Refund Dollars by Informal PUCT Complaint Category (2024 - Oct 2025)
This dataset reports refund dollars issued to Texas electricity customers by complaint category, detailing monetary refunds associated with billing disputes, service issues, slamming, cramming, and related complaint types. Refund amounts are aggregated by complaint category and represent total dollars returned to customers during the reporting period. All values are expressed in nominal U.S. dollars.
Last updated: October 2025
How to Read This Chart
This bar chart shows the total dollar amount of refunds issued to customers as a result of informal complaints filed with the Public Utility Commission of Texas (PUCT), grouped by complaint category. Values are measured in dollars, and each bar represents a different type of consumer issue, such as Billing, Provision of Service, Discontinuance of Service, Slamming, Cramming, and Switch-Hold. The height of each bar indicates the total refund dollars associated with that complaint category. Taller bars reflect categories where customer complaints resulted in higher aggregate refund amounts.
Why This Matters
Refund dollars provide a monetary measure of consumer harm and remediation in the retail electricity market. Categories with larger refund totals, such as billing-related complaints, suggest areas where issues have a greater financial impact on customers or occur more frequently. Understanding refund distribution by complaint type helps regulators, policymakers, and market participants identify systemic problem areas and prioritize oversight, enforcement, and consumer education efforts. For consumers and researchers, this data highlights which types of issues are most likely to result in financial restitution and where consumer protections play a critical role.
Key Insights
The following highlights are derived directly from the most recent available data in this dataset using standardized calculations. Metrics reflect aggregate refund dollars across all reported complaint categories and are computed from the underlying data. Unless otherwise noted, figures refer to totals within the available reporting period. These highlights provide a concise snapshot of where refund dollars are most concentrated.
Total refund dollars issued: approximately $617,392 across all complaint categories.
Largest refund category: Billing-related complaints accounted for approximately $401,140, representing the majority of total refund dollars.
Top three refund categories: Billing ($401,140), Provision of Service ($89,285), and Discontinuance of Service ($82,815) accounted for most refunded amounts.
Definitions
| Term | Description |
|---|---|
| Refund dollars | Monetary amounts returned to customers as a result of resolved complaints or disputes. |
| Complaint category | Classification of customer complaints, such as billing issues, service provision, discontinuance of service, slamming, or cramming. |
| Nominal dollars | Monetary values reported in current dollars for the reporting period, not adjusted for inflation. |