Texas PUC Staff Proposes Procedural Schedule, Revised Form For Designating REPs As Providers Of Last Resort (POLRs)

Staff of the Texas PUC have sought approval of a proposed order to establish a procedural schedule in a Project to designate retail electric providers as Providers of Last Resort for the 2021-22 term.

Under 16 TAC § 25.43, all REPs that are serving retail customers in transmission and distribution utility (TDU) service areas are required to provide information to the Commission necessary to establish their eligibility to serve as a POLR for the 2021 - 2022 term.

In accordance with 16 TAC § 25.43(h)(1), all REPs shall file, by July 10th of each even-numbered year, information on the classes of customers that they provide service to by TDU service area, and for each customer class, the number of electric service identifiers (ESI IDs) that the REP serves and the retail sales in megawatt-hours for the annual period ending March 31 of the current year.

Based upon the data submitted in the July 10th filings, the Commission is to designate REPs as non-volunteer POLRs (large service providers or LSPs) by October 15th of each even-numbered year pursuant to 16 TAC § 25.43(j).

REPs may also seek to become volunteer POLRs (voluntary retail electric providers or VREPs)

Staff's proposed schedule is as follows:

• Initial date a REP may file a request to become VREP: June 1, 2020

• Deadline for REPs to file information in order to establish eligibility as POLR: July 10, 2020

• Deadline for LSP to file a request for an LSP affiliate be designated to perform POLR services: July 10, 2020

• Deadline for REPs to file a request to become a VREP: July 31, 2020

• Commission Staff files an initial list of LSPs eligible to serve as a POLR, LSP affiliates approved to serve as a POLR, and VREPs August 27, 2020

The proposed schedule includes further deadlines for challenges for Staff's initial non-volunteer POLR list and final adoption by the Commission

Staff has also proposed revisions to the POLR Qualification Form and Instructions that Staff will post to the Commission's website after a procedural order has been issued. The changes, among other things, reflect the dissolution of the Sharyland service area, with now only five TDU areas requiring a POLR designation

Project 50500