Texas Confirms Use of System-Wide EECRF Charge Applicable to Retail Electric Providers

The Public Utility Commission of Texas on Friday ruled that the Energy Efficiency Cost Recovery Factor (EECRF) charged to retail electric providers shall be system-wide, and applicable across an entire TDU territory, as opposed to implementing multiple, city-specific EECRFs within the same TDU area.

In several supplemental preliminary orders in various EECRF proceedings, the Commission had ruled that municipalities' rate-case expenses should not be recovered from all of the ratepayers that are served by the utility, but shall be recoverable only from ratepayers on whose behalf the municipalities intervened in the EECRF proceeding.

This policy would have meant, to the extent cities' rate-case expenses were approved, that disparate EECRFs would be charged to REPs based on the location of the customer -- e.g. the REP would be charged an EECRF including rate case expenses for customers in cities which intervened in the EECRF proceeding, and a different EECRF, excluding rate case expenses, for customers residing in municipalities which did not intervene in the EECRF proceeding.

REPs, as well as cities with original jurisdiction, sought to certify the issue to the Commission as REPs argued that the administrative burden of implementing city-specific EECRFs would raise costs for all customers.

Although the Commission found the REPs' and cities' certification request procedurally deficient for several reasons, the Commission agreed with their recommended policy and, on its own motion, reversed the earlier ruling in its supplementary preliminary orders, and ruled that rate case expenses included in an EECRF shall be recovered on a system-wide basis.

Dockets: 40348 et. al.