This section says Texas competitive electric markets should be opened to customer choice, and it limits regulatory authorities from regulating competitive services except as authorized.
Sec. 39.001. LEGISLATIVE POLICY AND PURPOSE. (a) The legislature finds that the production and sale of electricity is not a monopoly warranting regulation of rates, operations, and services and that the public interest in competitive electric markets requires that, except for transmission and distribution services and for the recovery of stranded costs, electric services and their prices should be determined by customer choices and the normal forces of competition. As a result, this chapter is enacted to protect the public interest during the transition to and in the establishment of a fully competitive electric power industry. (b) The legislature finds that it is in the public interest to: (1) implement on January 1, 2002, a competitive retail electric market that allows each retail customer to choose the customer's provider of electricity and that encourages full and fair competition among all providers of electricity; (2) allow utilities with uneconomic generation-related assets and purchased power contracts to recover the reasonable excess costs over market of those assets and purchased power contracts; (3) educate utility customers about anticipated changes in the provision of retail electric service to ensure that the benefits of the competitive market reach all customers; and (4) protect the competitive process in a manner that ensures the confidentiality of competitively sensitive information during the transition to a competitive market and after the commencement of customer choice. (c) Regulatory authorities, excluding the governing body of a municipally owned electric utility that has not opted for customer choice or the body vested with power to manage and operate a municipally owned electric utility that has not opted for customer choice, may not make rules or issue orders regulating competitive electric services, prices, or competitors or restricting or conditioning competition except as authorized in this title and may not discriminate against any participant or type of participant during the transition to a competitive market and in the competitive market. (d) Regulatory authorities, excluding the governing body of a municipally owned electric utility that has not opted for customer choice or the body vested with power to manage and operate a municipally owned electric utility that has not opted for customer choice, shall authorize or order competitive rather than regulatory methods to achieve the goals of this chapter to the greatest extent feasible and shall adopt rules and issue orders that are both practical and limited so as to impose the least impact on competition. (e) Judicial review of competition rules adopted by the commission shall be conducted under Chapter 2001, Government Code, except as otherwise provided by this chapter. Judicial review of the validity of competition rules shall be commenced in the Court of Appeals for the Fifteenth Court of Appeals District and shall be limited to the commission's rulemaking record. The rulemaking record consists of: (1) the notice of the proposed rule; (2) the comments of all interested persons; (3) all studies, reports, memoranda, or other materials on which the commission relied in adopting the rule; and (4) the order adopting the rule. (f) A person who challenges the validity of a competition rule must file a notice of appeal with the court of appeals and serve the notice on the commission not later than the 15th day after the date on which the rule as adopted is published in the Texas Register. The notice of appeal shall designate the person challenging the rule as the appellant and the commission as the appellee. The commission shall prepare the rulemaking record and file it with the court of appeals not later than the 30th day after the date the notice of appeal is served on the commission. The court of appeals shall hear and determine each appeal as expeditiously as possible with lawful precedence over other matters. The appellant, and any person who is permitted by the court to intervene in support of the appellant's claims, shall file and serve briefs not later than the 30th day after the date the commission files the rulemaking record. The commission, and any person who is permitted by the court to intervene in support of the rule, shall file and serve briefs not later than the 60th day after the date the appellant files the appellant's brief. The court of appeals may, on its own motion or on motion of any person for good cause, modify the filing deadlines prescribed by this subsection. The court of appeals shall render judgment affirming the rule or reversing and, if appropriate on reversal, remanding the rule to the commission for further proceedings, consistent with the court's opinion and judgment. The Texas Rules of Appellate Procedure apply to an appeal brought under this section to the extent not inconsistent with this section. Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 405, Sec. 39, eff. Sept. 1, 1999. Amended by: Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 459 (S.B. 1045), Sec. 1.13, eff. September 1, 2023.