The commission must promote customer awareness, provide customer information, report yearly on customer service, and require utilities to give clear bill and service information to customers.
Sec. 17.003. CUSTOMER AWARENESS. (a) The commission shall promote public awareness of changes in the electric and telecommunications markets, provide customers with information necessary to make informed choices about available options, and ensure that customers have an adequate understanding of their rights. (b) The commission shall compile a report on customer service at least once each year showing the comparative customer information from reports given to the commission it deems necessary. (c) The commission shall adopt and enforce rules to require a certificated telecommunications utility, a retail electric provider, or an electric utility to give clear, uniform, and understandable information to customers about rates, terms, services, customer rights, and other necessary information as determined by the commission. The rules must include a list of defined terms common to the telecommunications and electricity industries and require that applicable terms be labeled uniformly on each retail bill sent to a customer by a certificated telecommunications utility, retail electric provider, or electric utility to facilitate consumer understanding of relevant billing elements. (d) Customer awareness efforts by the commission shall be conducted in English and Spanish and any other language as necessary. (d-1) An electric utility providing electric delivery service for a retail electric provider, as defined by Section 31.002, shall provide to the retail electric provider, and the retail electric provider shall periodically provide to the retail electric provider's retail customers together with bills sent to the customers, information about: (1) the electric utility's procedures for implementing involuntary load shedding initiated by the independent organization certified under Section 39.151 for the ERCOT power region; (2) the types of customers who may be considered critical care residential customers, critical load industrial customers, or critical load according to commission rules adopted under Section 38.076; (3) the procedure for a customer to apply to be considered a critical care residential customer, a critical load industrial customer, or critical load according to commission rules adopted under Section 38.076; (4) reducing electricity use at times when involuntary load shedding events may be implemented; and (5) the procedure for a customer to request vegetation management near a transmission or distribution line. (d-2) A retail electric utility shall periodically provide with bills sent to retail customers of the utility information about the procedure for a customer to request vegetation management near a transmission or distribution line. Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 1579, Sec. 3, eff. Aug. 30, 1999. Amended by: Acts 2009, 81st Leg., R.S., Ch. 648 (H.B. 1822), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2009. Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 426 (S.B. 3), Sec. 9, eff. June 8, 2021. Acts 2025, 89th Leg., R.S., Ch. 564 (H.B. 1606), Sec. 1, eff. September 1, 2025.