| brand, or logo. Such disclaimer of the corporate trademark,
name, brand, or logo in the material distributed must be written in a bold
and conspicuous manner or clearly audible, as appropriate for the communication
medium, and shall state the following: "{Name of CS} is not the same entity
as {name of TDBU} and you do not have to buy {name of CS}'s products to continue
to receive quality services from {name of TDBU}." A TDBU may allow the use
of its corporate name, brand, or logo by a CD in any context.
(2) Joint marketing, advertising, and promotional activities.
(A) A TDBU shall not:
(i) provide or acquire leads on behalf of its competitive affiliates;
(ii) solicit business or acquire information on behalf of its
competitive affiliates;
(iii) give the appearance of speaking or acting on behalf of
any of its competitive affiliates in connection with any marketing, advertising
or promotional activities, other than community economic development activities;
(iv) share market analysis reports or other types of proprietary
or non-publicly available reports relating to retail energy sales, including,
but not limited to, market forecast, planning, or strategic reports with its
competitive affiliates; or
(v) request authorization from its customers to pass on information
exclusively to its competitive affiliate.
(B) A TDBU shall not engage in joint marketing, advertising,
or promotional activities of its products or services with those of a competitive
affiliate in a manner that favors the competitive affiliate. Such joint marketing,
advertising, or promotional activities include, but are not limited to, the
following activities:
(i) acting or appearing to act on behalf of a competitive affiliate
in any communications and contacts with any existing or potential customers;
(ii) joint sales calls;
(iii) joint proposals, either as requests for proposals or
responses to requests for proposals;
(iv) joint promotional communications or correspondence, except
that a TDBU may allow a competitive affiliate access to customer bill advertising
inserts so long as access to such inserts is made available on the same terms
and conditions to non-affiliates offering similar services as the competitive
affiliate that uses bill inserts;
(v) joint presentations at trade shows, conferences, or other
marketing events within the state of Texas; and
(vi) providing links from a TDBU's Internet web site to a competitive
affiliate's Internet web site.
(C) At a customer's unsolicited request, a TDBU may participate
in meetings with a competitive affiliate to discuss technical or operational
subjects regarding the TDBU's provision of transmission or distribution services
to the customer but only in the same manner and to the same extent the TDBU
participates in such meetings with unaffiliated electric or energy services
suppliers and their customers. Representatives of a TDBU may be present during
a sales discussion between a customer and the TDBU's competitive affiliate
but shall not participate in the discussion or purport to act on behalf of
the competitive affiliate.
(3) Requests for specific competitive affiliate information.
If a customer or potential customer makes an unsolicited request to a TDBU
for information specifically about any of its competitive affiliates, the
TDBU may refer the customer or potential customer to the competitive affiliate
for more information. Under this paragraph, the only information that a TDBU
may provide to the customer or potential customer is the competitive affiliate's
address and telephone number. The TDBU shall not transfer the customer directly
to the competitive affiliate's customer service office via telephone or provide
any other electronic link whereby the customer could contact the competitive
affiliate through the TDBU. When providing the customer or potential customer
information about the competitive affiliate, the TDBU shall not promote its
competitive affiliate or its competitive affiliate's products or services,
nor shall it offer the customer or potential customer any opinion regarding
the service of the competitive affiliate or any other service provider.
(4) Requests for general information about products or services
offered by competitive affiliates and their competitors. If a customer or
potential customer requests general information from a TDBU about products
or services provided by its competitive affiliate or the competitors of its
CS or CD, the TDBU shall not promote its competitive affiliate or its competitive
affiliate's products or services, nor shall the TDBU offer the customer or
potential customer any opinion regarding the service of the competitive affiliate
or any other service provider. The TDBU may direct the customer or potential
customer to a telephone directory or to the commission, or provide the customer
with a recent list of suppliers developed and maintained by the commission,
but the TDBU may not refer the customer or potential customer to the competitive
affiliate except as provided for in paragraph (3) of this subsection.
(n) Remedies and enforcement.
(1) Code implementation filing.
(A) Not later than 120 days prior to the implementation of
customer choice by an MOU/COOP, a TDBU shall file with the commission its
plan for implementing the provisions of this section, addressing all applicable
requirements of this section in the context of its operations as they will
be conducted in the competitive retail market. The TDBU shall post notice
of its filing on its Internet site or a public electronic bulletin board for
30 consecutive days and shall provide copies of the filing to requesting parties.
Interested parties may file comments on the filing with the commission within
30 days following the filing and shall provide copies of such comments to
the TDBU. Commission staff shall review the code implementation filing and
provide to the TDBU its comments and recommendations as to any suggested changes
in the filing within 60 days following the date of the filing. The TDBU may
amend its initial filing based on the comments and recommendations and shall
file any such amendments not later than 75 days following the date of the
initial filing. The filing provided for in this paragraph is not subject to
the contested hearings process, except upon complaint by an interested party
or the commission staff.
(B) In lieu of the implementation filing provided for in subparagraph
(A) of this paragraph, an MOU/COOP may file with the commission a statement
that it does not at this time intend to provide electric energy at retail
to consumers in Texas outside its certificated retail service area as provided
for in subsection (b)(1)(B) of this section. Subsequently, if an MOU/COOP
intends to provide electric energy at retail to consumers in Texas outside
its certificated retail service area as provided for in subsection (b)(1)(B)
of this section, it shall file with the commission the implementation filing
provided for in subparagraph (A) of this paragraph not later than 120 days
prior to the time it provides retail electric energy in Texas outside its
certificated retail service area.
(2) Informal complaint procedure. A TDBU or a Bundled MOU/COOP
shall establish and file with the commission a complaint procedure for addressing
alleged violations of this section. This procedure shall contain a mechanism
whereby all complaints shall be placed in writing and shall be referred to
a designated officer or other person employed by the TDBU or the Bundled MOU/COOP.
(A) All complaints shall contain:
(i) the name of the complainant;
(ii) a detailed factual report of the complaint, including
all relevant dates, entities or divisions involved, employees involved, and
the specific claim.
(B) A complaint must be filed with the TDBU or the Bundled
MOU/COOP within 90 days of the date the complaining party knew, or with diligent
investigation should have known, that the violation occurred, but in no event
may a complaint be filed more than three years after the violation occurred.
(C) The designated officer shall acknowledge receipt of the
complaint in writing within five working days of receipt. The designated officer
shall provide a written report communicating the results of the preliminary
investigation to the complainant within 30 days after receipt of the complaint,
including a description of any course of action that will be taken.
(D) In the event the TDBU or the Bundled MOU/COOP and the complainant
are unable to resolve the complaint, the complainant may file a formal complaint
with the commission. In the event the complainant advises the TDBU or the
Bundled MOU/COOP that the complainant does not consider the complaint fully
resolved by the course of action proposed by the TDBU or the Bundled MOU/COOP
then the TDBU or the Bundled MOU/COOP shall notify the complainant of his
or her right to file a formal complaint with the commission and shall provide
the complainant with the commission's address and telephone number. The informal
complaint process shall be a prerequisite for filing a formal complaint with
the commission. Cont'd... |
