HSB 217 (LSB 1619YC (1) 85)

HOUSE FILE _____

BY  (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE BILL BY CHAIRPERSON COWNIE)

A BILL FOR

An Act exempting persons or entities owning, controlling, operating, or managing alternate energy production facilities or combined heat and power systems under specified circumstances from public utility regulations.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 476.1, subsection 5, Code 2013, is amended to read as follows:
   5.
  a.  This chapter does not apply to waterworks having less than two thousand customers, municipally owned waterworks, joint water utilities established pursuant to chapter 389, rural water districts incorporated and organized pursuant to chapters 357A and 504, cooperative water associations incorporated and organized pursuant to chapter 499, or to a person furnishing electricity to five or fewer customers either by secondary line or from an alternate energy production facility or small hydro facility, from electricity that is produced primarily for the person’s own use.
   b.  This chapter additionally does not apply to a person or entity who owns, controls, operates, or manages an alternate energy production facility or combined heat and power system that is located on a customer’s property and who provides or sells the electricity or heat generated from the alternate energy production facility or combined heat and power system to a public utility or to the customer on whose property the facility or system is located. For purposes of this paragraph, a customer’s property shall include all contiguous property owned or leased by the customer without regard to interruptions in contiguity caused by easements, public thoroughfares, transportation rights-of-way, or utility rights-of-way.
EXPLANATION
   This bill provides that a person or entity who owns, controls, operates, or manages an alternate energy production facility or combined heat and power system located on a customer’s property who provides or sells the electricity or heat generated from the facility or system to a public utility or to the customer is exempt from regulation as a public utility under Code chapter 476. The bill provides that a customer’s property shall include all contiguous property owned or leased by the customer without regard to interruptions in contiguity caused by easements, public thoroughfares, transportation rights-of-way, or utility rights-of-way.