Texas Codes

Tex. Util. Code § 39.102 (2026)

Retail Customer Choice

✓ current as of May 2026

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section TX-LEGstatutes.capitol.texas.gov Justiaon Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

Sec. 39.102. RETAIL CUSTOMER CHOICE. (a) Each retail customer in this state, except retail customers of electric cooperatives and municipally owned utilities that have not opted for customer choice, shall have customer choice on and after January 1, 2002.

(b) The affiliated retail electric provider of the electric utility serving a retail customer on December 31, 2001, may continue to serve that customer until the customer chooses service from a different retail electric provider, an electric cooperative offering customer choice, or a municipally owned utility offering customer choice.

(c) An electric utility that has in effect a systemwide freeze for residential and commercial customers in effect September 1, 1997, extending beyond December 31, 2001, that has been found by a regulatory authority to be in the public interest is not subject to this chapter. At the expiration of the utility's freeze period, the utility shall be subject to this chapter and, at that time, has no claim for stranded cost recovery.

(d) The commission shall oversee the compliance with this chapter by electric utilities that were not subject to this chapter before September 1, 2003, and in so doing shall establish schedules and procedures and require commission approvals as it deems necessary to achieve the objectives of this chapter. This subsection does not apply to an electric utility to which Subsection (c) applies.

(e) In establishing a schedule under Subsection (d), the commission shall consider:

(1) the effect of customer choice on the reliability of service provided by the electric utility;

(2) whether the electric utility's service area is located in more than one power region;

(3) whether any applicable power region has been certified as a qualifying power region under Section 39.152(a);

(4) whether other electric utilities in the power region offer retail customer choice; and

(5) any other relevant factor.

Added by Acts 1999, 76th Leg., ch. 405, Sec. 39, eff. Sept. 1, 1999. Amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 1327, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 2003.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 7 cases, 2007–2009 · leading case: CenterPoint Energy Houston Elec., LLC v. Gulf Coast Coalition of Cities, 252 S.W.3d 1 (Tex. App. 2008).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

CenterPoint Energy Houston Elec., LLC v. Gulf Coast Coalition of Cities, 252 S.W.3d 1 (Tex. App. 2008). · cites it 2× “Tex. Util. Code Ann. § 39.102 . During the interim period, the Commission took steps to prepare for the start of competition, including freezing retail rates.”

AEP Texas Cent. Co. v. Pub. Util. Comm'n, 286 S.W.3d 450 (Tex. App. 2009). “Compare Tex. Util.Code Ann. § 39.102(b) (Vernon 2007), and id.”

Centerpoint Energy Houston Elec., LLC & Texas Genco, LP // Cross Gulf Coast Coalition of Cities, Houston Council for Health & Educ., City of Houston, Coalition of Cities v. Pub. Util. Comm'n of Texas, Off. of Pub. Util. Couns., Gulf Coast Coalition of Cities, City of Houston, Texas Indus. Energy Consumers, Houston Council for Health & Educ., State of Texas, Occidental Power Mktg., L.P. (Tex. App. 2007). · cites it 2× “See Tex. Util. Code Ann. § 39.102 (a)-(b). After the deregulation process was completed, the power-generation and retail electric markets would be subject to the "normal forces of competition" and "customer choices," but the transmission-and-distribution utilities would remain…”

Centerpoint Energy Houston Elec., LLC & Texas Genco, LP // Cross Gulf Coast Coalition of Cities, Houston Council for Health & Educ., City of Houston, Coalition of Cities v. Pub. Util. Comm'n of Texas, Off. of Pub. Util. Couns., Gulf Coast Coalition of Cities, City of Houston, Texas Indus. Energy Consumers, Houston Council for Health & Educ., State of Texas, Occidental Power Mktg., L.P. (Tex. App. 2007). · cites it 2× “See Tex. Util. Code Ann. § 39.102 (a)-(b). After the deregulation process was completed, the power-generation and retail electric markets would be subject to the “normal forces of competition” and “customer choices,” but the transmission-and-distribution utilities would remain…”

Centerpoint Energy Houston Elec., LLC & Texas Genco, LP // Cross Gulf Coast Coalition of Cities, Houston Council for Health & Educ., City of Houston, Coalition of Cities v. Pub. Util. Comm'n of Texas, Off. of Pub. Util. Couns., Gulf Coast Coalition of Cities, City of Houston, Texas Indus. Energy Consumers, Houston Council for Health & Educ., State of Texas, Occidental Power Mktg., L.P. (Tex. App. 2008). · cites it 2× “See Tex. Util. Code Ann. § 39.102 (a)-(b). 4 After the deregulation process was completed, the power-generation and retail electric markets would be subject to the “normal forces of competition” and “customer choices,” but the transmission-and-distribution utilities would remain…”

Centerpoint Energy Houston Elec., LLC & Texas Genco, LP // Cross Gulf Coast Coalition of Cities, Houston Council for Health & Educ., City of Houston, Coalition of Cities v. Pub. Util. Comm'n of Texas, Off. of Pub. Util. Couns., Gulf Coast Coalition of Cities, City of Houston, Texas Indus. Energy Consumers, Houston Council for Health & Educ., State of Texas, Occidental Power Mktg., L.P. (Tex. App. 2008). · cites it 2× “See Tex. Util. Code Ann. § 39.102 (a)-(b). After the deregulation process was completed, the power-generation and retail electric markets would be subject to the "normal forces of competition" and "customer choices," but the transmission-and-distribution utilities would remain…”

AEP Texas Cent. Co. v. Pub. Util. Comm'n of Texas (Tex. App. 2008). “Compare Tex. Util. Code Ann. § 39.102 (b) (Vernon 2007), and id.”

— Tex. Util. Code § 39.102(a) — 1 case

CenterPoint Energy Houston Elec., LLC v. Gulf Coast Coalition of Cities, 252 S.W.3d 1 (Tex. App. 2008). “Tex. Util. Code Ann. § 39.102 . During the interim period, the Commission took steps to prepare for the start of competition, including freezing retail rates.”

— Tex. Util. Code § 39.102(b) — 1 case

AEP Texas Cent. Co. v. Pub. Util. Comm'n, 286 S.W.3d 450 (Tex. App. 2009). “Compare Tex. Util.Code Ann. § 39.102(b) (Vernon 2007), and id.”

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.