By: Flores  S.B. No. 2161          (In the Senate - Filed March 10, 2025; March 24, 2025, read   first time and referred to Committee on Water, Agriculture and   Rural Affairs; April 15, 2025, reported adversely, with favorable   Committee Substitute by the following vote:  Yeas 7, Nays 0;   April 15, 2025, sent to printer.)Click here to see the committee vote     COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE FOR S.B. No. 2161 By:  Hancock     A BILL TO BE ENTITLED   AN ACT     relating to expenses incurred in the appeal of rates for water or   sewer service charged to certain customers.          BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:          SECTION 1.  Section 13.043, Water Code, is amended by adding   Subsection (e-1) to read as follows:          (e-1)  A ratepayer of a municipally owned utility who resides   outside the corporate limits of the municipality and is represented   by an attorney may allege that rates prescribed by the municipally   owned utility are excessive and, if the ratepayer is a prevailing   party in a proceeding for review of the municipally owned utility's   rates, and the regulatory authority finds that a rate increase by   the municipally owned utility had no basis in fact or law, in the   same action the ratepayer may recover reasonable fees for attorneys   and expert witnesses and other costs incurred for the proceeding by   the ratepayer. The amount of the attorney's fees shall be fixed by   the utility commission.          SECTION 2.  The changes in law made by this Act apply only to   an appeal under Section 13.043(b), Water Code, that is filed on or   after the effective date of this Act.  An appeal that is filed   before the effective date of this Act is governed by the law in   effect on the date the appeal was filed, and the former law is   continued in effect for that purpose.          SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2025.     * * * * *