1. (a) Application. This section applies to a retail electric provider (REP) that is responsible for issuing electric service bills to retail customers, unless the REP is issuing a consolidated bill (both energy services and transmission and distribution services) on behalf of an electric cooperative or municipally owned utility. This section does not apply to a municipally owned utility or electric cooperative issuing bills to its customers in its own service territory.

2. (b) Frequency and delivery of bills.

   1. (1) A REP shall issue a bill monthly to each customer, unless service is provided for a period of less than one month. A REP may issue a bill less frequently than monthly if both the customer and the REP agree to such an arrangement.
   2. (2) Bills shall be issued no later than 30 days after the REP receives the usage data and any related invoices for non-bypassable charges, unless validation of the usage data and invoice received from a transmission and distribution utility by the REP or other efforts to determine the accuracy of usage data or invoices delay billing by a REP past 30 days. The number of days to issue a bill shall be extended beyond 30 days to the extent necessary to support agreements between REPs and customers for less frequent billing, as provided in paragraph (1) of this subsection or for consolidated billing.
   3. (3) A REP shall issue bills to residential customers in writing and delivered via the United States Postal Service. REPs may provide bills to a customer electronically in lieu of written mailings if both the customer and the REP agree to such an arrangement. An affiliated REP or a provider of last resort shall not require a customer to agree to such an arrangement as a condition of receiving electric service.
   4. (4) A REP shall not charge a customer a fee for issuing a standard bill, which is a bill delivered via U.S. mail that complies with the requirements of this section. The customer may be charged a fee or given a discount for non-standard billing in accordance with the terms of service document.

3. (c) Bill content.

   1. (1) Each customer's bill shall include the following information:

      1. (A) The certified name and address of the REP and the number of the license issued to the REP by the commission;
      2. (B) A toll-free telephone number, in bold-face type, which the customer can call during specified hours for inquiries and to make complaints to the REP about the bill;
      3. (C) A toll-free telephone number that the customer may call 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to report power outages and concerns about the safety of the electric power system;
      4. (D) The service address, electric service identifier (ESI), and account number of the customer;
      5. (E) The service period for which the bill is rendered;
      6. (F) The date on which the bill was issued;
      7. (G) The payment due date of the bill and, if different, the date by which payment from the customer must be received by the REP to avoid a late charge or other collection action;
      8. (H) The current charges for electric service as disclosed in the customer's terms of service document, exclusive of applicable taxes, and a separate calculation of the average unit price of the current charge for electric service for the current billing period, labeled, "The average price you paid for electric service this month." This calculation shall reflect all fixed and variable recurring charges, but not include any nonrecurring charges or credits, which is expressed as a cents per kilowatt-hour rounded to the nearest one-tenth of one cent. If the customer is on a level or average payment plan, the level or average payment should be clearly shown in addition to the usage-based rate;
      9. (I) The identification and itemization of charges other than for electric service as disclosed in the customer's terms of service document;
      10. (J) The itemization and amount included in the amount due for any non-recurring charge, including late fees, returned check fees, restoration of service fees, or other fees disclosed in the REP's terms of service document provided to the customer;
      11. (K) The total current charges, balances from the preceding bill, payments made by the customer since the preceding bill, the total amount due and a notice that the customer has the opportunity to voluntarily donate money to the bill payment assistance program, pursuant to §25.480(g)(2) of this title (relating to Bill Payment and Adjustments);
      12. (L) If available to the REP on a standard electronic transaction, the current beginning and ending meter readings of non-interval demand recorder meters, if the bill is based on actual kilowatt-hour (kWh) usage, including kWh, actual kilowatts (kW) or kilovolt ampere (kVa), and billed kW or kVa, the kind and number of units measured, whether the bill was issued based on estimated usage, and any conversions from meter reading units to billing units, or any other calculations to determine billing units from recording or other devices, or any other factors used in determining the bill, unless the customer is provided conversion charts;
      13. (M) Any amount owed under a written guarantee agreement, provided the guarantor was previously notified in writing by the REP of an obligation on a guarantee or as required by §25.478 of this title (relating to Credit Requirements and Deposits);
      14. (N) A conspicuous notice of any services or products being provided to the customer that have been added since the previous bill;
      15. (O) Notification of any changes in the customer's prices or charges due to the operation of a variable rate feature previously disclosed by the REP in the customer's terms of service document; and
      16. (P) The notice required by §25.481(d) of this title (relating to Unauthorized Charges).
   2. (2) If the REP has presented its electric service charges in an unbundled fashion, it shall use the following terms as defined by the commission: "transmission and distribution service," "generation service," "System Benefit Fund," and, where applicable, "transition charge," "nuclear decommissioning fee," and "municipal franchise fee."
   3. (3) A REP shall provide an itemization of charges, including non-bypassable charges, to the customer upon the customer's request. In lieu of providing a specific quantification of "generation service," an affiliated REP may indicate to customers that the remainder of the bill is related to generation services, after the itemization of non-bypassable charges is deducted from the total bill.
   4. (4) A customer's electric bill shall not contain charges for electric service from a service provider other than the customer's designated REP.
4. (d) Public service notices. A REP shall, as required by the commission after reasonable notice, provide brief public service notices to its customers. The REP shall provide these public service notices to its customers on its billing statements, as a separate document issued with its bill, by electronic communication, or by other acceptable mass communication methods, as approved by the commission.
5. (e) Estimated bills. If a REP is unable to issue a bill based on actual meter reading due to the failure of the transmission and distribution utility (TDU), the registration agent, municipally owned utility or electric cooperative to obtain or transmit a meter reading or an invoice for non-bypassable charges to the REP on a timely basis, the REP may issue a bill based on the customer's estimated usage and inform the customer of the reason for the issuance of the estimated bill.
6. (f) Non-recurring charges. A REP may pass through to its customers all applicable non-recurring charges billed to the REP by a TDU, municipally owned utility, or electric cooperative as a result of establishing, switching, disconnecting, reconnecting, or maintaining service to an applicant or customer. In the event of a meter test, the TDU, municipally owned utility, electric cooperative, and REP shall comply with the requirements of §25.124 of this title (relating to Meter Testing) or with the requirements of the tariffs of a TDU, municipally owned utility, or electric cooperative, as applicable. The TDU, municipally owned utility, or electric cooperative shall maintain a record of all meter tests performed at the request of a REP or a REP's customers.
7. (g) Record retention. A REP shall maintain monthly billing and payment records for each account for at least 24 months after the date the bill is mailed. The billing records shall contain sufficient data to reconstruct a customer's billing for a given period. A copy of a customer's billing records may be obtained by that customer on request, and may be obtained once per 12-month period, at no charge.
8. (h) Transfer of delinquent balances or credits. If the customer has an outstanding balance or credit owed to the customer's current REP that is due from a previous account in the same customer class, then the customer's current REP may transfer that balance to the customer's current account. The delinquent balance and specific account or address shall be identified as such on the bill. There shall be no balance transfers between REPs, other than transfer of a deposit, as specified in §25.478(j)(2) of this title.
9. (i) This section is effective June 1, 2004.

Source Note:The provisions of this §25.479 adopted to be effective January 15, 2001, 26 TexReg 125; amended to be effective June 1, 2004, 29 TexReg 4756.