(a) Purpose. The commission will set an electric utility's rates at a level that will permit the electric utility a reasonable opportunity to earn a reasonable return on its invested capital and to recover its reasonable and necessary expenses, including the cost of fuel and purchased power. The commission recognizes in this connection that it is in the interests of both electric utilities and their ratepayers to adjust charges in a timely manner to account for changes in certain fuel and purchased-power costs. Pursuant to the Public Utility Regulatory Act (PURA) §36.203 this section establishes a procedure for setting and revising fuel factors and a procedure for regularly reviewing the reasonableness of the fuel expenses recovered through fuel factors.
(b) Notice of fuel proceedings. In addition to the notice required by the Administrative Procedure Act (APA) to be given by the commission, the electric utility is required to give notice of a fuel proceeding at the time the petition is filed.
(1) Method of notice. Notice of fuel proceedings will be given by the electric utility as follows:
(2) Contents of notice.
(3) Proof of notice may be demonstrated by appropriate affidavit. In fuel proceedings initiated by a person other than an electric utility, the notice required in this subsection must be provided in accordance with a schedule ordered by the presiding officer.
(c) Reports; confidentiality of information. Matters related to submitting reports and confidential information will be handled as follows:
(1) The commission will monitor each electric utility's actual and projected fuel-related costs and revenues on a monthly basis. Each electric utility shall maintain and provide to the commission, in a format specified by the commission, monthly reports containing all information required to monitor monthly fuel-related costs and revenues, including generation mix, fuel consumption, fuel costs, purchased power quantities and costs, and system and off-system sales revenues.
(2) Contracts for the purchase of fuel, fuel storage, fuel transportation, fuel processing, or power are discoverable in fuel proceedings, subject to appropriate confidentiality agreements or protective orders.
(3) The electric utility shall prepare a confidentiality disclosure agreement to be included as part of the fuel reconciliation petition. The format for the agreement shall be the same as that contained in the commission approved rate filing package. In addition to the agreement itself, Attachment 1 of the agreement shall present a complete listing of the information required to be filed which the electric utility alleges is confidential. Upon request and execution of the confidentiality agreement, the electric utility shall provide any information which it alleges is confidential. If the electric utility fails to file a confidentiality agreement, the deadline for a commission final order in the case is tolled until a protective order is entered or a confidentiality agreement is filed. Use of the confidentiality disclosure agreement does not constitute a finding that any information is proprietary and/or confidential under law, or alter the burden of proof on that issue. The form of agreement contained in the commission approved rate filing package does not bind the examiner or the commission to accept the language of the agreement in the consideration of any subsequent protective order that may be entered.
(4) A party that cannot view a confidential document without receiving advantage as a competitor or bidder may hire outside counsel and consultants to view the document subject to a protective order.
Source Note: The provisions of this §25.235 adopted to be effective July 5, 1999, 24 TexReg 4998