PUCT Commissioners Discuss Areas in Need of Legislative Clarity

PUCT Commissioners discussed at yesterday's open meeting several areas in which they may seek additional legislative guidance or authority through recommendations in the scope of competition report. Commissioners did not adopt a final report with legislative recommendations at yesterday's meeting, and intend do so at the next open meeting.

Aside from issues previously raised (such as clarified/expanded authority over ERCOT), Commissioner Donna Nelson suggested seeking guidance from the legislature regarding issues related to electric vehicle charging and what market participants may offer the service.

Commissioner Kenneth Anderson suggested seeking clarity regarding distributed generation ownership and related issues, including whether the Commission can waive the registration of such generation owners as power generation companies.

Anderson stressed that he would be uncomfortable with the Commission interfering in the pricing paid by REPs for excess distributed generation and is not seeking legislative action on such pricing issues, a view echoed by Nelson.

Anderson also suggested that the Commission may need to seek clarity from the legislature in order to confirm that last session's bill which delayed the transition to retail competition at Entergy Texas does not preclude the Commission from several potential options it may take (such as directing Entergy Texas to join SPP as a transmission owner) as a result of the potential structural changes which could be in the future at Entergy due to some of the operating companies' withdrawal from the system agreement and ongoing state and FERC reviews.