Text of section as amended by Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 512, Sec. 1

Sec. 67.011. POWERS OF CORPORATION IN CERTAIN COUNTIES. (a) In a county with a population of less than 3.3 million, a corporation may:

(1) own, hold, lease, or otherwise acquire water wells, springs, or other sources of water supply;

(2) build, operate, and maintain pipelines to transport water or wastewater;

(3) build and operate plants and equipment necessary to distribute water or to treat and dispose of wastewater;

(4) sell water or provide wastewater services to a political subdivision, a private corporation, or an individual; and

(5) establish and enforce reasonable customer water conservation practices and prohibit excessive or wasteful uses of potable water.

(b) A corporation may enforce customer water conservation practices under Subsection (a)(5) by assessing reasonable penalties as provided in the corporation's tariff. A penalty may be appealed in the same manner as provided for appeal of new customer service costs under Section 13.043(g). In an appeal, the commission shall approve a corporation's penalty if the commission determines that the penalty is clearly stated in the tariff, that the penalty is reasonable, and that the corporation has deposited the penalty in a separate account dedicated to enhancing water supply for the benefit of all the corporation's customers.

Added by Acts 1997, 75th Leg., ch. 166, Sec. 2, eff. Sept. 1, 1997. Amended by Acts 2001, 77th Leg., ch. 669, Sec. 151, eff. Sept. 1, 2001; Acts 2003, 78th Leg., ch. 512, Sec. 1, eff. June 20, 2003.