OPERATION OF UTILITY THAT DISCONTINUES OPERATION OR IS REFERRED FOR APPOINTMENT OF RECEIVER

(a) The utility commission or the commission, after providing to the utility notice and an opportunity to be heard by the commissioners at a utility commission or commission meeting, may authorize a willing person, municipally owned utility, county, water supply or sewer service corporation, public utility agency, or district or authority created under Section 52, Article III, or Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution, to temporarily manage and operate a utility if the utility: (1) has discontinued or abandoned operations or the provision of services; (2) has been or is being referred to the attorney general for the appointment of a receiver under Section 13.412; or (3) provides retail water or sewer utility service through fewer than 10,000 taps or connections and violates a final order of the commission by failing to: (A) provide system capacity that is greater than the required raw water or groundwater production rate or the anticipated daily demand of the system; (B) provide a minimum pressure of 35 pounds per square inch throughout the distribution system under normal operating conditions; or (C) maintain accurate or properly calibrated testing equipment or other means of monitoring the effectiveness of a chemical treatment or pathogen inactivation or removal process. (a-1) For the purposes of this section, a reference to a person includes a municipally owned utility, county, water supply or sewer service corporation, public utility agency, or district or authority created under Section 52, Article III, or Section 59, Article XVI, Texas Constitution. (b) The utility commission or the commission may appoint a person under this section by emergency order, and notice of the action is adequate if the notice is mailed or hand-delivered to the last known address of the utility's headquarters. (b-1) Notwithstanding Section 5.505, the term of an emergency order issued under this section by the utility commission or the commission may not exceed 360 days. The emergency order may be renewed: (1) once for a period not to exceed 360 days; or (2) if the utility is undergoing a sale, transfer, merger, consolidation, or acquisition required to be reported to the utility commission under Section 13.301, for a reasonable time until the sale, transfer, merger, consolidation, or acquisition is complete. (c) A person appointed under this section has the powers and duties necessary to ensure the continued operation of the utility and the provision of continuous and adequate services to customers, including the power and duty to: (1) read meters; (2) bill for utility services; (3) collect revenues; (4) disburse funds; (5) access all system components; and (6) request rate increases. (d) This section does not affect the authority of the utility commission or the commission to pursue an enforcement claim against a utility or an affiliated interest.