The petition process with the PUC is still ongoing and can be reviewed in the PUC's Interchange filing system under control number 55942.
| File Stamp | Party | Filing Description | |
12/4/2023 | Ratepayers | Petition by Ratepayers Appealing the Water and Wastewater Rates Established by the City of Rockport | |
12/4/2023 | Ratepayers | Cover Letter for Petition (confidential filing) | |
12/5/2023 | PUC OPDM | Order No. 1 - Requiring Responses and Addressing Other Procedural Matters December 27th deadline for Commission Staff to file comments on the administrative completeness of the petition. December 30th deadline for City of Rockport to respond to petition. | |
12/7/2023 | City of Rockport |
Messer & Fort, PLLC, of Austin provide notice they are representing the City of Rockport | |
12/8/2023 | Ratepayers | Points of Contacts for Petitioners Siblings Patrick, Kathy and Andrew Kane provide notice they are representing the Ratepayers | |
12/12/2023 | PUC LEGAL | Commission Staff's Protective Order Certification Protective Order signed by Rowan Pruitt | |
12/20/2023 | Ratepayers | City of Rockport Ordinances Rescinding Rate Increase Ordinances No. 1920 and 1921 signed December 13th | |
12/27/2023 | PUC LEGAL | Commission Staff’s Request for Extension Based on proceeding filing, the PUC Staff requested a deadline extension to file comments on how this proceeding should be processed | |
12/29/2023 | PUC OPDM | Order No. 2 - Granting Extension January 10th deadline for Commission Staff to file comments on the administrative completeness of the petition. January 17th deadline for City of Rockport to respond to petition. | |
12/29/2023 | City of Rockport | Response to Order No. 1 and Motion to Dismiss The City motioned to dismiss the PUC review 1) stating the "Commission lacks jurisdiction" because the city rescinded the rate increase and 2) because the City did not receive the "Cover Letter for Petition," the petition "is deficient and, now, untimely," which is laughable as the City received the 235 signature pages and that is all they were entitled to receive. | |
1/10/2024 | Ratepayers | Response to Order No. 1 and City of Rockport's Motion to Dismiss Ratepayers were opposed the City's Motion to Dismiss because the higher rate was still in effect and refunds had not been issued. The Ratepayers also disputed the city's claim the petition was deficient and untimely as it was hand delivered in its entirety to the City well in advance of the deadline. | |
1/10/2024 | PUC LEGAL | Commission Staff's Motion to Abate in Response to the City of Rockport’s Motion to Dismiss Staff recommended the City be ordered to file proof of the refunds. | |
1/17/2024 | PUC OPDM | Order No. 3 - Setting Deadlines February 29th deadline for the City to "demonstrate that the billing for out-of-city customers has been corrected and correct refunds have been issued." | |
2/15/2024 | City of Rockport | City's Response to Order No. 3 and Renewed Motion to Dismiss The City continued to argue the PUC lacks jurisdiction as they have "appellate procedure over rates, not the provision of refunds." The City also stated "the affected ratepayers were refunded $103,873.85 for water service and $23,576.54 for wastewater service," and provided a "Declaration" by James R. Sorrell, Finance Director, stating "all affected ratepayer accounts have been credited with their appropriate refund." No evidence was provided to support this declaration. | |
2/16/2024 | Ratepayers | Petitioners Concur with City's Motion to Dismiss "The Petitioners support the City's Motion to Dismiss. Though we are unable to verify refunds have been provided to all affected customers for the appropriate amounts, we do believe the City completed the refunds and will correct any errors made if notified by a customer." | |
2/21/2024 | PUC OPDM | Order No. 4 - Establishing Jurisdiction and Setting Deadlines March 14th deadline for the City to "file documentation demonstrating the amount that was over collected and proof that refunds have been issued." The Administrative Law Judge also stated why she has jurisdiction. | |
3/5/2024 | City of Rockport | Response of City of Rockport Pursuant to Order No. 4 The City resubmitted the "Declaration" from February 15th without any additional evidence, i.e., "trust us, we did the refunds correctly." | |
4/15/2024 | PUC LEGAL | Commission Staff’s Recommendation on Sufficiency of the City of Rockport’s Refunds The PUC staff stated "there is not enough information for Staff to make a recommendation on the sufficiency of the refunds. Staff recommends that Rockport be ordered to provide the number of affected customers and the calculation for the refund per customer in native format." | |
4/18/2024 | PUC OPDM | Order No. 5 - Requiring Petitioner Response and Setting A Deadline May14th deadline for Petitioners to either "request withdrawal of their petition" or to proceed with the case as the administrative law judge (ALJ) questioned the need to continue processing this petition. | |
5/13/2024 | Ratepayers |
The Petitioners stated they wanted to proceed given the number of errors the City made throughout the process, their attempt to bypass the PUC review and their failure to be transparent with ratepayers. The Petitioners support the PUC's staff recommendation for the City to show refunds at the account level. | |
5/14/2024 | City of Rockport | Response of City of Rockport Pursuant to Order No. 5
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5/22/2024 | PUC OPDM | ||
6/10/2024 | Kathy Kane | ||
6/18/2024 | PUC OPDM | ||
7/15/2024 | City of Rockport | Response of City of Rockport Pursuant to Order No. 7 and Motion for Continuance | |
7/16/2024 | PUC OPDM | ||
7/22/2024 | PUC LEGAL | ||
7/25/2024 | PUC OPDM | Order No. 9 - Granting Motion to Reconsider and Abating Proceeding | |
7/26/2024 | City of Rockport | City of Rockport Proof of Refunds and Re-Urged Motion to Dismiss | |
7/26/2024 | City of Rockport | Confidential Attachments to City of Rockport Proof of Refunds and Re-Urged Motion to Dismiss | |
7/30/2024 | Ratepayers | ||
7/31/2024 | PUC LEGAL | ||
8/1/2024 | PUC OPDM | ||
8/5/2024 | Ratepayers | ||
8/15/2024 | PUC LEGAL | Commission Staff’s Recommendation on Sufficiency of The City of Rockport’s Refunds | |
8/16/2024 | City of Rockport | City of Rockport Response to Commission Staff’s Recommendation on Sufficiency of the City’s Refunds | |
8/16/2024 | PUC OPDM |