SF 2182 (LSB 5210XS (4) 83)

SENATE FILE 2182

BY  KIBBIE, OLIVE, GRONSTAL, KETTERING, and JOHNSON

A BILL FOR

An Act modifying provisions applicable to the formation and operation of electric power agencies.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 28F.1, unnumbered paragraphs 3 and 4, Code 2009, are amended by striking the unnumbered paragraphs.
    Sec. 2.  Section 28F.2, subsection 1, Code 2009, is amended to read as follows:
   1.  “Electric power agency” means an entity financing or acquiring electric power facilities pursuant to this chapter or chapter 28E or 476A.
    Sec. 3.  Section 390.1, subsections 3 and 10, Code 2009, are amended to read as follows:
   3.  “City utility” has the same meaning provided in section 362.2, subsection 6, and includes a “combined utility system”, as defined in section 384.80, which operates facilities for the generation or transmission of electric energy and an electric power agency, as defined in section 476A.20.
   10.  “Participant” means a city, electric co-operative cooperative or privately owned utility company, or an electric power agency, as defined in section 476A.20, which is a party to a joint agreement.
    Sec. 4.  Section 476A.20, subsections 1 and 2, Code 2009, are amended to read as follows:
   1.  “Electric power agency” means an entity as defined in section 28F.2 financing or acquiring electric power facilities pursuant to this subchapter or chapters 28E or 28F.
   2.  “Facility”, “joint facility”, “electric power facility”, or “project” means an electric power generating plant, or transmission line or system, as defined in section 476A.1, or a joint facility, as defined in section 390.1, subsection 7.
    Sec. 5.  Section 476A.20, Code 2009, is amended by adding the following new subsection:
   NEW SUBSECTION.  2A.  “Joint agreement” means an agreement of participants in connection with the acquisition, planning, financing, operation, and maintenance of a joint facility, consisting of one or more documents, and entitled joint agreement, agreement, contract, or otherwise.
    Sec. 6.  Section 476A.21, Code 2009, is amended to read as follows:
   476A.21  Electric power agency —— general authority.
   1.  In addition to other powers conferred upon an electric power agency by chapter 28F or other applicable law, an electric power agency may enter into and carry out joint agreements with other participants for the acquisition of ownership of a joint facility and for the planning, financing, operation, and maintenance of the joint facility, as provided in this subchapter.
   2.  An electric power agency may be organized as a nonprofit corporation, limited liability company, or as a separate administrative or legal entity pursuant to chapter 28E. When the electric power agency is comprised solely of cities or solely of cities and other political subdivisions, the electric power agency shall, for the purposes of exercising the powers conferred in this subchapter, be a political subdivision of the state of Iowa with the name under which it was organized.
EXPLANATION
   This bill modifies provisions applicable to the formation and operation of electric power agencies. Such agencies are authorized pursuant to Code chapters 28F and 476A, subchapter II, to enter into joint agreements with other agencies or entities for the financing, acquisition, and operation of projects for the generation and transmission of electric energy.
   The bill deletes provisions currently contained in Code chapter 28F requiring voter approval for a city to join another entity to finance electric power facilities and prohibiting submission of the same or similar proposal to the voters sooner than one year from the date of the election at which the proposal was defeated.
   The bill also modifies the definition of “electric power agency” in Code section 28F.2, subsection 1, to eliminate a circular reference to the same definition in Code section 476A.20, subsection 1, and adds references to the definition of electric power agency in Code section 476A.20, subsection 1, to the definitions of city utility and participant in Code section 390.1, subsections 3 and 10, with regard to the formation and operation of joint electrical utilities.
   The bill expands the definition of “facility” contained in Code chapter 476A.20, subsection 2, to also refer to a joint facility, electric power facility, or project, and to include a joint facility as defined in Code section 390.1, subsection 7. That definition refers to all property necessary or useful for generating, purchasing, obtaining by exchange or otherwise acquiring, or transmitting electric power and energy, which is owned and operated pursuant to a joint agreement. The bill also defines “joint agreement” to mean an agreement of participants to acquire, plan, finance, operate, and maintain a joint facility, consisting of one or more documents, and entitled joint agreement, agreement, contract, or otherwise.
   Additionally, the bill provides that an electric power agency may be organized under Code chapter 476A as a nonprofit corporation, limited liability company, or as a separate administrative or legal entity pursuant to Code chapter 28E. When the electric power agency is comprised solely of cities or solely of cities and other political subdivisions, the bill specifies that the electric power agency shall be a political subdivision of the state of Iowa for purposes of exercising the powers conferred in Code chapter 476A, subchapter II.