Records Appraisal Report:
Public Utility Commission
1999 Addendum
Contents of this report
Agency Contact | Agency History | Project Review | Record Series Reviews
Internal links to series reviews
Earnings monitoring reports
Form 10-K annual utility company reports
Related report
1996 Appraisal report
Archival finding aid
Texas Public Utility Commission: An Inventory of Records at the Texas State Archives, 1975-2002
April 19, 1999, Laura K. Saegert, Appraisal Archivist
Agency Contact
This agency contact information was current at the time of the report but may have changed in the interim. Please call (512-463-5455) for current contact information of the agency's records manager or records liaison for these records.
Julie Leung, Library Assistant and Records Management Officer
Public Utility Commission Library
Public Utility Commission
1701 N. Congress
Austin, TX 78701
Agency History and Structure
The Public Utility Commission was created in 1975 by the Public Utility Regulatory Act, House Bill 819, 64th Legislature, Regular Session. The Commission assumed its regulatory duties on January 1, 1976. The Commission is composed of three salaried members, appointed by the governor with concurrence of the Senate to six-year overlapping terms. The governor designates the chair. For two years prior to their appointment, the commissioners may not have served as officers, directors, owners, employees, partners, or legal representatives of any public utility or affiliated interest, and may not have owned stocks or bonds worth $10,000 or more in a public utility, affiliated interest, or direct competitor of a public utility.
The Public Utility Commission (PUC) regulates telecommunication and electric services in Texas. It has original jurisdiction over electric utilities which operate in unincorporated areas of Texas, local exchange telephone companies, and several river authorities in the state. In September 1995, electric and telephone cooperatives received the option of requesting that their rates be deregulated and some have done so. The generating facilities of the Lower Colorado River Authority were also removed from PUC jurisdiction.
The PUC has appellate jurisdiction over investor-owned electric utilities operating within Texas cities and over municipal systems. The PUC regulates local exchange telephone carriers but does not have jurisdiction over the rates of long-distance telephone carriers. The PUC has limited jurisdiction over telephone operator service and pay phone providers, automatic dialing/announcing devices, and telephone solicitors. Initially, the PUC also had jurisdiction over water and sewer utilities. These latter duties were transferred to the Texas Water Commission in 1986.
The primary role of the Commissioners is to serve in a judicial capacity in utility rate cases and other proceedings, including considering requests for notice of intent, requests for certificates of operating authority (formerly certificates of convenience and necessity), and requests for deregulation. The Commissioners articulate policy through the issuance of final orders and rules. The Commissioners hold meetings once or twice a month to consider cases, adopt agency rules, make legislative recommendations, develop long-range agency goals and plans, and set regulatory policy. The Commission has the authority to make and enforce rules necessary to carry out its functions.
Additional duties of the Commission include monitoring the management of all public utilities, conducting management audits of utilities under its jurisdiction, investigating property sales and mergers by utilities, registering telecommunication providers, and encouraging use of alternative energy resources.
In 1995 the 74th Legislature passed legislation which significantly changed the focus of the Public Utility Commission and resulted in a major reorganization of the agency. The legislation provided an option for the deregulation of rates for electric and telephone utility cooperatives, and also mandated that the Lower Colorado River Authority would no longer be regulated by the PUC with respect to its electric generating and transmission facilities.
The Texas Telecommunications Act, or House Bill 2128, directed the PUC to advance the development of competition in the telephone service at the local level. The Commission must protect the public interest while fostering competition and advancement in telecommunications. A key issue in this bill was the opening of the local telecommunications market to competition with the issuing of two types of certificates to new telecommunications companies. The bill brought forth changes in rate regulation of companies and defined policy goals for the development of an advanced telecommunications infrastructure in Texas.
Senate Bill 373 affected electric utility regulation. The bill includes significant changes to promote the development of competition among wholesale providers of electricity. The Commission is mandated to prepare a statewide integrated resource plan presenting demand projections, resource needs, and solicitation plans. It also changes and clarifies matters regarding the regulatory authority of municipalities.
The agency underwent a major reorganization in 1995, going from seven divisions--Administrative Division, Electric Division, Telephone Division, General Counsel Division, Hearings Division, Information Systems and Services Division, and Operations Review Division to three offices--Office of Policy Development, Office of Regulatory Affairs, and the Executive Office. The latter two offices each contain several divisions. The Hearings Division of the Commission was transferred to the State Office of Administrative Hearings, as mandated by Senate Bill 373, 74th Legislature, 1995.
The Office of Policy Development functions as the policy chief of the agency. This office manages strategic analysis and planning for regulatory issues affecting telephone and electric matters, organizes public hearings in rulemaking projects, prepares preliminary orders in some key protested cases that identify issues of significant policy interest, and prepares final orders in accord with Commission vote.
The Office of Regulatory Affairs is responsible for developing the record in protested cases that are sent to the State Office of Administrative Hearings. The office also reviews unprotested filings, develops and prepares for publication amendments to the Commission's Substantive and Procedural rules, and initiates and prosecutes enforcement actions. The Financial Review Division analyzes the operations and financial condition of utilities regulated by the PUC. The Legal Division (formerly the General Counsel) consists of attorneys who manage the cases and rules. The former Electric and Telephone Divisions are now the Industrial Analysis Division (focusing on telephone networks, tariffs, engineering issues, electric generation methods, and fuel), and the Competitive Issues Division (analyzing economic issues, costs, and rates).
Vernon's Ann. Civ. St., Article 1445c-0.
Project Review
I was assigned to prepare an amended appraisal report to cover two series of public utility companies annual reports which are held by the Public Utility Commission in March 1999. This appraisal was done in conjunction with an appraisal of a series of older public utility companies reports held in the Archives and Information Services Division as part of the older records of the Secretary of State. While checking to see if the Public Utility Commission had similar reports, we discovered two sets of similar annual earnings reports held by the agency. The two series we are reviewing are on the newest schedule of the agency as part of one series - Reports, studies, and surveys - raw data. We have reviewed each series separately and given them more descriptive names for our purposes. The series being reviewed are: Earnings monitoring reports and Form 10-K annual utility company reports.
Archival holdings
Secretary of State, Public utility reports, 1961-1980, 6.02 cubic ft.
These are utility company annual reports, dating 1961-1980, filed with the Secretary of State's office, along with associated correspondence.
Previous Destructions
Destruction requests on file in the Archives and Information Services Division of the Library and Archives Commission were checked for the Public Utility Commission and none were found for this series or for equivalent or related series.
Project outcome
We have appraised one of these series to be archival, one to be non-archival.
Earnings monitoring reports - appraised to be archival. Transfer reports of companies which have fulfilled their retention period, 1989-1994 or 95, to the Archives and Information Services Division of the Library and Archives Commission at the agency's earliest convenience. Add this as a separate series to the agency's records retention schedule as:
Title: Earnings monitoring reports of public utilities (or similar title)
Series item number: 1.1.067
Agency item number: to be assigned
Archival code: A
Retention: 3 years
Form 10-K annual utility company reports - appraised as non-archival. No changes need to be made to the agency's retention schedule.
Record Series Reviews
Additional Records Series Review
Series Title: Earnings monitoring reports
Agency: Public Utility Commission
Obsolete record series? No
Ongoing record series? Yes
Annual accumulation: about 3 cubic ft.
Agency holdings: Retained for three years after purpose served according to the retention schedule. The agency has paper copies of the reports from 1989-[ongoing], comprising about 30 cubic ft. Microfiche of the reports is present for the years 1989-1991. The companies currently file copies of the reports electronically and in paper format. Microfiche of the reports is no longer produced.
Description: These are required annual earnings reports sent to the Public Utility Commission by the electric and telephone utilities in the state, including investor-owned utilities, cooperatives, and river authorities. Dates covered are 1989-ongoing. Each report contains the name of the utility, date organized, lists recent changes, names of contacts, number of employees, number of customers, method used to book amortization of excess, list of tax elections, current IRS audit status, revenues and expenses, balance, adjusted cost of long-term debt, weighted cost of long-term debt, stock data, adjusted cost of preferred stock, weighted average cost of capital, weather data (heating and cooling degree days, etc.), customer data, income taxes, sales, and other information pertaining to the performance of the utility over the year. One interesting feature about these reports is that for utility companies which cover more than one state, these reports only provide information about the Texas portion of such utility. According to agency staff, information available in federally mandated reports cover the entire utility's range, making this Texas tracking portion a feature unique to these earnings reports.
Purpose: These reports are required by the Public Utility Commission from each public utility - 16 Texas Administrative Code, Chapter 25, Section 25.73 (b). The PUC has to determine if the utilities are earning within the bounds they are allowed by the agency. These reports are the principal tool used by the PUC to evaluate over earnings of the utilities. The information is also used to prepare summary statistical reports.
Agency program: The Public Utility Commission was created in 1975 by the Public Utility Regulatory Act, House Bill 819, 64th Legislature, Regular Session. The Commission assumed its regulatory duties on January 1, 1976.
The Public Utility Commission (PUC) regulates telecommunication and electric services in Texas. It has original jurisdiction over electric utilities which operate in unincorporated areas of Texas, local exchange telephone companies, and several river authorities in the state. In September 1995, electric and telephone cooperatives received the option of requesting that their rates be deregulated and some have done so. The generating facilities of the Lower Colorado River Authority were also removed from PUC jurisdiction.
The PUC has appellate jurisdiction over investor-owned electric utilities operating within Texas cities and over municipal systems. The PUC regulates local exchange telephone carriers but does not have jurisdiction over the rates of long-distance telephone carriers. The PUC has limited jurisdiction over telephone operator service and pay phone providers, automatic dialing/announcing devices, and telephone solicitors. Initially, the PUC also had jurisdiction over water and sewer utilities. These latter duties were transferred to the Texas Water Commission in 1986.
The primary role of the Commissioners is to serve in a judicial capacity in utility rate cases and other proceedings, including considering requests for notice of intent, requests for certificates of operating authority (formerly certificates of convenience and necessity), and requests for deregulation. The Commissioners articulate policy through the issuance of final orders and rules. The Commissioners hold meetings once or twice a month to consider cases, adopt agency rules, make legislative recommendations, develop long-range agency goals and plans, and set regulatory policy. The Commission has the authority to make and enforce rules necessary to carry out its functions.
Additional duties of the Commission include monitoring the management of all public utilities, conducting management audits of utilities under its jurisdiction, investigating property sales and mergers by utilities, registering telecommunication providers, and encouraging use of alternative energy resources.
In 1995 the 74th Legislature passed legislation which significantly changed the focus of the Public Utility Commission and resulted in a major reorganization of the agency. The legislation provided an option for the deregulation of rates for electric and telephone utility cooperatives, and also mandated that the Lower Colorado River Authority would no longer be regulated by the PUC with respect to its electric generating and transmission facilities.
The Texas Telecommunications Act, or House Bill 2128, directed the PUC to advance the development of competition in the telephone service at the local level. The Commission must protect the public interest while fostering competition and advancement in telecommunications. A key issue in this bill was the opening of the local telecommunications market to competition with the issuing of two types of certificates to new telecommunications companies. The bill brought forth changes in rate regulation of companies and defined policy goals for the development of an advanced telecommunications infrastructure in Texas.
Senate Bill 373 affected electric utility regulation. The bill includes significant changes to promote the development of competition among wholesale providers of electricity. The Commission is mandated to prepare a statewide integrated resource plan presenting demand projections, resource needs, and solicitation plans. It also changes and clarifies matters regarding the regulatory authority of municipalities.
Vernon's Ann. Civ. St., Article 1445c-0.
Arrangement: Chronological and alphabetical.
Access constraints: None
Use constraints: None
Indexes or finding aids required for/or an aid to access? No
Gaps: None, the series began in 1989.
Problems: None
Known related records in other agencies: The utilities also submit annual reports to the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission, known as the 10K reports, which contain some of the same information.
Previous destructions: Destruction requests on file in the Archives and Information Services Division of the Library and Archives Commission were checked for the Public Utility Commission and none were found for this series or for equivalent or related series.
Publications based on records: A brief statistical compilation is Public Utility Commission of Texas. Basic Statistics on Jurisdictional Utilities, Information from Earnings Monitoring Reports; another series is Texas Electric Utility Company Profiles. Of the various other reports produced by the PUC, which are too numerous to mention, several others quite possibly use data from the annual earnings reports.
Series data from agency schedule:
These are considered to be part of the following series because the agency uses the data to compile reports of its own. Because these reports can also serve as a final report and because they have a different retention, i.e., archival, these reports should be listed in a separate series as Earning monitoring reports, as described below.
Title: Reports, studies, and surveys - Raw data
Series item number: 1.1.037
Agency item number: A.GN-37
Archival code: none
Retention: PS+3
Suggested series:
Title: Earnings monitoring reports of public utilities
Series item number: 1.1.067
Agency item number: to be assigned
Archival code: A
Retention: 3 years
Texas Documents Collection holdings: The annual earnings reports are not deposited. Agency staff thought the brief statistical reports were sent to the Publications Depository, but they were not located in the holdings of the Documents Collection. The report, Texas Electric Utility Company Profiles is present for most of the 1990s, numerous other reports of the PUC are present which may contain data found in the annual reports of the utility companies.
Archival holdings: Secretary of State, Public utility reports, 1961-1980. 6.02 cubic ft.
These are utility company annual reports, dating 1961-1980, filed with the Secretary of State's office, along with associated correspondence. The reports provide for each utility the name and address, authorized capital stock, bonded indebtedness, other fixed liens or mortgages on property, floated indebtedness (including all bills payable), value of visible tangible property, annual cost of operating (broken down by maintenance and repairs, salaries, labor, interest, etc.), annual gross earnings, and prices charged the public (for electric light and power, gas, water, street railway fairs, and sewerage). Other documents attached include policies and regulations, procedures for application, etc.
Appraisal decision: These reports provide a variety of information about the public telephone and electric utilities in the state, especially in documenting their financial status and providing information about the clientele served. Although the PUC does use some of this data to provide statistical summaries of the earnings of the companies, the data in these summaries is very brief (see attached summary report) and does not summarize much of the other information found in the report. We have seen in the Archives fairly regular use of the gas utilities reports received from the Railroad Commission, which serve a similar function. Based on the informational value of these reports and possible future public interest in the operations of these local utilities, this series has been appraised to be archival. These reports should be added to the records retention schedule as a separate series as described above.
As far as the similar reports we hold, filed with the Secretary of State, we are retaining them as they were required to be filed by Texas statute at one time and they fill a gap in coverage since the Earnings monitoring reports didn't begin until 1989.
Additional Records Series Review
Series Title: Form 10-K annual utility company reports
Agency: Public Utility Commission
Obsolete record series? No
Ongoing record series? Yes
Annual accumulation: about 3 cubic ft.
Agency holdings: Retained by the agency for three years after their purpose has been served, according to the retention schedule. The agency has paper copies of the reports from 1994-[ongoing], comprising about 12 cubic ft., and microfiche of the reports from the late 1970s-1994. Microfiche of the reports is no longer produced.
Description: These are annual reports of the utility companies required to be filed with the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission, Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Dates covered are from the late 1970s-[ongoing]. These reports contain a brief narrative summary of the utility, general information, and data re: domestic operations and investments, area served, selected electric energy sales data, capital requirements and future financing, financial and support agreements, availability agreements, stockholder matters, disclosures about market risk, financial statements, analysis of financial conditions and results of operations, directors and executive officers, executive compensation, security ownership of certain beneficial owners and management, properties, etc. They provide primarily financial and investment information about the utilities.
Purpose: The PUC required utilities to file copies of some federally mandated reports with them. These are required reports of the U. S. Securities and Exchange Commission, with copies sent to the PUC as required by 16 Texas Administrative Code, Chapter 25, Section 25.73 (a) (1). These reports are produced to provide financial, stock, and investment information about the utilities.
Agency program: The Public Utility Commission was created in 1975 by the Public Utility Regulatory Act, House Bill 819, 64th Legislature, Regular Session. The Commission assumed its regulatory duties on January 1, 1976. The Commission is composed of three salaried members, appointed by the governor with concurrence of the Senate to six-year overlapping terms. The governor designates the chair. For two years prior to their appointment, the commissioners may not have served as officers, directors, owners, employees, partners, or legal representatives of any public utility or affiliated interest, and may not have owned stocks or bonds worth $10,000 or more in a public utility, affiliated interest, or direct competitor of a public utility.
The Public Utility Commission (PUC) regulates telecommunication and electric services in Texas. It has original jurisdiction over electric utilities which operate in unincorporated areas of Texas, local exchange telephone companies, and several river authorities in the state. In September 1995, electric and telephone cooperatives received the option of requesting that their rates be deregulated and some have done so. The generating facilities of the Lower Colorado River Authority were also removed from PUC jurisdiction.
The PUC has appellate jurisdiction over investor-owned electric utilities operating within Texas cities and over municipal systems. The PUC regulates local exchange telephone carriers but does not have jurisdiction over the rates of long-distance telephone carriers. The PUC has limited jurisdiction over telephone operator service and pay phone providers, automatic dialing/announcing devices, and telephone solicitors. Initially, the PUC also had jurisdiction over water and sewer utilities. These latter duties were transferred to the Texas Water Commission in 1986.
The primary role of the Commissioners is to serve in a judicial capacity in utility rate cases and other proceedings, including considering requests for notice of intent, requests for certificates of operating authority (formerly certificates of convenience and necessity), and requests for deregulation. The Commissioners articulate policy through the issuance of final orders and rules. The Commissioners hold meetings once or twice a month to consider cases, adopt agency rules, make legislative recommendations, develop long-range agency goals and plans, and set regulatory policy. The Commission has the authority to make and enforce rules necessary to carry out its functions.
Additional duties of the Commission include monitoring the management of all public utilities, conducting management audits of utilities under its jurisdiction, investigating property sales and mergers by utilities, registering telecommunication providers, and encouraging use of alternative energy resources.
In 1995 the 74th Legislature passed legislation which significantly changed the focus of the Public Utility Commission and resulted in a major reorganization of the agency. The legislation provided an option for the deregulation of rates for electric and telephone utility cooperatives, and also mandated that the Lower Colorado River Authority would no longer be regulated by the PUC with respect to its electric generating and transmission facilities.
The Texas Telecommunications Act, or House Bill 2128, directed the PUC to advance the development of competition in the telephone service at the local level. The Commission must protect the public interest while fostering competition and advancement in telecommunications. A key issue in this bill was the opening of the local telecommunications market to competition with the issuing of two types of certificates to new telecommunications companies. The bill brought forth changes in rate regulation of companies and defined policy goals for the development of an advanced telecommunications infrastructure in Texas.
Senate Bill 373 affected electric utility regulation. The bill includes significant changes to promote the development of competition among wholesale providers of electricity. The Commission is mandated to prepare a statewide integrated resource plan presenting demand projections, resource needs, and solicitation plans. It also changes and clarifies matters regarding the regulatory authority of municipalities.
Vernon's Ann. Civ. St., Article 1445c-0.
Arrangement: Chronological and alphabetical.
Access constraints: None
Use constraints: None
Indexes or finding aids required for/or an aid to access? No
Gaps: None present at the agency prior to the late 1970s. The Archives holds similar reports from 1961-1980.
Problems: None
Known related records in other agencies: These reports are filed with the U. S. Security and Exchange Commission, and are posted on their website.
Previous destructions: Destruction requests on file in the Archives and Information Services Division of the Library and Archives Commission were checked for the Public Utility Commission and none were found for this series or for equivalent or related series.
Publications based on records: Published title of the reports is : Annual report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 or Transition Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15 (d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
Series data from agency schedule:
Title: Reports, studies, and surveys - Raw data
Series item number: 1.1.037
Agency item number: A.GN-37
Archival code: none
Retention: PS+3
Texas Documents Collection holdings: None
Archival holdings: Secretary of State, Public utility reports, 1961-1980, 6.02 cubic ft.
These are utility company annual reports, dating 1961-1980, filed with the Secretary of State's office, along with associated correspondence. The reports provide for each utility the name and address, authorized capital stock, bonded indebtedness, other fixed liens or mortgages on property, floated indebtedness (including all bills payable), value of visible tangible property, annual cost of operating (broken down by maintenance and repairs, salaries, labor, interest, etc.), annual gross earnings, and prices charged the public (for electric light and power, gas, water, street railway fairs, and sewerage). Other documents attached include policies and regulations, procedures for application, etc.
Appraisal decision: These reports are created to serve a federal mandate and are filed with a federal agency. Although they provide some financial information about the utility companies, similar information is also available in the other series of annual reports, the Earnings monitoring reports, described separately, which has been appraised as archival. We do not need to acquire these 10-K reports since they are filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and duplicate some of the information. In talking with agency staff about the value of these two sets of reports, the Earnings monitoring reports are of more value to the agency and some staff felt they provided a better overall summary picture of the annual activities of the companies. The 10-K reports seem to focus more on stock, investments, and other financial concerns. This series has been appraised to be non-archival. As far as the similar reports we hold, we are retaining them as they were required to be filed by Texas statute at one time and they fill a gap in coverage since the Earnings monitoring reports didn't begin until 1989.