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TITLE 16ECONOMIC REGULATION
PART 2PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION OF TEXAS
CHAPTER 25SUBSTANTIVE RULES APPLICABLE TO ELECTRIC SERVICE PROVIDERS
SUBCHAPTER KRELATIONSHIPS WITH AFFILIATES
RULE §25.272Code of Conduct for Electric Utilities and Their Affiliates

  (1) Transactions with all affiliates. A utility shall not subsidize the business activities of any affiliate with revenues from a regulated service. In accordance with PURA and the commission's rules, a utility and its affiliates shall fully allocate costs for any shared services, including corporate support services, offices, employees, property, equipment, computer systems, information systems, and any other shared assets, services, or products.

    (A) Sale of products or services by a utility. Unless otherwise approved by the commission and except for corporate support services, any sale of a product or service by a utility shall be governed by a tariff approved by the commission. Products and services shall be made available to any third party entity on the same terms and conditions as the utility makes those products and services available to its affiliates.

    (B) Purchase of products, services, or assets by a utility from its affiliate. Products, services, and assets shall be priced at levels that are fair and reasonable to the customers of the utility and that reflect the market value of the product, service, or asset.

    (C) Transfers of assets. Except for asset transfers implementing unbundling pursuant to PURA §39.051, asset valuation in accordance with PURA §39.262, and transfers of property pursuant to a financing order issued under PURA, Chapter 39, Subchapter G, assets transferred from a utility to its affiliates shall be priced at levels that are fair and reasonable to the customers of the utility and that reflect the market value of the assets or the utility's fully allocated cost to provide those assets.

    (D) Transfer of assets implementing restructuring legislation. The transfer from a utility to an affiliate of assets implementing unbundling pursuant to PURA §39.051, asset valuation in accordance with PURA §39.262, and transfers of property pursuant to a financing order issued under PURA, Chapter 39, Subchapter G will be reviewed by the commission pursuant to the applicable provisions of PURA, and any rules implementing those provisions.

  (2) Transactions with competitive affiliates. Unless otherwise allowed in this subsection, transactions between a utility and its competitive affiliates shall be at arm's length. A utility shall maintain a contemporaneous written record of all transactions with its competitive affiliates, except those involving corporate support services and those transactions governed by tariffs. Such records, which shall include the date of the transaction, name of affiliate involved, name of a utility employee knowledgeable about the transaction, and a description of the transaction, shall be maintained by the utility for three years. In addition to the requirements specified in paragraph (1) of this subsection, the following provisions apply to transactions between utilities and their competitive affiliates.

    (A) Provision of corporate support services. A utility may engage in transactions directly related to the provision of corporate support services with its competitive affiliates. Such provision of corporate support services shall not allow or provide a means for the transfer of confidential information from the utility to the competitive affiliate, create the opportunity for preferential treatment or unfair competitive advantage, lead to customer confusion, or create significant opportunities for cross-subsidization of the competitive affiliate.

    (B) Purchase of products or services by a utility from its competitive affiliate. Except for corporate support services, a utility may not enter into a transaction to purchase a product or service from a competitive affiliate that has a per unit value of $75,000 or more, or a total value of $1 million or more, unless the transaction is the result of a fair, competitive bidding process formalized in a contract subject to the provisions of §25.273 of this title (relating to Contracts Between Electric Utilities and Their Competitive Affiliates).

    (C) Transfers of assets. Except for asset transfers facilitating unbundling pursuant to PURA §39.051, asset valuation in accordance with PURA §39.262, and transfers of property pursuant to a financing order issued under PURA, Chapter 39, Subchapter G, any transfer from a utility to its competitive affiliates of assets with a per unit value of $75,000 or more, or a total value of $1 million or more, must be the result of a fair, competitive bidding process formalized in a contract subject to the provisions of §25.273 of this title.

(f) Safeguards relating to provision of products and services.

  (1) Products and services available on a non-discriminatory basis. If a utility makes a product or service, other than corporate support services, available to a competitive affiliate, it shall make the same product or service available, contemporaneously and in the same manner, to all similarly situated entities, and it shall apply its tariffs, prices, terms, conditions, and discounts for those products and services in the same manner to all similarly situated entities. A utility shall process all requests for a product or service from competitive affiliates or similarly situated non-affiliated entities on a non-discriminatory basis. If a utility's tariff allows for discretion in its application, the utility shall apply that provision in the same manner to its competitive affiliates and similarly situated non-affiliates, as well as to their respective customers. If a utility's tariff allows no discretion in its application, the utility shall strictly apply the tariff. A utility shall not use customer-specific contracts to circumvent these requirements, nor create a product or service arrangement with its competitive affiliate that is so unique that no competitor could be similarly situated to utilize the product or service.

  (2) Discounts, rebates, fee waivers, or alternative tariff terms and conditions. If a utility offers its competitive affiliate or grants a request from its competitive affiliate for a discount, rebate, fee waiver, or alternative tariff terms and conditions for any product or service, it must make the same benefit contemporaneously available, on a non-discriminatory basis, to all similarly situated non-affiliates. The utility shall post a conspicuous notice on its Internet site or public electronic bulletin board for at least 30 consecutive calendar days providing the following information: the name of the competitive affiliate involved in the transaction; the rate charged; the normal rate or tariff condition; the period for which the benefit applies; the quantities and the delivery points involved in the transaction (if any); any conditions or requirements applicable to the benefit; documentation of any cost differential underlying the benefit; and the procedures by which non-affiliates may obtain the same benefit. The utility shall maintain records of such information for a minimum of three years, and shall make such records available for third party review within 72 hours of a written request, or at a time mutually agreeable to the utility and the third party. A utility shall not create any arrangement with its competitive affiliate that is so unique that no competitor could be similarly situated to benefit from the discount, rebate, fee waiver, or alternative tariff terms and conditions.

  (3) Tying arrangements prohibited. Unless otherwise allowed by the commission through a rule or tariff prior to a utility's unbundling pursuant to PURA §39.051, a utility shall not condition the provision of any product, service, pricing benefit, or alternative terms or conditions upon the purchase of any other good or service from the utility or its competitive affiliate.

(g) Information safeguards.

  (1) Proprietary customer information. A utility shall provide a customer with the customer's proprietary customer information, upon request by the customer. Unless a utility obtains prior affirmative written consent or other verifiable authorization from the customer as determined by the commission, or unless otherwise permitted under this subsection, it shall not release any proprietary customer information to a competitive affiliate or any other entity, other than the customer, an independent organization as defined by PURA §39.151, or a provider of corporate support services for the sole purpose of providing corporate support services in accordance with subsection (e)(2)(A) of this section. The utility shall maintain records that include the date, time, and nature of information released when it releases customer proprietary information to another entity in accordance with this paragraph. The utility shall maintain records of such information for a minimum of three years, and shall make the records available for third party review within 72 hours of a written request, or at a time mutually agreeable to the utility and the third party. When the third party requesting review of the records is not the customer, commission, or Office of Public Utility Counsel, the records may be redacted in such a way as to protect the customer's identity. If proprietary customer information is released to an independent organization or a provider of corporate support services, the independent organization or entity providing corporate support services is subject to the rules in this subsection with respect to releasing the information to other Cont'd...

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