Texas PUC Written Order Issued Confirming End Date For Disconnect Moratorium

The Texas PUC has issued a written order which confirms the end date for the disconnect for non-pay moratorium that had been adopted after the February winter weather event

While, as first reported by EnergyChoiceMatters.com last week, the PUC had during its open meeting discussed a timeline for the end of the moratorium (7 days), and while the PUC had issued a press release with specific dates, a written order containing such dates (and confirming the reference to the 7 days started from the open meeting, not the issuance of the signed order) was only issued today

Consistent with our reporting from last week, the order provides that the exemption for the rules listed below (e.g. the DNP moratorium) terminates on June 18, 2021.

• 16 TAC § 25.214(d), and Sections 6.1.2.1, 6.1.3.1, and 6.1.4.1 of the Tariff for Retail Delivery Service, which relate to the tariff provisions regarding disconnections for nonpayment.

• 16 TAC § 25.483(c), which relates to disconnection of a customer for nonpayment.

However, as noted last week, the exemption terminates only for those notices of disconnection sent out after June 18. In other words, REPs must send out a new disconnection notice, no earlier than June 19, for any customer the REP seeks to disconnect, and the typical DNP timeline will then apply once such notice is issued.

As reported last week, the requirement for REPs to offer all customers a deferred payment plan, upon customer request, will end on November 12, 2021, unless ordered otherwise before that date

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