AUSTIN, Texas — The Texas Senate on Monday concurred in House amendments to House Bill 43 84, a bill aimed at reducing regulatory lag for gas utilities by allowing them to defer certain unrecovered costs for new infrastructure and recover those costs later after Railroad Commission review.

Senator Birdwell, the bill’s floor mover, told the Senate the legislation addresses delays that can stretch 18 to 20 months between when a utility places infrastructure in service and when the cost can be included in customer rates. "HB 43 84 provides a solution by allowing gas utilities to temporarily defer certain unrecovered costs, specifically the post in service carrying costs, depreciation, and property taxes as a regulatory asset for newly placed in service infrastructure that has not yet, been included in the rates," he said.

Following stakeholder feedback, Birdwell offered and the floor adopted an amendment that removes compound-interest language and makes the allowable interest simple interest—matching existing practice for replacement pipe treatment—and extended the Railroad Commission’s rulemaking deadline to 270 days after the law’s effective date. The measure preserves Railroad Commission oversight by requiring full review of deferred costs in a future rate proceeding; disallowed amounts must be refunded to ratepayers with interest.

The Senate recorded the concurrence and final passage votes after roll-call and rule-suspension procedures; earlier roll-call entries show the third-reading passage and final passage with two recorded nays on final passage.

Discussion versus action

The floor discussion focused on balancing utility financing needs to maintain and upgrade infrastructure with ratepayer protections and regulatory oversight. The amendment switching to simple interest and lengthening the rulemaking window was explicitly described as addressing stakeholder concerns and aligning the bill with current regulatory practice.

What happens next

With the concurrence and final passage recorded, the bill will proceed to enrollment. The Railroad Commission will be responsible for subsequent rulemaking and for reviewing deferred costs during future rate proceedings; the bill as amended requires the agency to issue rules within an extended timeline and preserves the agency’s authority to disallow costs that would then be refunded to customers with interest.