1998 Summary of Legislation Published by the Iowa General Assembly -- Legislative Service Bureau

ENERGY AND PUBLIC UTILITIES

ENERGY AND PUBLIC UTILITIES LEGISLATION

SENATE FILE 2201 - Security for Damages From Abandonment of Pipelines (full text of act)

BY REHBERG. This Act amends Code Section 479A.12, relating to the financial condition of natural gas pipeline companies, to include damages arising out of the abandonment of pipelines and underground storage facilities as damages for which a surety bond, guaranty or proof of solvency must be provided.

SENATE FILE 2268 - Rural Water Districts -- Agreements With Sanitary Districts, Project Financing, and Detachment and Attachment of Areas (full text of act)

BY COMMITTEE ON LOCAL GOVERNMENT. This Act amends Code Section 357A.11, which provides rural water districts with authority to execute agreements with governmental entities for purposes of managing or administering infrastructure used in the collection, disposal or treatment of wastewater or sewage.

This Act provides that a rural water district may execute an agreement with a sanitary sewer district. In carrying out the agreement, the board of the district may own or acquire an interest in real property; provide for construction, maintenance and improvement of the facilities; and finance all or part of the construction, maintenance or improvement costs.

The Act also provides for a procedure for rural water districts, or rural water districts and nonprofit organizations that operate rural water systems, to detach an area from one district and attach it to another district or system. The petition must be filed in the county where the area in the petition is located. The board of supervisors for the county must approve the petition after a public hearing, after determining that detachment and attachment are in the best interests of the residents of the area. The Act provides procedures for filing the petition and conducting the hearing.

HOUSE FILE 2331 - Public Utilities -- Cost Reviews (full text of act)

BY COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE AND REGULATION. This Act amends provisions relating to the natural gas supply and cost review, and the electric energy supply and cost review, of rate-regulated public utilities.

The Act strikes the following: a requirement that a natural gas supply and cost review be conducted at least annually, language requiring a public utility to include in its natural gas procurement plan a description of all major contracts and gas supply arrangements entered into by the utility for obtaining gas during a specified 12-month period as determined by the Utilities Board within the Utilities Division of the Department of Commerce, and certain specific items the board is to consider in evaluating the gas procurement plan including the volume, cost and reliability of the major alternative gas supplies available to the utility; the cost of alternative fuels available to the utility's customers; the availability of gas in storage; the appropriate legal and regulatory actions the utility could take to minimize the cost of purchased gas; the gas procurement practices of the utility; and other relevant factors.

The Act provides that a public utility shall file information as the board deems appropriate regarding the evaluation of the gas procurement plan. The Act also provides that the Utilities Board is to periodically, rather than annually, conduct a proceeding for the purpose of evaluating the reasonableness and prudence of a rate-regulated public utility's procurement and contracting practices related to the acquisition of fuel for use in generating electricity.

RELATED LEGISLATION

SENATE FILE 530 -- Enhanced E911 Emergency Telephone Systems -- Wireless Communications Surcharge and E911 Administrator (Complete summary under LOCAL GOVERNMENT.)

This Act establishes an E911 wireless communications surcharge, establishes an E911 administrator in the Department of Public Defense, expands the membership on the E911 Communications Council, and provides appropriations for the E911 administrator and for telecommunicator training.

The Act takes effect April 16, 1998.

SENATE FILE 2365 -- Sales and Use Taxes and Exemptions Associated With Providing Water (Complete summary under TAXATION.)

This Act provides that a rural water district organized under Code Chapter 504A shall receive a refund of sales or use taxes upon submitting an application to the Department of Revenue and Finance for refund of taxes imposed upon the gross receipts of all sales of building materials, supplies or equipment used to construct a rural water district. The Act also exempts from the sales and use tax the gross receipts from the sale of electricity to water companies assessed for property tax which is used solely for the purpose of pumping water from a river or well.

SENATE FILE 2368 -- Public Utility Facilities in Local Government Rights-of-Way and Telecommunications Franchises in Cities (Complete summary under LOCAL GOVERNMENT.)

This Act amends provisions relating to a city's authority to grant a franchise to erect, maintain and operate plants and systems for telephone service, and establishes provisions relating to the management of public rights-of-way.

SENATE FILE 2416 -- Utilities -- Property Tax Replacement and Statewide Property Tax (Complete summary under TAXATION.)

This Act generally replaces the current central property tax assessment procedures utilized by the Director of Revenue and Finance in valuing the property of entities involved primarily in the production, delivery and transmission of electricity and natural gas within this state, with excise taxes on electricity and natural gas, and a statewide property tax on certain property of such entities. The Act generally takes effect January 1, 1999, and is applicable to property tax assessment years beginning on or after January 1, 1999, and to replacement tax years beginning on or after January 1, 1999. Effective May 14, 1998, the Act creates a task force to study the effects of the replacement tax.

HOUSE FILE 2210 -- Appropriations -- Energy Conservation Trust Funds (Complete summary under APPROPRIATIONS.)

This Act provides for the appropriation from Oil Overcharge Funds for FY 1998-1999 to the Departments of Human Rights, Natural Resources and Transportation for energy conservation programs and provides for the dissolution of the Energy Fund Disbursement Council on June 30, 2003, and the Intermodal Revolving Loan Fund by July 1, 2019. This Act also eliminates the June 30, 2000, repeal of the Energy Conservation Trust.

HOUSE FILE 2218 -- Federal Block Grant Appropriations (Complete summary under APPROPRIATIONS.)

This Act appropriates federal block grant and other nonstate moneys to various state agencies for the federal fiscal year beginning October 1, 1998, and ending September 30, 1999, and for the state fiscal year beginning July 1, 1998, and ending June 30, 1999. The Act includes more than $18 million in funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program.

© 1998 Cornell College and League of Women Voters of Iowa

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Last update: THU July 30 1998
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