Office Of Public Utility Counsel V. Public Utility Commission Of Texas

In this direct appeal, the Office of Public Utility Counsel ("Public Counsel") challenges two amended rules promulgated by the Public Utility Commission ("the Commission") as being outside the scope of the Commission's authority under chapter 39 of the utility code. See Tex. Util. Code Ann. §§ 39.001-.909, 39.001(f) (West Supp. 2003). The challenged rules deal with: (1) the authority of competitive retail electricity providers to request disconnection of customer electricity service and (2) the rate to be charged by Providers of Last Resort, the default electricity providers under deregulation. See 27 Tex. Reg. 8428, 8463-65, 8474 (2002) (to be codified at 16 Tex. Admin. Code §§ 25.43, 25.483). Because we believe the amended rules are within the Commission's statutory authority, we will affirm them as amended.