AECT: Texas Should Require Brokers To Be "Registered " With PUC

Texas should require that electricity brokers be "registered" by the PUC, AECT said during a Texas House hearing yesterday on HB 2563.

As first reported by RetailEnergyX.com, HB 2563, as filed, would provide that retail electric providers, "may pay a commission or other form of remuneration to a person for soliciting potential customers on behalf of the retail electric provider or for otherwise representing the provider in a sales capacity only if the retail electric provider finds that the person complied with the commission's customer protection standards in acting on behalf of the retail electric provider."

The bill would make recipients of a sales commission legal agents of a retail electric provider, and require the public posting by the PUC of lists of entities receiving a commission by a REP.

AECT opposes the bill as filed, noting current consumer protection rules and penalty provisions, and called burdensome the proposed requirement that REPs file a list of persons to which they pay commission

However, Walt Baum, speaking for AECT, also said that:

"We do agree that, all people who are selling electricity in the state should be covered and should be registered by the PUC. We do agree that covering brokers, and making sure that brokers are registered by the PUC is an important step, and we would like to work with the author on trying to get language to address that in the bill."

Currently, brokers are not subject to a licensing or registration requirement with the Texas PUC. Only if engaging in aggregation must non-REPs be certified by the PUC, as an aggregator

The House Committee on State Affairs left HB 2563 pending