16 Tex. Admin. Code § 24.364 - Civil Penalties for Late Fees and Disconnections During an Extreme Weather Emergency for Nonpayment

(a) Scope. This section establishes a classification system to be used by a court to impose civil penalties for violations of § 24.173 of this title (relating to Late Fees and Disconnections During an Extreme Weather Emergency for Nonpayment). Definitions contained in § 24.173 of this title apply to this section.

(b) Classification system.

(1) Class C violations.

(A) Civil penalties for a Class C violation may not exceed §1,000 per violation per day.

(B) The following are Class C violations:

(i) failure to timely provide a customer with a one-time notice that complies with § 24.173 of this title;

(ii) failure to include all of the required information on a payment arrangement offered under § 24.173 of this title.

(2) Class B violations.

(A) Civil penalties for a Class B violation may not exceed $5,000 per violation per day.

(B) The following are Class B violations:

(i) imposing a late fee on an affected customer for nonpayment of bills that are due during an extreme weather emergency in a manner that violates § 24.173 of this title;

(ii) including an undisclosed or noncompliant finance charge on a payment schedule issued to an affected customer under § 24.173 of this title;

(iii) failure to offer a payment schedule to an affected customer as required by § 24.173 of this title; and

(iv) any other violation of § 24.173 of this title not specifically enumerated as a Class A or Class C violation.

(3) Class A violations.

(A) Penalties for a Class A violation may not exceed $50,000 per violation per day.

(B) It is a Class A violation to disconnect an affected customer's water or sewer service in a manner that violates § 24.173 of this title.

(4) The civil penalty for each separate violation must be in an amount not to exceed the maximum penalty established in paragraphs (1)-(3) of this subsection and not less than $100. The amount of a civil penalty must also be based on:

(A) the seriousness of the violation, including:

(i) the nature, circumstances, extent, and gravity of the prohibited act; and

(ii) the hazard or potential hazard created to the health, safety, or economic welfare of the public.

(B) the history of previous violations;

(C) the amount necessary to deter future violations;

(D) efforts to correct the violation;

(E) any other matter that justice may require, including as applicable:

(i) the duration of the disconnection, both during the extreme weather emergency and afterwards;

(ii) the impact of the disconnection on the health and finances of the affected customer; and

(iii) the dollar amount of late fees issued to the affected customer, if late fees were improperly charged.

(F) for violations by an investor-owned utility, any other matter that justice may require, including:

(i) whether the disconnection was prohibited under § 24.167(c) or (f) of this title (relating to Discontinuance of Service); and

(ii) whether the affected customer was provided proper notice of the disconnection under § 24.167 of this title.

Notes

16 Tex. Admin. Code § 24.364

Adopted by Texas Register, Volume 47, Number 44, November 4, 2022, TexReg 7411, eff. 11/9/2022