| (a) Application. Any person, municipality, political subdivision,
or political subdivision corporation that aggregates the loads of two or more
electric service customers for purposes of purchasing electricity services
shall register with the Public Utility Commission of Texas (commission) pursuant
to this section. A single electricity customer, including a municipality or
political subdivision, negotiating service in multiple locations for its own
use, does not need to register with the commission.
(b) Purpose statement. The role of an aggregator in the restructured
electric market is to be a buyer's agent for customer groups. An entity that
joins customers together as a single purchasing unit and negotiates on their
behalf for the purchase of electricity service in Texas is considered an aggregator
and must register pursuant to this section. In contrast, an entity that sells
electricity is a retail electric provider (REP) and is subject to other commission
rules. This section sets out conditions for registering and operating as an
aggregator, including the condition that the aggregator, a buyer's agent,
may not be affiliated with a REP or other seller's agent representing the
REP.
(c) Definitions. The following words and terms, when used in
this section, shall have the following meanings, unless the context indicates
otherwise:
(1) Aggregation - to join two or more electricity customers
into a purchasing unit to negotiate the purchase of electricity by the electricity
customer as part of a voluntary association of electricity customers, provided
that an electricity customer may not avoid any non-bypassable charges or fees
as a result of aggregating its load.
(2) Aggregator - An entity is an aggregator, as opposed to
a consultant, if it conducts any activity that joins two or more customers
into a purchasing unit to negotiate the purchase of electricity from retail
electric providers (REPs). If an entity conducts activities only in the capacity
of advisor to a customer or set of customers, without contact with REPs specific
to that customer or customer group, then it is a consultant that does not
need to register pursuant to this section. An aggregator that provides aggregation
services to Texas electricity customers must meet one of the following definitions:
(A) Class I aggregator - a person joining two or more customers,
other than municipalities and political subdivision corporations, into a single
purchasing unit to negotiate the purchase of electricity from REPs.
(B) Class II aggregator - a person or municipality or other
political subdivision that provides aggregation services to municipalities
or other political subdivisions in the manner stated below:
(i) A person authorized by two or more municipal governing
bodies to join the bodies into a single purchasing unit to negotiate the purchase
of electricity from REPs or a municipality aggregating under Local Government
Code, Chapter 303.
(ii) A person or political subdivision corporation authorized
by two or more political subdivision governing bodies to join the bodies into
a single purchasing unit or multiple purchasing units to negotiate the purchase
of electricity from REPs for the facilities of the aggregated political subdivisions
or a person or political subdivision aggregating under Local Government Code,
Chapter 303.
(3) Person - an individual, a partnership of two or more persons
having a joint or common interest, a mutual or cooperative association, or
a corporation, but not including a municipal corporation or an electric cooperative.
For purposes of this section, a political subdivision or political subdivision
corporation is not a person.
(4) Political subdivision - a county, municipality, hospital
district, or any other political subdivision receiving electric service from
an entity that has implemented customer choice.
(5) Political subdivision corporation - an entity consisting
of two or more political subdivisions created to act as an agent, or otherwise,
to negotiate the purchase of electricity for the use of the respective public
facilities in accordance with Local Government Code §303.001.
(6) Proprietary customer information - any information compiled
by an aggregator on a customer in the normal course of aggregating electric
service that makes possible the identification of any individual customer
by matching such information with the customer's name, address, account number,
type or classification of service, historical electricity usage, expected
patterns of use, types of facilities used in providing service, individual
contract terms and conditions, price, current charges, billing records, or
any other information that the customer has expressly requested not be disclosed.
Information that is redacted or organized in such a way as to make it impossible
to identify the customer to whom the information relates does not constitute
propriety customer information.
(7) Revocation - the cessation of all aggregation business
operations in the state of Texas, pursuant to commission order.
(8) Suspension - the cessation of all aggregation business
operations in the state of Texas associated with obtaining new customers,
pursuant to commission order.
(d) Types of aggregator registrations required.
(1) Entities seeking to aggregate electricity customers may
not provide aggregation services in the state unless they have registered
with the commission. Such registration may be sought after September 1, 2000.
(2) There are two types of registration available to aggregators.
An entity seeking to aggregate under the terms and conditions set forth in
the Public Utility Regulatory Act (PURA) §39.353 shall register as a
"Class I aggregator." An entity seeking to aggregate under the terms and conditions
set forth in PURA §39.354 or §39.3545, or both, shall register as
a "Class II aggregator." The Class II category of registration has four subclasses,
A through D. The terms of eligibility and operational requirements for each
type of aggregator are specified in paragraphs (3) and (4) of this subsection.
The registering party must indicate the Class and subclass, if any, under
which it wishes to register. If a person is eligible and wishes to perform
aggregation services under more than one class of registration, it shall obtain
all applicable registrations.
(3) Registration of Class I aggregators. A Class I aggregator
may join at least two voluntary customers into a single purchasing unit to
negotiate the purchase of electricity from REPs. A Class I aggregator shall:
(A) be a person and not a REP;
(B) not be an affiliate of a REP;
(C) not include municipalities, political subdivisions, or
political subdivision corporations among the customers of an aggregation;
(D) not take title to electricity, and not accept any money
associated with payment or prepayment for electric service, as distinguished
from aggregation services, unless it does so under contract with a REP, consistent
with any rules adopted by the commission relating to customer billing as an
independent billing agent for a REP;
(E) comply with the customer protection rules, disclosure requirements,
and marketing guidelines of PURA and this title;
(F) comply with any other terms and conditions established
by the commission to regulate reliability and integrity of aggregators.
(4) Registration of Class II aggregators. A Class II aggregator
shall not be a REP or an affiliate of a REP and shall register pursuant to
at least one of the following sets of eligibility and operational requirements:
(A) Class II.A: Person that aggregates municipalities, political
subdivisions, or both. A person registered as a Class II.A aggregator pursuant
to this subparagraph may join two or more authorizing municipal governing
bodies into a single purchasing unit to negotiate the purchase of electricity
from REPs, or it may join two or more authorizing political subdivision governing
bodies, including municipal governing bodies, into single or multiple purchasing
units to negotiate the purchase of electricity from REPs for the facilities
of the aggregated political subdivisions. A person aggregating political subdivisions
pursuant to this subparagraph may not take title to electricity. The authorizations
shall be written and may specify the buyer's agent role of the aggregator
to the extent desired by the political subdivision.
(B) Class II.B: Political subdivision corporation aggregating
political subdivisions. A political subdivision corporation registered as
a Class II.B aggregator pursuant to this subparagraph may join two or more
authorizing political subdivision governing bodies, including municipal governing
bodies, into single or multiple purchasing units to negotiate the purchase
of electricity from REPs for the facilities of the aggregated political subdivisions.
A political subdivision corporation aggregating political subdivisions pursuant
to this subparagraph may take title to electricity.
(C) Class II.C: Public body that aggregates its citizens. A
municipality or other political subdivision registered as a Class II.C aggregator
pursuant to this subparagraph may negotiate for the purchase of electricity
and energy services on behalf of each affirmatively requesting citizen of
the municipality in accordance with Local Government Code §303.002, with
the option to contract with a third party or another aggregator for the administration
of the aggregation of the purchased services. An affirmatively requesting
citizen is a resident of the political subdivision who voluntarily agrees
to participate in the aggregation by a means that may be verified after the
fact. If the Class II.C aggregator contracts for the administration function
with a third party that is a person, other than its own employee, the person
must be a registered Class II.D aggregator.
(D) Class II.D: Administrator of citizen aggregation. A person
registered as a Class II.D aggregator pursuant to this subparagraph may administer
the aggregation of electricity and energy services purchased for each requesting
citizen of a municipality or other political subdivision in accordance with
Local Government Code §303.002 pursuant to a contract with the municipality
or political subdivision. An affirmatively requesting citizen is a resident
of the political subdivision who voluntarily agrees to participate in the
aggregation by a means that may be verified after the fact. A Class II.D aggregator
must have verifiable authorization from the political subdivision to administer
its citizen aggregation program. The authorization shall be written and may
include conditions on the administrator's transactions with its affiliated
REP, if any, when so specified by the political subdivision. The Class II.D
registration authorizes its holder to administer a citizen aggregation program
on behalf of the political subdivision but does not authorize its holder to
negotiate for the purchase of electricity and energy services on behalf of
the citizens of the political subdivision. An administrator of citizen aggregation
must register pursuant to this subparagraph when the administrator meets the
definition of "person" under this section, except when the administrator is
an individual employed by the political subdivision conducting citizen aggregation
pursuant to Local Government Code §303.002. A Class II.D aggregator may
not take title to electricity and may not be a REP or an affiliate of a REP.
(e) Requirements for public bodies seeking to register as Class
II.B or II.C aggregators. A municipality, other political subdivision, or
political subdivision corporation seeking to register and operate as a Class
II.B or Class II.C aggregator in accordance with this section shall provide
the following information on a registration form approved by the commission.
This subsection does not apply to registering parties who are persons, as
defined in this section.
(1) The legal name of the registering party as well as any
trade or commercial name(s) under which the registering party intends to operate;
(2) The registering party's Texas business address and principal
place of business;
(3) The names and business addresses of the registering party's
principal officers;
(4) The names of the registering party's affiliates and subsidiaries,
if applicable;
(5) Telephone number of the customer service department or
the name, title and telephone number of the customer service contact person;
(6) Name, physical business address, telephone number, fax
number, and e-mail address for a regulatory contact person and for an agent
for service of process, if a different person;
(7) The types of electricity customers that the registering
party intends to aggregate; and
(8) Any other information required of public bodies on a registration
form approved by the commission.
(f) Requirements for persons seeking to register as a Class
I or Class II.A or Class II.D aggregator. A person seeking any registration
under this section shall provide evidence of competency and experience in
providing the scope and nature of its proposed services by providing the information
listed in either paragraph (1) or (2) of this subsection on a registration
form approved by the commission. This subsection does not apply to registering
parties who are municipalities, other political subdivisions, or political
subdivision corporations.
(1) Standard registration.
Cont'd... |
