§ 17.002. DEFINITIONS.

TexasStatutes

Ask Donna

How this section applies to your facts.

TX Code › Code ut › Chapter 17 › Section 17.002

This text was captured on Aug 14, 2026. It is a snapshot, not a live feed, so check the official code before relying on it.

Text

In this chapter:

(1) "Billing agent" means any entity that submits charges to the billing utility on behalf of itself or any provider of a product or service.

(2) "Billing utility" means any telecommunications provider, as defined by Section 51.002, retail electric provider, or electric utility that issues a bill directly to a customer for any telecommunications or electric product or service.

(3) "Certificated telecommunications utility" means a telecommunications utility that has been granted either a certificate of convenience and necessity, a certificate of operating authority, or a service provider certificate of operating authority.

(3-a) "Critical care residential customer" means a residential customer who has a person permanently residing in the customer's home who has been diagnosed by a physician as being dependent upon an electric-powered medical device to sustain life.

(3-b) "Critical load industrial customer" means an industrial customer for whom an interruption or suspension of electric service will create a dangerous or life-threatening condition on the customer's premises.

(4) "Customer" means any person in whose name telephone or retail electric service is billed, including individuals, governmental units at all levels of government, corporate entities, and any other entity with legal capacity to be billed for telephone or retail electric service.

(5) "Electric utility" has the meaning assigned by Section 31.002.

(6) "Retail electric provider" means a person that sells electric energy to retail customers in this state after the legislature authorizes a customer to receive retail electric service from a person other than a certificated retail electric utility.

(7) "Service provider" means any entity that offers a product or service to a customer and that directly or indirectly charges to or collects from a customer's bill an amount for the product or service on a customer's bill received from a billing utility.

(8) "Telecommunications utility" has the meaning assigned by Section 51.002.

This is a copy of a public record, reproduced as it was published. It is not legal advice, and it may not be the version a court would rely on. Check the official source before you cite it.

A word about cookies

We need a few to keep you signed in and the library working. The rest help us see which pages people use and where they get stuck. They stay off unless you say yes.

§ 17.002. DEFINITIONS. · Tex. Utilities Code § 17.002 | Frix