City of Corpus Christi v. Public Utility Commission of Texas

In 1999, the Legislature substantially revised the Public Utility Regulatory Act (PURA) to bring about a major restructuring of the electric power industry in Texas to allow retail electric rates to be determined by competition. As part of that restructuring, the PURA permits existing utilities to recover “regulatory assets” and “stranded costs” through securitization financing. Securitization is accomplished through a financing order issued by the Public Utility Commission that authorizes a utility to issue a transition bond. The transition bond is repaid or secured by transition charges to…