Texas Utilities Code
§ 39.153 — CAPACITY AUCTION
UT § 39.153Title 2. PUBLIC UTILITY REGULATORY ACT · Part B. ELECTRIC UTILITIES · Ch. 39. RESTRUCTURING OF ELECTRIC UTILITY INDUSTRY · Art. D. MARKET STRUCTURE
Statute text
View on source(a)Each electric utility subject to this section shall sell at auction, at least 60 days before the date set for customer choice to begin, entitlements to at least 15 percent of the electric utility's Texas jurisdictional installed generation capacity. For the purposes of this section, the term "electric utility" includes any affiliated power generation company that is unbundled from the electric utility in accordance with Section 39.051, but does not include any entity owning less than 400 megawatts of installed generation capacity.
(b)The obligation to auction the entitlements shall continue until the earlier of 60 months after the date customer choice is introduced or the date the commission determines that 40 percent or more of the electric power consumed by residential and small commercial customers within the affiliated transmission and distribution utility's certificated service area before the onset of customer choice is provided by nonaffiliated retail electric providers.
(c)An affiliate of the electric utility selling entitlements in the auction required by this section may not purchase entitlements from the affiliated electric utility at the auction. Entitlements may only be purchased by entities lawfully able to sell electricity in Texas.
(d)An electric utility may choose to auction additional entitlements beyond those required by Subsection (a) or continue to auction entitlements after the period required by Subsection (b) in order to comply with Section 39.154.
(e)The commission shall adopt rules by December 31, 2000, that define the scope of the capacity entitlements to be auctioned. Entitlements may be auctioned in blocks of less than 15 percent. The rules shall state the minimum amount of capacity that can be sold at auction as an entitlement. At a minimum, the rules shall provide that the entitlements:
(1)may be sold and purchased in periods of not less than one month nor more than four years;
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Legislative history
Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 405, Sec. 39, eff. Sept. 1, 1999.