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Page 4A - The News - Friday, December 7, 2012
Special to The News
Austin -- Last week,
State Senator Robert
Nichols chaired a Senate
Natural Resources sub-
committee meeting to ad-
dress rising water and
sewer rates from investor-
owned utilities.
Nichols was appointed
to lead the subcommittee
charged with making poli-
cy recommendations re-
garding the rapidly esca-
lating water and sewer
rates for Texans living in
rural and unincorporated
areas of the state.
"The many stakeholders
working with the subcom-
mittee have helped us to
determine that the current
regulatory system is bro-
ken," said Nichols. "The
one-size-fits-all treatment
of large-, mid- and small-
sized utilities does not
work."
It is the subcommittee's
proposal that rate jurisdic-
tion of water and waste
water be moved from the
Texas Commission on En-
vironmental Quality
(TCEQ) to the Public Util-
ities Commission (PUC).
The workgroup has
reached this conclusion
for two primary reasons:
PUC's structure and ex-
pertise are focused on fair
and efficient rate-related
regulation.
Transfer offers potential
benefits by aligning most
State utility regulation
within one agency.
PUC's mission is to pro-
tect customers, foster
competition and promote
high quality infrastructure,
whereas TCEQ's mission
is to protect our state's
public health and natural
resources. Considering
that PUC currently regu-
lates the state's electric
and telecommunication
utilities, it would be a rela-
tively seamless transition
COURTESY PHOTO
State Sen. Robert Nichols (sitting) poses with (from leR) C.A. Cockrell, III, of
Murchison, TAMER Chairman Orville R. Bevel, Jr., and Ivanhoe Mayor Jack
Brockhouse.
to transfer water rate regu-
lation to their purview as
well. This would take ad-
vantage of PUC's regula-
tory focus while also al-
lowing TCEQ to better
focus on its core mission
of ensuring environmental
equality.
Henderson County res-
ident and Texans Against
Monopolies' Excessive
Rates (TAMER) Chair-
man Orville R. Bevel, Jr.,
noted in his testimony at
the meeting, "TAMER
heartily supports the
transfer of the regulation
of water and sewer utili-
ties to the PUC. We also
support giving the Office
of Public Utility Counsel
(OPUC) a role in the
water and sewer regula-
tion. We do not believe
that water and sewer
ratemaking is a function
of environmental regula-
tion."
OPUC helps electric and
telecommunication cus-
tomers by providing them
with representation and in-
terceding on their behalf.:
It is the subcommittee's
proposal that OPUC also:
come to represent water
ratepayers who currently
only have access to the Of-:
rice of Public Interest
Counsel (OPIC) to answer
basic procedural questions
regarding TCEQ.
As Nichols noted, "It is
vital that ratepayers have:
legitimate customer repre-
sentation to stand on their
behalf. A transfer to
OPUC will ensure this oc-
curs."
Participants in the re-
view process have includ-
ed representatives from
key stakeholder groups
such as ratepayers, in-
vestor-owned utilities,
TCEQ, PUC and OPUC.
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