The Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUC) is a government agency that regulates the state’s electric, water, and sewer utilities.
The commission oversees ERCOT, the Texas electric grid operator.
PUC employs approximately 200 people who work under the oversight of a five-member board. Both the agency as a whole, and its governing body, are referred to as the Public Utility Commission.
Agency Structure
The five commissioners who govern the PUC are appointed by the governor and serve staggered six-year terms, subject to confirmation by the senate.
Prior to 2021, the commission had only three members, but a massive electric failure in February prompted the legislature to expand the membership and tweak the eligibility requirements to reduce industry influence.
The day-to-day management of the agency falls to an executive director who reports to the commission.
Major program divisions at the PUC include Customer Protection, Competitive Markets, Infrastructure, and the Office of Policy and Docket Management.
History of the Public Utility Commission
The Public Utility Commission dates to 1975, when the legislature passed the Public Utility Regulatory Act to provide statewide regulation of the rates and services of electric and telecommunications utilities.
For the next twenty years, the agency’s primary role was traditional cost-of-service rate regulation of electric and telecommunications utilities. Additionally, the agency issued Certificates of Convenience and Necessity (CCN), which grant the holder the exclusive right to provide retail water or sewer utility service to an identified geographic area.
That system lasted until 1995, when the legislature deregulated the wholesale electricity market. That reform altered the role of the PUC from hands-on regulation of rates to a more hands-off role. In 1999, the legislature restructured the retail side of the industry, further changing the PUC’s mission and focus.
In 2013, the Texas Legislature added the economic regulation of water utilities to the agency’s responsibilities. PUC regulates water and sewer utilities’ rates and services areas, while the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality (TCEQ) maintains regulatory authority over health and safety standards.
PUC also has limited authority to regulate telecommunications, though the federal government plays a more prominent role in that industry. In a September 2020 report, the PUC stated that its “traditional regulatory functions related to telecommunications regulation have markedly decreased over the past decade.”
The agency underwent another overhaul in 2021 after Winter Storm Uri. The legislature tweaked the PUC’s role, but did not fundamentally roll back the market-based system put into place in the 1990s.
Consumer Complaints
PUC is also responsible for offering utility customers assistance in resolving complaints. Consumers can file a complaint with PUC if they have first contacted their provider and allowed them to investigate the complaint.
A formal complaint at the PUC is similar to a court case and may result in a hearing, which is much like a trial. Complaints are investigated by the agency’s Customer Protection Division.
PUC also maintains the state’s “No Call List” for telemarketing.
Address and Contact
- Headquarters: William B. Travis State Office Building, 1701 North Congress Avenue, Austin
- Mailing Address: PO Box 13326, Austin, TX 78711-3326
- Website: https://www.puc.texas.gov/
- Phone: 512-936-7000 | 1-888-782-8477 (customer service)
- Email: customer@puc.texas.gov (consumer protection) | media@puc.texas.gov (press inquiries)
Recent News Coverage
Texas Regulator to Require Swifter Public Disclosure of Power Plant Outages, June 24, 2021
Last Public Utility Commission Member Resigns at Gov. Abbott’s Request, March 16, 2021
