SB 1977 Texas Senate · 89th Legislature (2025)

Relating to the recovery and reimbursement of certain expenses by an electric utility or a water and sewer utility in a rate proceeding.

SB 1977 limits how electric and water utilities can recover legal costs in rate cases. It prohibits utilities from getting reimbursement for expenses related to frivolous municipal legal actions (like unwarranted discovery requests) or conduct intended to harass or delay proceedings. The bill caps utility legal expense reimbursements at $500,000 plus 50% of costs exceeding that amount, and disallows reimbursement for costs stemming from the utility's own frivolous conduct. Exceptions apply if non-utility intervenors (like other groups) cause reasonable legal expenses. This directly affects utilities seeking rate increases and municipalities participating in those proceedings.

Bill status passed 3 of 5 stages cleared

Introduction

Mar 2025

Committee Review

Apr 2025

Senate Passage

Apr 2025

House Passage

Governor

Introduced Mar 6, 2025 Last action Apr 22, 2025

Maddy AI version diff · 1 comparison

What changed between versions

Introduced → Engrossed · 5 edits · Apr 16, 2025

MODERATE

This bill was significantly rewritten to modernize its formatting and update legal expense limits for utilities in rate proceedings. The most important change is increasing the legal expense cap from $50,000 to $500,000 for electric and water/sewer utilities, while also adding new rules about when expenses can be disallowed if a party engages in frivolous or harassing conduct.

Scope change

The bill's scope remains focused on utility ratemaking proceedings under the Utilities Code and Water Code, but the applicability thresholds for legal expense recovery have been substantially expanded.

FISCAL

Increased the maximum recoverable legal expenses for utilities from $50,000 to $500,000, plus an additional 50% of expenses exceeding that threshold.

REQUIREMENT

Added specific rules allowing utilities to disallow reimbursement for legal expenses caused by frivolous motions or conduct intended to harass or delay proceedings.

Added provisions requiring utilities to reimburse governing bodies for legal expenses caused by non-utility intervenors who engage in unreasonable conduct.

Added new subsections to clarify when legal expenses are considered unreasonable or not in the public interest.

TECHNICAL

Updated bill formatting, section numbers, and corrected references to the Utilities Code and Water Code sections.

Floor votes

How they voted

This bill passed the Senate by voice vote (no roll call recorded).

Full legislative history

Actions timeline

Total actions

Key actions

Committee

Apr 22, 2025

Committee

Referred to State Affairs

lower

Apr 22, 2025

Introduced

Read first time

lower

Apr 17, 2025

Introduced

Received from the Senate

lower

Apr 16, 2025

Upper · Passed

Passed

upper

Apr 7, 2025

Upper · Passed

Committee report printed and distributed

upper

Apr 7, 2025

Upper · Passed

Reported favorably as substituted

upper

Apr 3, 2025

Upper · Passed

Vote taken in committee

upper

Mar 25, 2025

Upper · Passed

Left pending in committee

upper

Mar 25, 2025

Upper · Passed

Testimony taken in committee

upper

Mar 17, 2025

Committee

Referred to Business & Commerce

upper

Mar 17, 2025

Introduced

Read first time

upper

1 primary · 1 co-sponsor