ENERGY AND PUBLIC UTILITIES

SENATE FILE 2118 - Public Utilities - Public Road Rights-of-Way
SENATE FILE 2187 - Municipal Utilities and Local Exchange Services
SENATE FILE 2240 - Public Utilities - Proceedings for Temporary or Adjusted Rates, Charges, Schedules, or Regulations
SENATE FILE 2244 - Municipal Utilities and Telecommunications Services
HOUSE FILE 2243 - Liquefied Petroleum Gas Systems - Liability for Injuries or Damages
HOUSE FILE 2397 - Actions to Abate Nuisances - Electric Utilities - Comparative Fault
HOUSE FILE 2541 - Utility Replacement Taxes

RELATED LEGISLATION

SENATE FILE 2026 - Sales and Use Tax on Gas, Electricity, and Fuel - Exemption for Residential Customers

SEE TAXATION. This Act sets the state sales and use tax rates on gas, electricity and fuel for residential customers as follows: 2 percent for the second half of the 2004 calendar year; 1 percent for the 2005 calendar year; and 0 percent, total state exemption, for the 2006 and subsequent calendar years.

SENATE FILE 2288 - Federal Block Grant Appropriations

SEE APPROPRIATIONS. This Act appropriates federal block grant and other nonstate moneys to state agencies for the federal fiscal year beginning October 1, 2004, and ending September 30, 2005. The Act includes funding for the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, known as LIHEAP.

SENATE FILE 2298 - Government Funding, Administration, and Regulation - Appropriations and Miscellaneous Changes

SEE APPROPRIATIONS. Division XX of this Act provides a wind energy production tax credit based upon the amount of electricity sold which is produced by an electrical production facility that uses wind to produce the electricity. The tax credit may be used to offset the tax liability under the individual or corporate income tax, franchise tax, or insurance premiums tax.

HOUSE FILE 2207 - Substantive Code Corrections

SEE STATE GOVERNMENT. This Act contains statutory corrections that adjust language to reflect current practices, insert earlier omissions, delete redundancies and inaccuracies, delete temporary language, resolve inconsistencies and conflicts, update ongoing provisions, or remove ambiguities. Changes made include changes in Code language regarding ratemaking principles applicable to public utilities that add new electric energy generating facilities.

ENERGY AND PUBLIC UTILITIES

SENATE FILE 2118 - Public Utilities - Public Road Rights-of-Way (full text of bill)

BY COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE. This Act provides that a public utility may construct, operate, repair, or maintain the utility's facilities within a public road right-of-way so long as the utility facility does not interfere with the public use of the road. The Act defines "public utility" as a public utility defined in Code Section 476.1, which includes companies that provide gas or electricity, communication services, and mutual or cooperative telephone companies, and also includes waterworks, municipally owned waterworks, joint water utilities, rural water districts, and cooperative water associations.

Division XVI of S.F. 2298 (see Appropriations) amends new Code Section 306.46, as enacted by this Act, to provide that the new section shall not impair or interfere with a city's authority to grant, amend, extend, or renew a franchise, and shall not impair or interfere with a city's existing general police powers to control the use of its right-of-way. The provision takes effect May 17, 2004.

The Act takes effect March 29, 2004.

SENATE FILE 2187 - Municipal Utilities and Local Exchange Services (full text of bill)

BY COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE. This Act requires a city that owns or operates a municipal utility to perform an annual audit certifying compliance with the requirements of Code Section 388.10, which prohibits cross-subsidization and requires the maintenance of accounting records. The Act provides that accounting records relating to the provision of local exchange services are public records subject to Code Chapter 22, except for that information protected from public disclosure under Code Section 388.9, which protects proprietary information, customer names and accounts, or marketing strategies of municipal utilities. The Act permits a city or municipal utility to allocate the cost of use of city resources used by a municipal utility providing telecommunications service consistent with generally accepted accounting principles. The Act provides that the sales price of communication services furnished by a municipally owned public utility is not exempt from sales tax.

SENATE FILE 2240 - Public Utilities - Proceedings for Temporary or Adjusted Rates, Charges, Schedules, or Regulations (full text of bill)

BY COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE. This Act permits a public utility to place in effect temporary rates 10 days after filing an application for a rate increase with the Iowa Utilities Board of the Department of Commerce and posting a bond. If the board determines that the temporary rates were not based on previously established regulatory principles, the board may order the utility to refund any overpayments made by customers.

The Act provides that in proceedings regarding rate regulation, the Iowa Utilities Board must adopt rules to require the board to consider verifiable data regarding the utility's costs and revenues existing within nine months after the conclusion of the test year and that parties proposing adjustments not verifiable at the start of the proceeding must include projected data related to the adjustments in their initial application to the board.

SENATE FILE 2244 - Municipal Utilities and Telecommunications Services (full text of bill)

BY COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE. This Act requires a city that owns or operates a municipal utility providing telecommunications services to perform an annual audit certifying compliance with the requirements of Code Section 388.10. The Act defines "telecommunications services" to include local exchange telephone services, long distance services, Internet services, and cable television services. The Act provides that accounting records regarding the provision of local exchange services are public records subject to Code Chapter 22, except for information protected from public disclosure under Code Section 388.9. The Act replaces the term "local exchange service" with "telecommunications services." The Act permits a city or municipal utility to allocate the cost of use of city employees and resources used by a municipal utility providing telecommunications services based on generally accepted accounting principles. The Act exempts municipal airports from compliance with the requirements of Code Section 388.10.

HOUSE FILE 2243 - Liquefied Petroleum Gas Systems - Liability for Injuries or Damages (full text of bill)

BY COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE, REGULATION AND LABOR. This Act provides that in an action regarding personal injuries or property damage resulting from defects or other condition of a liquefied petroleum gas system, the finder of fact shall consider any negligent act of a customer, owner, or other person installing, modifying, maintaining, or repairing the system if the negligent act was a cause in fact of the accident or condition causing the personal injuries or property damage. The Act defines "liquefied petroleum gas system."

HOUSE FILE 2397 - Actions to Abate Nuisances - Electric Utilities - Comparative Fault (full text of bill)

BY COMMITTEE ON JUDICIARY. This Act provides that an electric utility may assert a defense of comparative fault in an action to abate a nuisance against the utility if the electric utility has complied with engineering and safety standards and if the electric utility has secured all required permits and approvals.

HOUSE FILE 2541 - Utility Replacement Taxes (full text of bill)

BY COMMITTEE ON WAYS AND MEANS. This Act amends provisions of Code Chapter 437A, Taxes on Electricity and Natural Gas Providers, which establishes what is commonly referred to as the utility replacement tax.

The Act amends Code Section 437A.3, subsection 18, the definition of "major addition," to include acquisition of electric transmission operating property. The change allocates transmission line additions of more than $1 million to particular taxing districts. This addresses the current situation where it is possible for a taxing district to receive little if any replacement tax even with the physical presence of a considerable amount of transmission line property.

The Act also amends Code Section 437A.19, subsection 2, paragraph "f," so as to require gas and electric utility companies that paid more than $500,000 in replacement taxes to report estimated replacement taxes to the Department of Revenue by October 1. Companies not meeting the threshold, but expecting a 10 percent replacement tax variance from the previous tax year, would also have to report by October 1 rather than the current July 15 deadline. This amendment also requires gas and electric utility companies to report midyear additions of operating property, along with associated estimated replacement taxes, to the department by October 1, or the time the asset is put into service, whichever is later. Finally, the date that the department certifies gas and electric utility valuations to county auditors is changed from August 31 to October 31. This is necessary to accommodate the two preceding reporting date changes.

The Act takes effect April 20, 2004, and applies retroactively to January 1, 2004.