The responsibility for the regulation of water and sewer service, including the oversight of certificates of public convenience and necessity (“CCNs”), was recently transferred from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (“TCEQ”) to the Public Utility Commission (“PUC”), effective September 1, 2014. Senate Bill 567 (“SB 567”) and House Bill 1600 (“HB 1600”) transferred “the powers, duties, functions, programs, and activities . . . relating to the economic regulation of water and sewer service, including the issuance and transfer of certificates of convenience and necessity, the determination of rates, and the administration of hearings and proceedings involving those matters, under Section 12.013 and Chapter 13, Water Code . . .” from the TCEQ to the PUC. Among those duties, the PUC is now responsible for the streamlined expedited release process by which certain landowners may petition to have their property removed from the existing retail service provider’s CCN. This paper discusses the transition to the PUC, the basics of decertification, expedited release, and some of the issues that have arisen since the PUC began implementing the expedited release process...
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