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Texas PUC Staff Draft Proposal For Publication Would Treat Low-Income Customers Differently, For Some Rules, If REPs Have Voluntarily Obtained Low-Income Customer List

November 13, 2017

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Copyright 2010-17 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com

Staff of the Public Utility Commission of Texas have filed a draft proposal for publication which would eliminate in their entirety several customer protections currently in the substantive rules for customers who were eligible for the prior Lite-Up Texas discount program (funded by the defunct System Benefit Fund), but, for certain protections, would retain modified protections for customers of retail electric providers who have voluntarily obtained a current list from the Low Income List Administrator (LILA) that identifies low-income customers

Specifically, for a REP acquiring customers as a POLR (either as a volunteer [VREP] or non-volunteer POLR), the draft proposal for publication would require POLR REPs who have obtained the LILA low-income customer list to first use any funds distributed to the POLR from the defaulting REP's letter of credit to provide deposit payment assistance for that POLR REP’s transitioned low-income customers

Note that VREPs and POLRs who have not obtained the LILA low-income customer list would still be eligible (contingent on available funding as applied under the current funding waterfall) to receive funds from the letter of credit to satisfy customer deposits and residential advance payments of POLR-transitioned customers. However, for POLRs that do not obtain the LILA list, customers on the LILA list would not receive priority in being allocated funds from the letter of credit to pay for their POLR deposits (as is currently the case for Lite-up customers)

Due to the proposed elimination of the rule allowing customers eligible under the former Lite-Up Texas program to pay deposits in installments (noted below), the draft proposal for publication would delete provisions in the POLR rule allowing eligible low-income customers to pay their POLR deposits in installments

As not all POLRs would receive priority disbursements from the defaulting REP's security for LILA list customers for deposit payment assistance, the draft proposal for publication would delete from the POLR rules the requirement for POLRs to provide, "Benefits for low income customers as provided for under PURA §39.903 relating to the System Benefit Fund."

Apart from providing letter of credit proceeds only to those POLRs who have voluntarily obtained the low-income customer list, Staff's draft proposal for publication would not impose any separate requirements or obligations with respect to low-income customers of REPs due to the REPs' status as having obtained a list of low-income customers from LILA.

As provided in an earlier strawman, the draft proposal for publication would delete in their entirety various customer protections provided to customers who were eligible for the former Lite-Up Texas program. The draft does not propose an alternative eligibility criteria to maintain these protections, and the protections would be terminated

The draft proposal for publication would delete language which currently prohibits REPs from charging a late fee penalty to, "customers receiving a low-income discount pursuant to the Public Utility Regulatory Act (PURA) §39.903(h)."

The draft proposal for publication would delete the requirement for REPs to offer a deferred payment plan to, "customers receiving the LITE-UP discount pursuant to §25.454 of this title," for bills that become due in July, August, or September, or certain winter months in which a qualifying extreme weather emergency had been declared.

The draft proposal for publication would also delete the requirement for REPs to offer Lite-Up customers a level payment plan.

The draft proposal for publication would specifically strike from the rules the language stating that, "A REP shall make a level or average payment plan available to a residential customer receiving a rate reduction pursuant to §25.454 of this title (relating to Rate Reduction Program), even if the customer is delinquent in payment to the REP."

The draft proposal for publication would delete the requirement for REPs to allow Lite-Up customers to pay deposits in installments.

The draft proposal for publication would specifically strike from the rules the language stating that, "If a customer or applicant qualifies for the rate reduction program under §25.454 of this title (relating to Rate Reduction Program), then such customer or applicant shall be eligible to pay any deposit that exceeds $50 in two equal installments," and associated language concerning this requirement

The draft proposal for publication does not appear to impose any new obligations, such as through bill inserts or bill messages, requiring REPs to notify low-income customers of their offering, or non-offering, of voluntary low-income assistance programs (the rule maintains current requirements for such notices, such as on the TOS and YRAC, which would now be notices of the REPs' own programs, rather than Lite-Up Texas)

The draft proposal for publication does not appear to include any new reporting requirements for REPs receiving the LILA list, or those not receiving the list, concerning their voluntary low-income assistance programs

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