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Senate Study Bill 3051

Bill Text

PAG LIN
  1  1    Section 1.  Section 476.6, subsection 10, unnumbered
  1  2 paragraphs 1 and 2, Code Supplement 2003, are amended to read
  1  3 as follows:
  1  4    Upon the request of a public utility, the board shall, when
  1  5 required by this subsection, grant the public utility
  1  6 temporary authority to place in effect any or all of the
  1  7 suspended rates, charges, schedules, or regulations by filing
  1  8 with the board a bond or other undertaking approved by the
  1  9 board conditioned upon the refund in a manner to be prescribed
  1 10 by the board of any amounts collected in excess of the amounts
  1 11 which would have been collected under rates, charges,
  1 12 schedules, or regulations finally approved by the board.  In
  1 13 determining that portion of the new or changed rates, charges,
  1 14 schedules or regulations to be placed in effect prior to a
  1 15 final decision, the board shall apply previously established
  1 16 regulatory principles and shall, at a minimum, permit rates
  1 17 and charges which will allow the utility the opportunity to
  1 18 earn a return on common stock equity equal to that which the
  1 19 board held reasonable and just in the most recent rate case
  1 20 involving the same utility or the same type of utility
  1 21 service, provided that if the most recent final decision of
  1 22 the board in an applicable rate case was rendered more than
  1 23 twelve months prior to the date of filing of the request for
  1 24 temporary rates, the board shall in addition consider
  1 25 financial market data that is filed or that is otherwise
  1 26 available to the board and shall adjust the rate of return on
  1 27 common stock equity that was approved in that decision upward
  1 28 or downward as necessary to reflect current conditions.  The
  1 29 board shall render a decision on a request for temporary
  1 30 authority within ninety ten days after the date of filing of
  1 31 the request.  The decision shall be effective immediately.  If
  1 32 the board has not rendered a final decision with respect to
  1 33 suspended rates, charges, schedules, or regulations upon the
  1 34 expiration of ten months after the filing date, plus the
  1 35 length of any delay that necessarily results either from the
  2  1 failure of the public utility to exercise due diligence in
  2  2 connection with the proceedings or from intervening judicial
  2  3 proceedings, plus the length of any extension permitted by
  2  4 section 476.33, subsection 3, then those portions that were
  2  5 approved by the board on a temporary basis shall be deemed
  2  6 finally approved by the board and the utility may place them
  2  7 into effect on a permanent basis, and the utility also may
  2  8 place into effect subject to refund and until the final
  2  9 decision of the board any portion of the suspended rates,
  2 10 charges, schedules, or regulations not previously approved on
  2 11 a temporary basis by filing with the board a bond or other
  2 12 undertaking approved by the board.
  2 13    If the board finds that an extension of the ten-month
  2 14 period is necessary to permit the accumulation of necessary
  2 15 data with respect to the operation of a newly constructed
  2 16 electric generating facility that has a capacity of one
  2 17 hundred megawatts or more of electricity and that is proposed
  2 18 to be included in the rate base for the first time, the board
  2 19 may extend the ten-month period up to a maximum extension of
  2 20 six months, but only with respect to that portion of the
  2 21 suspended rates, charges, schedules, or regulations that are
  2 22 necessarily connected with the inclusion of the generating
  2 23 facility in the rate base.  If a utility is proposing to
  2 24 include in its rate base for the first time a newly
  2 25 constructed electric generating facility that has a capacity
  2 26 of one hundred megawatts or more of electricity, the filing
  2 27 date of new or changed rates, charges, schedules, or
  2 28 regulations shall, for purposes of computing the ninety-day
  2 29 ten-day and ten-month limitations stated above, be the date as
  2 30 determined by the board that the new plant went into service,
  2 31 but only with respect to that portion of the suspended rates,
  2 32 charges, schedules, or regulations that are necessarily
  2 33 connected with the inclusion of the generating facility in the
  2 34 rate base.  
  2 35                           EXPLANATION
  3  1    This bill addresses the ability of a public utility to
  3  2 obtain temporary authority to modify rates pursuant to Code
  3  3 section 476.6.
  3  4    The bill strikes the requirement that the board apply
  3  5 previously established regulatory principles and permit rates
  3  6 found reasonable and just in the most recent rate case for the
  3  7 same type of utility, providing for appropriate adjustments if
  3  8 that case was more than 12 months prior to the filing.
  3  9    The bill also requires the board to issue a decision on the
  3 10 temporary authority within 10 days of the filing of the
  3 11 request for temporary authority, rather than within 90 days.
  3 12    The bill maintains current law which generally provides
  3 13 that temporary rates become permanent if the board does not
  3 14 render a final decision within 10 months after the initial
  3 15 filing date of the proposed rate increase.  
  3 16 LSB 5579SC 80
  3 17 kk/sh/8
     

Text: SSB03050                          Text: SSB03052
Text: SSB03000 - SSB03099               Text: SSB Index
Bills and Amendments: General Index     Bill History: General Index

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