Texas Public Benefit Funds for Rate Assistance

Texas' restructuring legislation authorized a system benefits charge (SBC), a nonbypassable fee of up to 65 cents per megawatt hour, to fund, among other things, low-income rate assistance and energy efficiency. A low-income electric discount program called LITE-UP Texas began in January 2002. The discount, now about 17 percent, has been continued for May through September of 2010 and 2011. About 500,000 households were receiving the discount as of June 2010, and funding for the year was set at $119 million. See electric utility restructuring legislation.

The Lite-Up fund and electric discounts ended as of August 31, 2016.