(a) Credit requirements for residential customers. A retail electric provider (REP) may require a residential customer or applicant to establish and maintain satisfactory credit as a condition of providing service pursuant to the requirements of this section.
  (1) Establishment of satisfactory credit shall not relieve any customer from complying with the requirements for payment of bills by the due date of the bill.
  (2) The credit worthiness of spouses established during shared service in the 12 months prior to their divorce will be equally applied to both spouses for 12 months immediately after their divorce.
  (3) A residential customer or applicant seeking to establish service with an affiliated REP or provider of last resort (POLR) can demonstrate satisfactory credit using one of the criteria listed in subparagraphs (A) through (E) of this paragraph.
    (A) A residential customer or applicant may be deemed as having established satisfactory credit if the customer or applicant:
      (i) has been a customer of any REP or an electric utility within the two years prior to the request for electric service;
      (ii) is not delinquent in payment of any such electric service account; and
      (iii) during the last 12 consecutive months of service was not late in paying a bill more than once.
    (B) A residential customer or applicant may be deemed as having established satisfactory credit if the customer or applicant possesses a satisfactory credit rating obtained through a consumer reporting agency, as defined by the Federal Trade Commission.
    (C) A residential customer or applicant may be deemed as having established satisfactory credit if the customer or applicant is 65 years of age or older and the customer is not currently delinquent in payment of any electric service account.
    (D) A residential customer or applicant may be deemed as having established satisfactory credit if the customer or applicant has been determined to be a victim of family violence as defined in the Texas Family Code §71.004, by a family violence center as defined in Texas Human Resources Code §51.002, by treating medical personnel, by law enforcement personnel, by the Office of a Texas District Attorney or County Attorney, by the Office of the Attorney General, or by a grantee of the Texas Equal Access to Justice Foundation. This determination shall be evidenced by submission of a certification letter developed by the Texas Council on Family Violence. The certification letter may be submitted directly by use of a toll-free fax number to the affiliated REP or POLR.
    (E) A residential customer or applicant seeking to establish service may be deemed as having established satisfactory credit if the customer is medically indigent. In order for a customer or applicant to be considered medically indigent, the customer or applicant must make a demonstration that the following criteria are met. Such demonstration must be made annually:
      (i) the customer's or applicant's household income must be at or below 150% of the poverty guidelines as certified by a governmental entity or government funded energy assistance program provider; and
      (ii) the customer or applicant or the spouse of the customer or applicant must have been certified by that person's physician as being unable to perform three or more activities of daily living as defined in 22 TAC §224.4, or the customer's or applicant's monthly out-of-pocket medical expenses must exceed 20% of the household's gross income. For the purposes of this subsection, the term "physician" shall mean any medical doctor, doctor of osteopathy, nurse practitioner, registered nurse, state-licensed social workers, state-licensed physical and occupational therapists, and an employee of an agency certified to provide home health services pursuant to 42 U.S.C. §1395 et seq.
  (4) A residential customer or applicant seeking to establish service with a REP other than an affiliated REP or POLR can demonstrate satisfactory credit using one of the criteria listed in subparagraphs (A) through (B) of this paragraph. Notice of these options for customers or applicants shall be included in any written or oral notice to a customer or applicant when a deposit is requested. A REP other than an affiliated REP or POLR may establish additional methods by which a customer or applicant not meeting the criteria of subparagraphs (A) or (B) of this paragraph can demonstrate satisfactory credit, so long as such criteria are not discriminatory pursuant to §25.471(c) of this title (relating to General Provisions of Customer Protection Rules).
    (A) The residential customer or applicant is 65 years of age or older and the customer is not currently delinquent in payment of any electric service account.
    (B) The customer or applicant has been determined to be a victim of family violence as defined in the Texas Family Code §71.004, by a family violence center as defined in Texas Human Resources Code §51.002, by treating medical personnel, by law enforcement personnel, by the Office of a Texas District Attorney or County Attorney, by the Office of the Attorney General, or by a grantee of the Texas Equal Access to Justice Foundation. This determination shall be evidenced by submission of a certification letter developed by the Texas Council on Family Violence. The certification letter may be submitted directly by use of a toll-free fax number to the REP.
  (5) The REP may obtain payment history information from any REP that has served the applicant in the previous two years or from a consumer reporting agency, as defined by the Federal Trade Commission. The REP shall obtain the customer's or applicant's authorization prior to obtaining such information from the customer's or applicant's prior REP. A REP shall maintain payment history information for two years after a customer's electric service has been terminated or disconnected in order to be able to provide credit history information at the request of the former customer.
(b) Credit requirements for non-residential customers. A REP may establish nondiscriminatory criteria pursuant to §25.471(c) of this title to evaluate the credit requirements for a non-residential customer or applicant and apply those criteria in a nondiscriminatory manner. If satisfactory credit cannot be demonstrated by the non-residential customer or applicant using the criteria established by the REP, the customer may be required to pay an initial or additional deposit. No such deposit shall be required if the customer or applicant is a governmental entity.
(c) Initial deposits for applicants and existing customers.
  (1) If satisfactory credit cannot be demonstrated by a residential applicant, a REP may require the applicant to pay a deposit prior to receiving service.
  (2) An affiliated REP or POLR shall offer a residential customer or applicant who is required to pay an initial deposit the option of providing a written letter of guarantee pursuant to subsection (i) of this section, instead of paying a cash deposit.
  (3) A REP shall not require an initial deposit from an existing customer unless the customer was late paying a bill more than once during the last 12 months of service or had service terminated or disconnected for nonpayment during the last 12 months of service. The customer may be required to pay this initial deposit within ten days after issuance of a written disconnection notice that requests such deposit. The disconnection notice may be combined with or issued concurrently with the request for deposit. The disconnection notice shall comply with the requirements in §25.483(m) of this title (relating to Disconnection of Service).
(d) Additional deposits by existing customers.
  (1) A REP may request an additional deposit from an existing customer if:
    (A) the average of the customer's actual billings for the last 12 months are at least twice the amount of the original average of the estimated annual billings; and
    (B) a termination or disconnection notice has been issued or the account disconnected within the previous 12 months.
  (2) A REP may require the customer to pay an additional deposit within ten days after the REP has requested the additional deposit.
  (3) A REP may disconnect service if the additional deposit is not paid within ten days of the request, provided a written disconnection notice has been issued to the customer. A disconnection notice may be combined with or issued concurrently with the written request for the additional deposit. The disconnection notice shall comply with the requirements in §25.483(m) of this title.
(e) Amount of deposit.
  (1) The total of all deposits, initial and additional, required by a REP from any residential customer or applicant:
    (A) shall not exceed an amount equivalent to the greater of:
      (i) one-fifth of the customer's estimated annual billing; or
Cont'd...