State v. Public Utility Com'n of Texas

in which PHILLIPS, Chief Justice, and HIGHTOWER, HECHT and CORNYN, Justices, join.

These two causes were submitted together because both involve the Public Utility Commission’s (Commission) treatment of various costs associated with the operation of a newly constructed nuclear power plant.1 The ques*193tion presented by each case is whether the Commission has the authority under the Public Utility Regulatory Act (PURA)2 to allow a public utility to defer certain costs incurred during the “regulatory lag” period in order to protect the utility’s financial integrity.3 We answer this yes, and…