| (Q) the name of the LDC's representative, business
address, telephone number, and email address.
(3) Notice of subsequent application. If in the subsequent
application the LDC proposes a new ECP or proposes changes to an existing
ECP such that costs to customers increase, the LDC shall provide notice
in accordance with subsection (e) of this section and include in its
subsequent application the documents required by paragraph (1)(J)
and (K) of this subsection.
(4) Addition of new programs to existing ECP portfolio.
An initial or subsequent application may contain information on one
or more ECPs. If an LDC proposes to add a new ECP to its portfolio
after approval of its initial application, the LDC shall propose the
new ECP in its subsequent application and include the information
required by paragraph (1) of this subsection for the proposed new
ECP.
(e) Notice and promotional materials.
(1) Notice. An LDC shall print the notice of its application
for an ECP portfolio in type large enough for easy reading. The notice
shall be the only information contained on the piece of paper on which
it is written or in the emailed notice if applicable. An LDC may give
the notice required by this section either by separate mailing or
by otherwise delivering the notice with its billing statements. Notice
may be provided by email if the customer to receive the notice has
consented to receive notices by email. Notice by mail shall be presumed
to be complete three days after the date of deposit of the paper upon
which it is written, enclosed in a postage-paid, properly addressed
wrapper, in a post office or official depository under the care of
the United States Postal Service. The notice shall be provided in
English and Spanish. The notice to customers shall include the following
information:
(A) a description of each ECP in its proposed portfolio;
(B) the effect the proposed ECP portfolio is expected
to have on the rates applicable to each affected customer class and
on an average bill with and without gas cost for each affected customer
class;
(C) the service area in which the proposed ECP portfolio
would apply;
(D) the date the proposed ECP portfolio application
was or will be filed with the Commission;
(E) the LDC's address, telephone number, and web address
of the specific webpage on which the ECP portfolio application may
be obtained; and
(F) a statement that any affected person may file written
comments concerning a proposed ECP portfolio with Gas Services by
email to MOS@rrc.texas.gov and to an email address for the LDC included
in its notice.
(2) Promotional materials. Any ECP program or portfolio
promotional materials shall be provided to customers in English and
Spanish.
(f) Portfolio. An ECP portfolio:
(1) shall be designed to overcome barriers to the adoption
of energy-efficient equipment, technologies, and processes, and be
designed to change customer behavior as necessary; and
(2) may include measures such as:
(A) direct financial incentives;
(B) technical assistance and information, including
building energy performance analyses performed by the LDC or a third
party approved by the LDC;
(C) discounts or rebates for products; and
(D) weatherization for low-income customers.
(g) Cost recovery mechanism. The application for approval
of an ECP portfolio shall include a proposed ECP rate. Cost recovery
shall be limited to the incremental costs of providing an ECP portfolio
that are not already included in the then-current cost of service
rates of the LDC. Administrative costs in excess of 15% of the portfolio
costs shall not be included in the ECP rate or recovered from customers
in any way. The cost recovery mechanism applies to both initial and
subsequent ECP applications.
(1) A separate ECP rate shall be calculated for each
customer class in accordance with the following formula: ECP rate
= (CCR per Class + BA per Class)/Projected Volume per Class per Program
Year, where:
(A) CCR, Current Cost Recovery, is all projected costs
attributable to the LDC's energy conservation portfolio for the program
year;
(B) BA, Balance Adjustment, is the computed difference
between CCR collections by class and expenditures by class, including
the pro-rata share of common administrative costs for each class for
the program year and collection of the over/under recovery during
the prior program year; and
(C) Class is the customer class to which the ECP rate
will apply.
(2) An ECP rate may not exceed $0.20/Mcf for the residential
customer class and $0.20/Mcf for the commercial customer class.
(3) Upon the Commission's approval of the ECP rate,
the LDC shall update its residential and commercial ECP rate schedules
to reflect the approved ECP rate.
(h) Procedure for review. The Director of Gas Services
shall ensure that applications for ECP portfolios are reviewed for
compliance with the requirements of Texas Utilities Code, §§104.401-104.403
and this section. Upon completion of the review, Gas Services will
prepare a written recommendation, which shall be provided to the applicant
LDC. The written recommendation shall be provided to the applicant
LDC within 120 days of the date the application is filed with Gas
Services.
(1) The recommendation may include:
(A) approval of the application for an ECP portfolio
as filed;
(B) approval of the application for an ECP portfolio
with modifications; or
(C) rejection of the application for an ECP portfolio.
(2) The recommendation shall be submitted to the Commission
for decision at a scheduled open meeting.
(3) If the Commission approves an ECP portfolio application
at an open meeting, the LDC shall file the applicable ECP rate schedules
in accordance with subsection (i) of this section.
(4) Previous ECP rates shall remain in effect while
an annual report or a subsequent ECP portfolio application is under
review.
(5) Previous ECP rates shall cease to be in effect
30 days after an LDC fails to meet a required filing deadline.
(6) Neither the review of an ECP portfolio application
nor the review of a proposed ECP rate or rate schedule is a ratemaking
proceeding for the purposes of Texas Utilities Code § 103.022.
(i) Rate schedules. The LDC shall include proposed
rate schedules with its initial application, each subsequent application,
and each annual report for an ECP portfolio. Each ECP rate schedule
shall be made on a form approved by the Commission and made available
on the Commission's website. If the LDC's proposed ECP portfolio is
approved by the Commission, the approved rate schedules shall be electronically
filed by the LDC in accordance with §7.315 of this title (relating
to Filing of Tariffs). If an ECP rate is adjusted in an annual report
filing, the LDC shall also file an adjusted rate schedule. An ECP
rate approved by the Commission at an open meeting and implemented
by the LDC or adjusted in an annual report filing pursuant to subsection
(j) of this section shall be subject to refund unless and until the
rate schedules are electronically filed and accepted by Gas Services
in accordance with §7.315 of this title and reviewed for prudence
and reasonableness in a subsequent statement of intent rate proceeding.
(j) ECP annual report.
(1) An LDC implementing an approved ECP portfolio pursuant
to this section shall file an ECP annual report with the Commission.
The report shall be filed each year an approved ECP portfolio is implemented
and shall be filed no later than 45 days following the end of the
LDC's program year. The ECP annual report shall be in the format prescribed
by the Commission and shall include the following:
(A) an overview of the LDC's ECP portfolio;
(B) a description of each ECP offered under the portfolio
that includes the program's performance for the program year, including
any evaluation of cost-effectiveness, actual program expenditures,
and program results;
(C) the LDC's planned ECPs for the upcoming program
year;
(D) for each applicable customer class, rate schedules
detailing program expenditures for the program year, actual amounts
collected for the program year, and the calculation of the adjusted
ECP rate;
(E) the number of customers participating in each ECP
per customer class per the applicable program year;
(F) normalized historical annual volumes per customer
class per the applicable program year; and
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