Texas Commission Says It Can't Award Punitive Damages in Customer Complaint Against Retail Provider

The Public Utility Commission of Texas lacks authority to award punitive damages to customers bringing formal electric complaints before the Commission, the Commission affirmed yesterday.

A customer initiating a formal complaint against a REP (Docket 40796) had sought that the REP pay, "punitive damages for the unfair business practices and harassing tactics used to collect a debt."

A draft preliminary order in the case would not have included the issue of punitive damages in the List of Issues to be addressed at the State Office of Administrative Hearings, but also did not specify punitive damages as an issue not to be addressed.

Commissioner Kenneth Anderson recommended that a List of Issues Not to be Addressed be included in the preliminary order to clarify that the Commission lacks authority to award punitive damages in formal complaint proceedings, and therefore SOAH should not consider this issue.

"The Commission is a creature of statute. As the Supreme Court of Texas has stated, administrative agencies 'may exercise only those powers the law, in clear and express statutory language, confers upon them.' Nothing in PURA or the Commission rules grants the Commission the authority to award punitive damages in formal complaint proceedings. Therefore, this issue should not be addressed," Anderson proposed.

Commissioners agreed with Anderson's recommendation at yesterday's open meeting, and directed that the issue of punitive damages not be addressed in the proceeding.