199—27.1(476) General information. Iowa Code section 476.2(1) provides that the Iowa utilities board shall have authority to establish all needful, just and reasonable rules, not inconsistent with law, to govern the exercise of its powers and duties, the practice and procedure before it, and to govern the form, content and filing of reports, documents and other papers provided for in Iowa Code chapter 476 or in the board’s rules.
	27.1(1) Application of rules. The rules shall apply to electric cooperatives and municipal electric utilities operating within the state of Iowa subject to Iowa Code sections 476.1A and 476.1B, and to the construction, operation and maintenance of electric transmission lines to the extent provided in Iowa Code chapter 478, and shall supersede all tariffs on file with the board that are in conflict with these rules.
	27.1(2) Regulation of electric cooperatives. Iowa Code section 476.1A provides that electric cooperatives are not subject to the regulation of the board, except for regulatory action pertaining to the following:
	a. 	Assessment of fees for the support of the board and the office of consumer advocate pursuant to Iowa Code section 476.10.
	b. 	Safety and engineering standards for equipment, operations, and procedures.
	c. 	Assigned service areas.
	d. 	Pilot projects of the board.
	e. 	Assessment of fees for the support of the Iowa energy center and the center for global and regional environmental research. This paragraph is rescinded July 1, 2022, unless extended by statute.
	f. 	Filing of alternative energy purchase program plans with the board, and offering such programs to customers, pursuant to Iowa Code section 476.47.
	g. 	Disconnection of service and winter moratorium pursuant to Iowa Code sections 476.20(1) through 476.20(4).
	h. 	Discrimination against renewable energy pursuant to Iowa Code section 476.21.
	i. 	Civil penalties pursuant to Iowa Code section 476.51.
	j. 	Annual energy costs to be provided pursuant to Iowa Code section 476.56.
	k. 	Energy-efficient lighting pursuant to Iowa Code section 476.62.
	l. 	Customer contribution fund pursuant to Iowa Code section 476.66.
	m. 	Certification requirements for electric power generation and transmission pursuant to Iowa Code chapter 476A, to the extent applicable.
	n. 	Franchise requirements for electric transmission lines pursuant to Iowa Code chapter 478, to the extent applicable.
	o. 	Prohibition against the making or granting of any unreasonable preferences or advantages as to rates or services to any person or subjecting any person to any unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage pursuant to Iowa Code section 476.1A(3).
	27.1(3) Regulation of municipal electric utilities. Iowa Code section 476.1B provides that municipal electric utilities are not subject to regulation by the board under Iowa Code chapter 476 unless otherwise specifically provided by statute, except for regulatory action pertaining to the following:
	a. 	Assessment of fees for the support of the board and the office of consumer advocate.
	b. 	Safety standards.
	c. 	Assigned areas of service as set forth in Iowa Code sections 476.22 through 476.26.
	d. 	Civil penalties pursuant to Iowa Code section 476.51.
	e. 	Disconnection of service in Iowa Code sections 476.20(1) through 476.20(4).
	f. 	Encouragement of alternative energy production facilities pursuant to Iowa Code sections 476.41 through 476.45.
	g. 	Annual energy costs to be provided pursuant to Iowa Code section 476.56.
	h. 	Energy-efficient lighting pursuant to Iowa Code section 476.62.
	i. 	Customer contribution fund pursuant to Iowa Code section 476.66.
	j. 	Assessment of fees for the support of the Iowa energy center and the center for global and regional environmental research. This paragraph is rescinded July 1, 2022, unless extended by statute.
	k. 	Electric power agencies, as defined in Iowa Code chapter 28F and section 390.9, that include as a member a city or municipally owned utility that builds transmission facilities after July 1, 2001, are subject to applicable transmission reliability rules or standards adopted by the board for those facilities.
	l. 	Filing alternative energy purchase program plans with the board, and offering such programs to customers pursuant to Iowa Code section 476.47.
	m. 	Iowa Code chapters 476A and 478, to the extent applicable.
	27.1(4) Definitions. The following words and terms, when used in these rules, shall have the meanings indicated below:
“Board” means the utilities board.
“Capacity” means the instantaneous rate at which energy can be delivered, received, or transferred, measured in kilowatts.
“Complaint,” as used in these rules, means a statement or question by any person, whether a utility customer or not, alleging a wrong, grievance, injury, dissatisfaction, illegal action or procedure, dangerous condition or action, or obligation of an electric cooperative or municipal electric utility.
“Customer” means any person, firm, association, or corporation; any agency of the federal, state or local government; or any legal entity responsible by law for payment for the electric service or heat from the electric cooperative or municipal electric utility.
“Delinquent” or “delinquency” means an account for which a service bill or service payment agreement bill has not been paid in full on or before the last day for timely payment.
“Distribution line” means any single or multiphase electric power line operating at nominal voltage in either of the following ranges: 2,000 to 26,000 volts between ungrounded conductors or 1,155 to 15,000 volts between grounded and ungrounded conductors, regardless of the functional service provided by the line.
“Electric plant” includes all real estate, fixtures and property owned, controlled, operated or managed in connection with or to facilitate production, generation, transmission, or distribution, in providing electric service or heat by an electric utility.
“Electric service” means furnishing electricity to the public for compensation for use as heat, light, power, or energy.
“Energy” means electric energy measured in kilowatt hours.
“Engineering standards” means standards adopted by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), or the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Rural Utilities Service (RUS), or similar type of engineering organizations or engineering standards adopted by the board.
“Major event” means when an event results in extensive physical damage to transmission or distribution facilities within an electric cooperative or municipal electric utility’s operating area due to unusually severe and abnormal weather or event and:
	1.	Wind speed exceeds 90 mph for the affected area, or
	2.	One-half inch of ice is present and wind speed exceeds 40 mph for the affected area, or
	3.	Ten percent of the affected area total customer count is incurring a loss of service for a length of time to exceed five hours, or
	4.	20,000 customers in a metropolitan area are incurring a loss of service for a length of time to exceed five hours, or
	5.	A regional transmission organization or independent system operator declares an energy emergency alert that the organization can no longer provide expected energy requirements or has lower than required reserves, implements procedures up to shedding load, declares a maximum generation warning, declares conservative operations, or calls a maximum generation alert event in compliance with North American Electric Reliability Corporation requirements.
“Meter” means, unless otherwise qualified, a device that measures and registers the integral of an electrical quantity with respect to time.
“Power” means electric power measured in kilowatts.
“Safety standard” means a set of policies, procedures, or specifications formally adopted by a governmental agency, an accrediting agency, or standards developing organization, the purpose of which is to ensure the safe generation, transmission, or distribution of electric energy to customers or electric utilities, including electric cooperatives and municipal electric utilities. “Safety standard” includes, but is not limited to, the safety standards in rule 199—27.8(476), the electrical safety code in 199—Chapter 25, the National Electrical Safety Code, the American National Standards Institute, and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers.
“Secondary line” means any single or multiphase electric power line operating at nominal voltage less than either 2,000 volts between ungrounded conductors or 1,155 volts between grounded and ungrounded conductors, regardless of the functional service provided by the line.
“Service limitation” means the establishment of a limit on the amount of power that may be consumed by a residential customer through the installation of a service limiter device on the customer’s meter.
“Tariff” means, for the purposes of this chapter, the service classifications, rules, procedures, and policies filed with and approved by the board.
“Timely payment” means a payment on a customer’s account made on or before the date shown on a current bill for service, or on a form which records an agreement between the customer and a utility for a series of partial payments to settle a delinquent account, as the date which determines application of a late payment charge to the current bill or future collection efforts.
“Transmission line” means any single or multiphase electric power line operating at nominal voltages at or in excess of either 69,000 volts between ungrounded conductors or 40,000 volts between grounded and ungrounded conductors, regardless of the functional service provided by the line.
	27.1(5) Abbreviations. The following abbreviations may be used in this chapter where appropriate:
ANSI—American National Standards Institute, www.ansi.org.
IEEE—Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, www.ieee.org.
NESC—National Electrical Safety Code.
NFPA—National Fire Protection Association, www.nfpa.org.
RUS—United States Department of Agriculture Rural Utilities Service, www.rd.usda.gov/about-rd/agencies/rural-utilities-service.
	27.1(6) Electric cooperative service rules tariffs. Electric cooperatives subject to the board’s jurisdiction under Iowa Code section 476.1A shall maintain tariffs which are consistent with the rules in this chapter and shall file those tariffs with the board for approval.
	a. 	Electric cooperatives shall file those portions of their tariff or tariff pages regarding matters over which the board has jurisdiction with strikethroughs for the language deleted and underlining of the language that is added.
	b. 	If an electric cooperative chooses to file a revised tariff with provisions which are not subject to board jurisdiction, the electric cooperative shall identify which provisions are jurisdictional either in the cover letter or elsewhere in the filing. The provisions that are not jurisdictional need not include strikeouts of deleted language and underlining of new language.
	c. 	An electric cooperative association may file a model tariff for board approval that may be adopted by an electric cooperative with any revisions the electric cooperative proposes to the model tariff.
	d. 	An electric cooperative may file a revised tariff adopting the model tariff approved by the board. The electric cooperative shall include the docket number and date of board approval with the revised tariff.
	e. 	Electric cooperatives shall make tariffs filed with the board available to all customers.
	27.1(7) Municipal electric utilities service rules. Municipal electric utilities shall not be required to file tariffs with the board implementing the provisions in this chapter; however, municipal utilities shall adopt service rules or other legally enforceable provisions that are consistent with the provisions in this chapter.
	a. 	A municipal electric utility shall make rules or other legally enforceable provisions implementing the requirements of this chapter available to all customers.
	b. 	A municipal electric utility may adopt a model ordinance prepared by a municipal utility association that has been approved by the board.
	c. 	A municipal electric utility shall provide a copy of its ordinance, or other legally enforceable document, that implements the rules in this chapter within 15 days of a request from the board.
	27.1(8) Notice of rate increases. Electric cooperatives and municipal electric utilities shall provide notice of rate increases to all affected customers at least 30 days in advance of the rate increase taking effect. The notice may be sent by U.S. mail or electronically.
[ARC 5865C, IAB 8/25/21, effective 9/29/21]