Texas Utilities Code
§ 35.004 — PROVISION OF TRANSMISSION SERVICE
UT § 35.004Title 2. PUBLIC UTILITY REGULATORY ACT · Part B. ELECTRIC UTILITIES · Ch. 35. ENERGY PROVIDERS · Art. A. COMPETITION AND TRANSMISSION ACCESS IN THE WHOLESALE MARKET
Statute text
View on source(a)An electric utility or transmission and distribution utility that owns or operates transmission facilities shall provide wholesale transmission service at rates and terms, including terms of access, that are comparable to the rates and terms of the utility's own use of its system.
(b)The commission shall ensure that an electric utility or transmission and distribution utility provides nondiscriminatory access to wholesale transmission service for qualifying facilities, exempt wholesale generators, power marketers, power generation companies, retail electric providers, and other electric utilities or transmission and distribution utilities.
(c)When an electric utility, electric cooperative, or transmission and distribution utility provides wholesale transmission service within ERCOT at the request of a third party, the commission shall ensure that the utility recovers the utility's reasonable costs in providing wholesale transmission services necessary for the transaction from the entity for which the transmission is provided so that the utility's other customers do not bear the costs of the service. (c-1) The commission by rule shall ensure that a large load customer who is subject to the standards adopted under Section 37.0561 contributes to the recovery of the interconnecting electric utility's costs to interconnect the large load to the utility's system. (c-2) An electric cooperative or municipally owned utility that has not adopted customer choice shall pass through to a large load customer who is subject to the standards adopted under Section 37.0561 the reasonable costs to interconnect the large load in a manner determined by the electric cooperative or municipally owned utility.
(d)The commission shall price wholesale transmission services within ERCOT based on the postage stamp method of pricing under which a transmission-owning utility's rate is based on the ERCOT utilities' combined annual costs of transmission, other than costs described by Subsections (d-2) and (d-3), divided by the total demand placed on the combined transmission systems of all such transmission-owning utilities within a power region. An electric utility subject to the freeze period imposed by Section 39.052 may treat transmission costs in excess of transmission revenues during the freeze period as an expense for purposes of determining annual costs in the annual report filed under Section 39.257. Notwithstanding Section 36.201, the commission may approve wholesale rates that may be periodically adjusted to ensure timely recovery of transmission investment. Notwithstanding Section 36.054(a), if the commission determines that conditions warrant the action, the commission may authorize the inclusion of construction work in progress in the rate base for transmission investment required by the commission under Section 39.203(e). (d-1) The commission by rule shall establish a reasonable allowance for transmission-owning utility costs incurred to interconnect generation resources directly with the ERCOT transmission system at transmission voltage. The allowance must take into account:
(1)the potential to reduce the costs to consumers of generation interconnection;
(2)historical generation interconnection costs; and
…
Legislative history
Acts 2021, 87th Leg., R.S., Ch. 426 (S.B. 3), Sec. 14, eff. June 8, 2021. Acts 2023, 88th Leg., R.S., Ch. 410 (H.B. 1500), Sec. 9, eff. September 1, 2023. Acts 2025, 89th Leg., R.S., Ch. 953 (S.B. 6), Sec. 1, eff. June 20, 2025.