Senator Eliot Shapleigh - El Paso, Texas

In a slow-moving session, Texas lawmakers are turning their attention to a wave of electric utility measures that deal with state oversight of the industry and improving consumer protections.

The efforts could result in tweaks of state electric utility laws. However, some say the moves this session are a prelude to a much larger legislative effort in 2011.

At that time, the Public Utility Commission, which oversees the state's electric and telecommunications industries, faces its periodic review by the Sunset Commission, which would include a re-evaluation of the utility commission's powers.

"This is a session where we will make modest improvements to the way we regulate electricity in Texas," said Tom "Smitty" Smith, director of the Texas office of Public Citizen, a consumer watchdog group.

Lawmakers heard hours of testimony this week on a variety of electric utility measures, generating discussion about additional state oversight and transparency requirements for the industry.

The state is nearing the 10-year anniversary of when the Legislature voted to deregulate the retail electric power industry.

Deregulation was intended to increase competition and reduce customer bills. Instead, Texas has some of the highest electric rates in the country, according to data from the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

"People are not happy with their electric bills," state Rep. Jim Keffer, R-Eastland, said during a hearing on his measures. "They don't understand why in 10 years of deregulation they are paying higher bills than they were under the regulated system."

Keffer's measures would let Texas cities negotiate power prices for their residents, put new market share limits on power generators and address a costly program to reduce congestion on the state's transmission grid.

That project from the Electric Reliability Council of Texas is behind schedule and over budget.

"These are issues that bear serious conversation and, I hope, serious results in time because Texans want affordable electric power," Keffer said.

Also this week, a House committee heard testimony on a proposal by state Rep. Burt Solomons, R-Carrollton, whose measure would impose new restrictions on when utilities could disconnect service of certain disadvantaged customers and would allow heftier penalties for market power abuses.

Other lawmakers are also pushing new protections for electric utility customers. For example, state. Rep. Dwayne Bohac, R-Houston, is touting proposals aimed at giving customers more information on their monthly bills, such as reminding customers in deregulated areas that they can choose their provider.

Next week, a few electric measures are up for floor debate, including a proposal to expand the Public Utility Commission's authority and another that would restructure the board of the Electric Reliability Council of Texas, the state's electric grid operator.

The Senate is slated to consider a proposal Tuesday that would give the PUC new authority to deal with complaints from customers of cooperatives.

"We could do this with our existing staff," PUC Chairman Barry Smitherman testified before a House committee hearing on the measure.

However, the proposal, sponsored by state Rep. Patrick Rose, D-Dripping Springs, and Sen. Troy Fraser, R-Horseshoe Bay, faces tough opposition from a statewide electric cooperative association. The group supports a competing measure by state Rep. David Swinford, R-Dumas, which designates the state's attorney general to handle such complaints.

Another proposal, sponsored by Solomons and headed for floor debate Thursday, aims to replace the industry-based members of the ERCOT board with directors from outside the industry. That is the practice at other transmission system operators around the country.

For now, Smith suggests that many major issues probably will result in required studies by the PUC ahead of the 2011 session. "I would watch for a lot of the chronic problems to be solved or to come to a head in 2011," he said. "This session, you will see various pieces of legislation that will require the PUC to conduct studies that lead to significant reform next session."