In addition to the City’s power to buy, construct, lease, maintain, operate and regulate public utilities and to manufacture, distribute and sell the output of such utility operations, the City shall have such further powers as may now or hereafter be granted under the Constitution and laws of the State of Texas.
(Amended May 6, 2017; Amended May 1, 2021)
The City Council shall have power to grant, amend, renew or extend by ordinance all franchises of all public utilities of every character including any person, business or corporation providing cable television or community antenna television service, operating within the City, and for such purposes is granted full power. No public utility franchise shall be transferable except to persons, firms or corporations taking all or substantially all of the holder’s business in the City and except with the approval of the City Council expressed by ordinance. No franchise shall be granted for an indeterminate term. No exclusive franchise shall ever be granted.
In determining the just compensation to be paid by the City for public utility property which the City may acquire by condemnation or otherwise, nothing shall be included as to the value of any franchise granted by the City.
All grants, renewals, extensions or amendments to public utility franchises, whether it be so provided in the ordinance or not, shall be subject to the right of the City to:
a) 
repeal the same by ordinance at any time for failure to begin construction or operation within the time prescribed or for failure otherwise to comply with the terms of the franchise, such power to be exercised only after due notice and hearing;
b) 
require an adequate and reasonable extension of plant and service, and the maintenance of the plant and fixtures at the standard necessary to render the highest reasonable quality of utility service to the public;
c) 
establish reasonable standards of service and quality of products and prevent unjust discrimination in service or rates;
d) 
prescribe the form of accounts kept by each such utility. If the franchise or ordinance does not prescribe the form of accounts kept by each utility, then it shall keep its accounts in accordance with the utility system of accounts for said utility prescribed by the appropriate state and/or Federal utility regulatory agencies;
e) 
examine and audit the accounts and other records of any such utility at any time and to require annual and other reports, including reports on local operations by each such public utility;
f) 
impose such reasonable regulations and restrictions as may be deemed desirable or conducive to the safety, welfare and accommodation of the public;
g) 
adopt procedural rules and regulations dealing with public utilities which shall conform to the requirements of the appropriate state regulatory agencies; and
h) 
prescribe penalties for noncompliance with any provision of this Article or the ordinances pertaining to franchises, public utilities, public services and proprietary enterprises.
(Amended May 6, 2017)
The consent of abutting and adjacent property owners shall not be required for the construction, extension, maintenance or operation of any public utility, but nothing in this Charter or in any franchise granted thereunder shall ever be construed to deprive any such property owners of any right of action for damage or injury to property as now or hereafter provided by law.
All extensions of public utilities within the City limits shall become a part of the aggregate property of the public utility, shall be operated as such, and shall be subject to all the obligations and reserved rights contained in this Charter and in any original grant hereafter made. The right to use and maintain any extension shall terminate with the original grant. In case of an extension of public utility operated under a franchise hereafter granted, such right shall be terminable at the same time and under the same conditions as the original grant.
All franchises heretofore granted are recognized as contracts between the City and the grantee, and the contractual rights as contained in any such franchises shall not be impaired by the provisions of this Charter, except that the power of the City to exercise the right of eminent domain in the acquisition of any utility property is in all things reserved, and except the general power of the City heretofore existing and herein provided for to regulate the rates and services of a utility, which shall include the right to require adequate and reasonable extension of plant and service and the maintenance of the plant fixtures at the standard necessary to render the highest reasonable quality of utility service to the public. Every public utility franchise hereafter granted shall be held subject to all the terms and conditions contained in the various sections of this Article whether or not such terms are specifically mentioned in the franchises. Nothing in this Charter shall operate to limit in any way, as specifically stated, the discretion of the City Council or the voters of the City in imposing terms and conditions as may be reasonable in connection with any franchise grant, including the right to require such compensation or rental as may be permitted by the laws of the State of Texas.
(Amended May 1, 2021)
Every public utility and every owner of public utility franchise shall file with the City certified copies of all franchises owned or claimed, or under which such utility is operated in the City. The City shall compile and maintain a public record of public utility franchises.
Section 11.09 (Repealed by Special Election held on November 7, 2006) Dealt with regulating the price of water, gas, electric lights, electric power and steam heat, and to regulate and fix the fares, charges of all public transportation of every kind, whether transporting passengers freight or baggage, and generally to fix and regulate the rates and charges of all public utilities of every kind operating within the corporate limits of the City, including any person, business or corporation providing cable television or community antenna television services.
(Amended May 1, 2021)