Bill > SB1022

This bill amends the Texas Utilities Code to establish new procedures for electric utilities to recover vegetation management costs, which are expenses related to maintaining and clearing vegetation around power lines. The legislation allows the Public Utility Commission to review and adjust a utility's vegetation management factor (a charge that helps utilities recover these specific costs) through a more streamlined process. Key provisions include requiring timely adjustments of these costs, allocating expenses among customer classes based on actual historical usage, and ensuring that any under-collected or over-collected amounts are recovered or refunded within 90 days (or longer in extraordinary circumstances). The bill also limits protests of these adjustments to whether the proposed factor reasonably reflects expected costs, and prevents challenges to the prudence of the costs during interim adjustment proceedings. Electric utilities will be required to apply for a comprehensive reconciliation of vegetation management costs at least every two years, with the Public Utility Commission having flexibility to establish specific timing. Importantly, these proceedings are not considered traditional rate cases, which provides a more flexible mechanism for utilities to recover their vegetation management expenses. The bill is set to take effect on September 1, 2025.

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https://capitol.texas.gov/BillLookup/History.aspx?LegSess=89R&Bill=SB1022