SECTION 291.142. Operation of Utility That Discontinues Operation or Is Referred for Appointment of a Receiver

(a) The commission or the executive director, after providing to the utility notice and an opportunity for a hearing, may authorize a willing person to temporarily manage and operate a utility that:

(1) has discontinued or abandoned operations or the provision of services;

(2) is being referred to the attorney general for the appointment of a receiver under Texas Water Code (TWC), §13.412 for:

(A) having expressed an intent to abandon or abandoned operation of its facilities;

(B) having violated a final order of the commission;

(C) having allowed any property owned or controlled by it to be used in violation of a final order of the commission; or

(D) violates a final judgment issued by a district court in a suit brought by the attorney general under:

(i) TWC, Chapter 7;

(ii) TWC, Chapter 13;

(iii) Texas Health and Safety Code, Chapter 341; or

(3) provides retail water or sewer utility service through fewer than 10,000 taps or connections and violates a final order of the commission by failing to:

(A) provide system capacity that is greater than the required raw water or groundwater production rate or the anticipated daily demand of the system;

(B) provide a minimum pressure of 35 pounds per square inch throughout the distribution system under normal operating conditions; or

(C) maintain accurate or properly calibrated testing equipment or other means of monitoring the effectiveness of a chemical treatment or pathogen inactivation or removal process.

(b) The commission or the executive director may appoint a person under this section by emergency order under Chapter 35 of this title (relating to Emergency and Temporary Order and Permits; Temporary Suspension or Amendment of Permit Conditions). A corporation may be appointed a temporary manager.

(c) Abandonment includes, but is not limited to:

(1) failure to pay a bill or obligation owed to a retail public utility or to an electric or gas utility with the result that the utility service provider has issued a notice of discontinuance of necessary services;

(2) failure to provide appropriate water or wastewater treatment so that a potential health hazard results;

(3) failure to adequately maintain facilities or to provide sufficient facilities resulting in potential health hazards, extended outages, or repeated service interruptions;

(4) failure to provide customers adequate notice of a health hazard or potential health hazard;

(5) failure to secure an alternative available water supply during an outage;

(6) displaying a pattern of hostility toward or repeatedly failing to respond to the commission or the utility's customers; and

(7) failure to provide the commission or its customers with adequate information on how to contact the utility for normal business and emergency purposes.

(d) This section does not affect the authority of the commission to pursue an enforcement claim against a utility or an affiliated interest.

Source Note: The provisions of this §291.142 adopted to be effective January 10, 1996, 21 TexReg 114; amended to be effective December 10, 1998, 23 TexReg 12436; amended to be effective January 3, 2019, 43 TexReg 8617; amended to be effective March 18, 2021, 46 TexReg 1655