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in. Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, speaks in the George Bush Presidential
jnference Center rotunda Thursday. Hutchison congratulated Texas A&M
exceeding $500 million in annual research spending.
commission
idopts rules to protect
lectricity customers
ofGazi
unprece*
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Palestr
Med in
By Matt Joyce
THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
AUSTIN — The state Public
tility Commission on Thursday
dopted several rules it said
ould protect customers in a
eregulated electricity market.
loflht'll ul a consumer £ rou P sa 'd the
tiles favor electric companies.
The rules include provisions
protect customers with spe-
lial needs, require customer
ptification when electricity is
ping to be terminated, require
oviders to offer deferred pay-
lent plans and require the
turn of deposits after one year.
“1 think our rules enhance
stomer protection through a
lumber of mechanisms,” said
[aul Hudson, chairman of the
o-member commission.
The vote capped a yearlong
ocess to address problems
countered by customers and
oviders since Texas deregula
tion laws took effect in 2002.
The commission made last-
inute revisions to the 420
ages of proposed rules in
sponse to concerns of con-
mer groups and state
democratic lawmakers.
The commission said it would
t allow companies to verify a
stomer’s credit if the customer
utinely pays his bills on time,
also relaxed credit standards
r senior citizens who wish to
oid paying a security deposit
r electric service.
Carol Biedrzycki, executive
director of the Texas
Ratepayers’ Organization to
Save Energy, said the rules
could be bad for Texans who
struggle to make payments.
‘‘I understand that this is a
competitive market, but we also
need to understand that this is an
essential service, and the
providers need to be a little more
outgoing,” she said.
Biedrzycki said the rules
allow electric providers to wait
four days before restoring power
to a disconnected customer.
“This rule should protect
people in extreme situations,”
she said.
Hudson said the commission
set maximum deadlines and did
not mean to interfere with the
normal business practice of
restoring power within 24 hours.
Biedrzycki also said the rules
do not ensure that electric
providers will restore power to a
customer who catches up on pay
ments after being disconnected.
“People need to know that
when they pay a delinquent bill
they’re not guaranteed restora
tion of the same service from the
same company,” she said.
Kimberly Morgan, a spokes
woman for the Dallas-based
TXU power company, said the
rules send a strong signal that
“customers come first.”
“We’ll continue to work with
the PUC to make sure the rules
are enforced properly,” she said.
[ON
NEWS IN BRIEF
Governor sending team to El Paso
|EL PASO, Texas (AP) — State cost-cutting measures have left
ederly people with little institutional protection from neglect and
^(ploitation, according to a West Texas attorney who represents
ging residents.
|Terry Hammond says his clients have been left to live in squalor
'the state’s Adult Protective Services program, which was cre-
ied to protect them.
IGov. Rick Perry has ordered a review and reorganization of the
Togram after receiving information from El Paso County Probate
Jidge Max Higgs about cases of neglect where the state was
jow to get involved. The report describes elderly El Pasoans
Bing bitten by rodents and living in garbage-filled homes.
I
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779-1324
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