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Texas PUC Staff Draft Would Ask Whether Current & Proposed Revisions To Retail Market Reporting Requirements Are Sufficient To Monitor Retail Market, Invite Proposals For Additional Metrics
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Staff of the Texas PUC have filed a draft proposal for publication that would revise the current retail market performance measure reporting requirements, applicable to retail electric providers and other market entities, to implement recent changes in law and to streamline the report
In recommending a draft proposal for publication, Staff in the draft would specifically invite public comment on the two questions below:
1. Are the Retail Market Performance Measures, and their associated schedule parts, provided
by the commission in the filing package sufficient to monitor the competitive Texas retail
electricity market? If not, what else should the commission consider in its Retail Performance
Measures?
2. What else should the commission consider in its implementation of PURA §39.168 and its
amendment to §25.88?
PURA §39.168, adopted in 2023's HB 1500, requires REPs who are affiliated with other REPs to report on their affiliates' sales as well as their own
Staff's draft would implement this provision through changes to the current retail performance measure reporting rules
Specifically, PURA §39.168 requires that:
(a) Each retail electric
provider that offers electricity for sale shall report to the
commission:
(1) its annual retail sales in this state;
(2) the annual retail sales of its affiliates by
number of customers, kilowatts per hour sold, and revenue from
kilowatts per hour sold by customer class; and
(3) any other information the commission requires
relating to affiliations between retail electric providers.
(b) The commission by rule shall prescribe the nature and
detail of the reporting requirements. The commission may accept
information reported under other law to satisfy the requirements of
this section. Information reported under this section is
confidential and not subject to disclosure if the information is
competitively sensitive information. The commission shall
administer the reporting requirements in a manner that ensures the
confidentiality of competitively sensitive information.
Staff proposes to implement the affiliate reporting provision as follows:
"Each REP must provide its affiliations, using Schedule A, Part 3 of the report, by listing its subsidiaries and parent
companies up to the ultimate corporate parent, and any sister companies that are registered or certified with the
commission. Each company must be identified by name, relationship to the REP, and, if applicable, type of
commission certification and corresponding certification number.
Each REP must provide Schedule A, Part 3 of the report as three separate excel sheets corresponding to each
month of the quarterly reporting period.
Aside for this reporting quoted above, Staff does not propose the submission of, "any other information ... relating to affiliations between retail electric providers," which PURA authorizes the PUC to require
In addition to the affiliate reporting change prompted by statute, Staff also proposed to require that the data provided by REPs and ERCOT shall be
reported according to the customer classifications defined in 16 TAC § 25.43 (which classifies customers as either "Residential customer", "Small non-residential customer", "Medium non-residential customer", and "Large non-residential
customer"), thereby
standardizing reporting practices across reporting entities (this use of these four customer classes would not apply to the requirement that REPs additionally file copies of their EIA Form 861M, as 861M uses different customer classifications)
Staff also said that the proposed amended rule reduces
redundant data submission requirements for certain entities.
Aside from the affiliate reporting rules, the proposed rule's required reporting for REPs is mostly similar to the current reporting requirements, though there are some further new requirements
The proposed rule revisions would also allow the PUC, or notably PUC Staff, to require additional, unspecified reports from REPs if such new reports further the purposes stated in the rule
Specifically, proposed new language would state that, "The commission or commission staff may
require a reporting entity to submit additional reports to allow the commission to analyze the changing dynamics of the retail electric market or to obtain information
on specific issues that may require additional diagnostic review."
This differs somewhat from the current language which does not explicitly state Commission Staff may request such
Current rule states, "Reporting entities may be required to submit special reports to allow the commission
to analyze the changing dynamics of the retail electric market or to obtain information on specific
issues that may require additional diagnostic review."
Additionally, the current "special reports" rule language may be read, in one interpretation, as meaning that such special reports, when required by the Commission, are limited, and only authorize the PUC to require that an entity provide an additional report when such information, "relates to its [the entity's] performance measures report."
In contrast, in current rule, ERCOT, or groups operating under the authority of ERCOT, may require additional reports for specific analytical or diagnostic
purposes without needing to relate to the performance measures report [but must relate to "market performance"]
Specifically, as currently written, the rule states:
Other reports. Reporting entities may be required to submit special reports to allow the commission
to analyze the changing dynamics of the retail electric market or to obtain information on specific
issues that may require additional diagnostic review.
(1) Supplemental information requested by the commission. Upon request by the
commission or its designee, a reporting entity shall provide any special and additional
information that relates to its performance measures report. Such request shall specify a time
for the reporting entity to respond that is reasonable in consideration of the information
requested.
(2) Additional reports requested through ERCOT. Reporting entities may be required to
provide to ERCOT, or groups operating under the authority of ERCOT, special and
additional information that relates to market performance for specific analytical or diagnostic
purposes
The proposed rule revisions eliminate the introductory language concerning special reports, and instead, by including a new enumerated condition, clearly set forth that the PUC or PUC Staff may request additional reports, not solely relating to a submitted performance measures report, so that the PUC may analyze the changing dynamics of the retail electric market or so that the PUC may obtain information
on specific issues that may require additional diagnostic review. There is no limitation here that the additional report must "relate[]" to the entity's performance measure report, as could be interpreted currently
Specifically, the proposed revised language states:
Other reports.
(1) Additional reports requested by staff. The commission or commission staff may
require a reporting entity to submit additional reports to allow the commission to
analyze the changing dynamics of the retail electric market or to obtain information
on specific issues that may require additional diagnostic review.
(2) Supplemental information. Upon request by the commission or commission staff,
a reporting entity must provide any additional information that relates to its report.
Such requests will provide a reasonable deadline that takes into account the
information requested.
(3) Additional reports requested by ERCOT. ERCOT may require reporting entities
to provide to ERCOT additional information that relates to market performance for
specific analytical or diagnostic purposes.
A reporting entity may, in such cases, be a REP
Additionally, one new apparent specific requirement would be that, in the required submission to the PUC of the REP's filed EIA Form 861M, the REP would be required, using the "Revenue" and "Megawatt-hours sold" data required by EIA Form 861M, to also provide the dollars per kilowatt-hour, by EIA customer type, for each month of the quarterly reporting period. The EIA form itself does not require this computation of the dollars per kilowatt-hour value
The proposed rule reflects the change in the name of the EIA form to Form 861M, versus the older EIA Form 826, though the reported information is generally the same
In a proposed new reporting requirement, the REP must report, broken out by "Residential customer", "Small non-residential customer", "Medium non-residential customer", and "Large non-residential
customer" (as defined under 16 TAC § 25.43 as noted above), the REP's customer counts,
megawatt-hours sold, and revenues for each customer type, for each TDU service area, for each separate month in the quarterly reporting period
The proposed revisions include apparent changes to the instruction language for the reporting, by REPs, of Disconnect for Non-Pay data, though the revised language may simply reflect current practice
First, the proposed revisions would specifically state that DNP data shall be reported for each specific month in the quarterly reporting period (the existing form's instructions are not explicit that the DNP reporting must be by month and not reported as an aggregate for the quarter, though monthly reporting may be the current practice regardless)
In requiring reports on DNP orders to be broken out by certain categories, the proposed revised instructions would also list as a category "chronic condition residential customers", in addition to, as under the current reporting instructions, the categories of residential customers, critical care customers, and prepaid customers. The current instructions do not reference chronic condition residential customers. However, the newly proposed actual reporting spreadsheet would have the reporting of chronic condition residential customers aggregated with critical care customers
The revised reporting appears to omit several current optional reporting by REPs. For example, REPs may currently elect to report their customer enrollment success rate if the REP believes ERCOT's stated value for the REP is incorrect. A REP may also elect to report on the number of unauthorized changes (also referred to as inadvertent gains)
Other changes under the proposed rule include an accelerated due date for quarterly retail performance measure reports
Under the current rules, the quarterly report is due 45 days after the end of the relevant quarter
The proposed rule revisions would set the reporting compliance deadline as 30 days after the end of the relevant quarter
The proposed revisions would include in the rule a current requirement included in the current report's instructions. The current rule only briefly states that, "The reporting entity shall include an analysis of its data and performance for the
reporting period with a comparison to performance in the previous period," with the reporting instructions providing further detail on what shall be included. The rule changes would generally incorporate the current instructions on this point into the actual rule language
However, the current instructions require a short description or explanation of the reporting
entity’s data and performance for all reporting.
The revised rule would require that an analysis or explanation shall be included only for any retail market performance measure that does not meet the
expected performance level.
Language concerning the maintenance of reports and supporting documentation would also change under the revised rule, though the time period for the maintenance of such records would remain 24 months
Under current rule, the report and supporting records, "shall be made available at the reporting entity’s main office," for inspection by the PUC or its designee. However, the current rule also provides that supporting documents may be
kept outside the State of Texas if those records are returned to the State for any requested
inspection by the Commission or its designee, upon request
The new rule would omit the reference that the records must be kept in the reporting entity's "main office", but also omits any reference explicitly allowing records to be kept out of state
The proposed changes would explicitly allow "Commission staff" in addition to the Commission to inspect the records
Unchanged from the current rule is the 98% standard used for technical market transaction performance measures
The proposed rule removes the current rule language governing the creation of a performance-improvement plan if the 98% threshold for a reporting metric is not met by an entity
Notably, the creation of a performance-improvement plan is currently not discretionary by the PUC. The current rule requires that the PUC, "shall meet with
the reporting entity and develop a performance-improvement plan."
While, under the proposed changes, the PUC may still elect to offer entities the ability to enter into performance improvement plans, the PUC would not be required to offer such a program
Additionally, the proposed rule removes a specific listing of factors to be considered in setting penalties for any violation of the performance standards or rules
The current rule requires that, in assessing penalties, the PUC "shall" consider the following factors:
(A) The reporting entity's prior history of performance;
(B) The reporting entity's efforts to improve performance;
(C) Whether the penalty is likely to improve performance; and
(D) Such other factors deemed appropriate and material to the particular circumstance
Again, while the PUC may still consider all of these factors in setting penalties, the revised rule would not require such consideration
Project 56736
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Broad Rule Language Would Empower PUC Staff To Require New Reports In Future To Analyze Changing Retail Market Dynamics
Accelerated Due Date For Compliance Reports
October 30, 2025
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Copyright 2025 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com
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