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Texas Retail Provider To Pay $210,000 Under Settlement With PUC Staff
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Brooklet Energy Distribution, LLC would pay $210,000 under a settlement with Staff of the Public Utility Commission of Texas to resolve alleged violations of 16 TAC § 25.483(j), related to disconnection of service.
The settlement states, with respect to an August 11, 2021, extreme weather emergency, as defined by rule, "Brooklet authorized the disconnection for nonpayment of electric service for 356 customers located in counties affected by the extreme weather emergency to occur during the pendency of the emergency."
None of Brooklet’s disconnection for nonpayment requests resulted in a disconnection of electric service of any customer during the extreme weather emergency, as the transmission and distribution utilities that received the disconnection requests did not complete any of the requests
Brooklet asserts it has implemented the following protective measures to minimize the likelihood of future violations 16 TAC § 25.483(j) from occurring, and will continue to implement such measures going forward:
a. Brooklet Energy has made arrangements with its Customer Information Systems provider to implement several automated processes and validations using National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) data and customer location information.
b. Brooklet Energy has implemented real-time NOAA notifications to all pertinent staff able to adjust automated processes as needed.
c. Brooklet Energy has implemented several monitoring processes to identify potentially protected accounts and ensure compliance.
d. Brooklet Energy’s disconnection process and timeline has been revamped to ensure review of all protected counties and customers prior to release of disconnection for nonpayment requests.
The settlement states that Brooklet will attempt to implement the following protective measures to further minimize the likelihood of future violations of 16 TAC § 25.483(j):
a. Brooklet will contact Oncor Electric Delivery Company (Oncor) to determine whether Oncor's automated process that flags counties based on alerts issued by the NWS for extreme weather events every ten minutes can be shared with Brooklet. If so, then Brooklet will endeavor to implement this system to prevent issuance of disconnection for non-payment requests during extreme weather emergencies.
b. Brooklet will contact CenterPoint Energy Houston Electric, LLC to determine whether the automated systems described in the final order for Docket No. 51972
can be shared with Brooklet and be useful to Brooklet to prevent issuance of disconnection for non-payment requests during extreme weather emergencies.
c. As recommended by a representative at the Commission, Brooklet will reach out to retail electric provider trade associations to learn how other retail electric providers manage their weather monitoring programs to identify additional system and process enhancements.
Docket No. 55106
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June 13, 2023
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Copyright 2010-23 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com
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