PUC Rulemaking: Comments Due 11/7/2024!

The Public Utility Commission (Commission) is proposing amendments to 16 Texas Administrative Code § 24.233 relating to Contents of Certificates of Convenience and Necessity (CCN) Applications. The proposed amendments will implement Texas Water Code §§ 13.244 and 13.246 as revised by Senate Bill 893 during the most recent Legislative Session.

Under the proposed rule, the Executive Director may make a minor correction to a water or sewer CCN at the request of the CCN holder or at the discretion of the Executive Director without observing formal amendment procedures. The authority is limited to the following corrections: to correct a clerical or typographical error, to correct a mapping error in a CCN, to correct the metes and bounds of the certificated area on a map that was approved in a prior proceeding, or to correct a typographical or grammatical error on a map approved in a prior proceeding. The Executive Director may also change the name of an incorporated CCN holder under this authority if an amendment to the CCN holder’s articles of incorporation or certificate of formation is filed with the Secretary of State and the CCN holder provides documentation from the Secretary of State that only the name was changed in the amendment.

A CCN holder may request the Executive Director make a correction under this section by filing a request for executive correction and including pertinent information relevant to the request. For a request to correct a mapping error, the CCN holder must provide notice to any water or sewer service customers whose retail service will be affected by the correction. For any request, the Executive Director will, in their discretion, determine whether to issue the order in whole, in part, or to deny the requested executive correction.

The Commission is seeking comments that specifically address the costs associated with, and the benefit that will be gained by, implementation of an executive correction authority. 

If you have any additional questions about this rulemaking project or filing comments, contact David Klein, Principal in Lloyd Gosselink’s Districts Practice Group, at 512.322.5818 or dklein@lglawfirm.com, or Samantha Tweet, at 512.322.5894 or stweet@lglawfirm.com.  Comments must be filed by November 7, 2024.