suspensions of service as provided in Sections 4.2.5, 5.2.5, and
5.3.7.1 of the TDU's tariff for retail delivery service.
(2) A Critical Care Residential Customer or Chronic
Condition Residential Customer qualifies for notification of interruptions
or suspensions of service, as provided in Sections 4.2.5, 5.2.5, and
5.3.7.1, and for Critical Care Residential Customers protections against
suspension or disconnection, as provided in Section 5.3.7.4(1)(D)
and (E), of the TDU's tariff for retail delivery service.
(3) A Critical Care Residential Customer or Chronic
Condition Residential Customer is also eligible for certain protections
as described in §25.483 (relating to Disconnection of Service).
(4) Designation as a Critical Load Customer, Critical
Care Residential Customer, or Chronic Condition Residential Customer
does not guarantee the uninterrupted supply of electricity.
(d) Notice to customers concerning Critical Care Residential
Customer and Chronic Condition Residential Customer status.
(1) A REP shall notify each residential applicant for
service of the right to apply for Critical Care Residential Customer
or Chronic Condition Residential Customer designation. This notice
to an applicant for residential service shall be included in the Your
Rights as a Customer document.
(2) All REPs that serve residential customers shall
provide information about Critical Care Residential Customer and Chronic
Condition Residential Customer designations to each residential customer
two times a year.
(3) Upon a customer's request, the REP shall provide
to the customer the application form for Critical Care Residential
Customer and Chronic Condition Residential Customer designation.
(e) Procedure for obtaining Critical Care Residential
Customer or Chronic Condition Residential Customer designation.
(1) The commission-approved application form shall
instruct the customer to have the physician submit the application
form by facsimile or other electronic means to the TDU. If the physician
submits the form to the REP, the REP shall forward it to the TDU electronically
no later than two business days from receipt of the form. The application
form shall include a telephone number for reaching a person at the
TDU who is capable of responding to questions from a physician or
customer about the form during regular business hours.
(2) After the TDU receives the form, it shall evaluate
the form for completeness. If the form is incomplete, no later than
two business days after receiving the form, the TDU shall mail the
form to the customer and explain in writing what information is needed
to complete the form.
(3) If the TDU has returned the form as incomplete
or has not finished processing the form within two business days from
receipt of the form, the customer shall be designated as a Critical
Care Residential Customer or Chronic Condition Residential Customer
on a temporary basis pending final designation by the TDU. The temporary
designation shall be based on the designation selected by the physician
on the form if such designation was included; otherwise, the temporary
designation shall be as a Critical Care Residential Customer. The
TDU shall notify the customer's REP of such temporary designation
using a standard market transaction. If the form is returned to the
customer as incomplete, the temporary designation shall remain in
effect for 14 days, after which the temporary designation shall expire
and the application process must start over.
(4) Reasons that a TDU shall consider a form incomplete
for an application for Critical Care Residential Customer or Chronic
Condition Residential Customer designation include the omission of
the name of the person for whom the protection is sought, contact
information, physician signature, the designation as a Critical Care
Residential Customer or Chronic Condition Residential Customer, and
medical board license number of the customer's physician. Any additional
mandatory information required for completeness shall be clearly identified
on the commission-approved application form. A customer may, but it
is not required to, include an emergency (secondary) contact in the
application.
(5) The TDU shall not challenge the physician's determination
of the customer's status, but shall apply the physician's designation
of the customer as a Critical Care Residential Customer or Chronic
Condition Residential Customer consistent with the information provided
on the form and the definitions in this section. The TDU may verify
the physician's identity and signature and may deny an application
for designation, if it determines that the identity or signature of
the physician is not authentic.
(6) The TDU shall notify the customer's REP using a
standard market transaction and the customer of the final status of
the application process, including whether the customer has been designated
for Critical Care Residential Customer or Chronic Condition Residential
Customer status. The TDU shall also notify the customer of the date
a designation, if any, will expire, and whether the customer will
receive a renewal notice. The TDU shall provide the emergency contact
information (if applicable) to the REP using a standard market transaction.
If the customer switches to a different REP, the TDU shall provide
the new REP with information on the customer's status and the emergency
contact information (if applicable) using a standard market transaction.
(7) At the same time the TDU notifies the customer
the final status of the customer's application, the TDU shall inform
the customer of the customer's right to file a complaint with the
commission pursuant to §22.242 of this title (relating to Complaints).
(8) The TDU shall notify Critical Care Residential
Customers and Chronic Condition Residential Customers of the expiration
of their designation in accordance with this subsection. The TDU shall
notify the customer's REP using a standard market transaction when
a customer is no longer designated as a Critical Care Residential
Customer or a Chronic Condition Residential Customer.
(9) The TDU shall mail a renewal notice to a Chronic
Condition Residential Customer whose designation was for a period
longer than 90 days or a Critical Care Residential Customer, at least
45 days prior to the expiration date of the customer's designation.
The renewal notice shall also be mailed to the emergency contact included
on the commission-approved application form (if applicable). The renewal
notice shall include the application form and an explanation of how
to reapply for Critical Care Residential Customer or Chronic Condition
Residential Customer designation. The renewal notice shall inform
the customer that the current designation will expire unless the application
form is returned by the expiration date of the existing designation.
(f) Effect of Critical Care Residential Customer or
Chronic Condition Residential Customer status on payment obligations.
A Critical Care Residential Customer or Chronic Condition Residential
Customer designation pursuant to this section does not relieve a customer
of the obligation to pay the REP for services provided, and a customer's
service may be disconnected pursuant to §25.483 of this title.
(g) TX SET changes. In the first TX SET release after
the effective date of this section, market transactions shall be included
to address the requirements of this section.
(h) Effective date. The effective date of this section
is January 1, 2011.
(i) TDU annual report. A TDU shall report to the commission
by March 1 of each year beginning in 2012, the number of customers
for each type of customer defined in subsection (a) of this section
as of December 31 of the previous calendar year. The TDU report shall
also include for the previous calendar year, for each type of customer
defined in subsection (a) of this section, the number of applications
that were rejected as a result of incomplete forms, the number of
requests from REPs for disconnection, and the number of disconnections
and reconnections completed. An interim report shall be filed by the
TDU on April 1, 2011 for the time period from January 1, 2011 through
March 1, 2011.
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