SSB 1157 (LSB 1658XC (9) 90)

SENATE FILE _____ 

BY  (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE BILL BY CHAIRPERSON BROWN)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to the regulation of specified gas and electric utilities.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 476.1A, Code 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   476.1A  Applicability of authority —— certain electric utilities.
   1.  Electric public utilities having fewer than ten thousand customers and electric cooperative corporations and associations are not subject to the regulation authority of the board, except for regulatory action pertaining to all of the following:
   a.  Assessment of fees for the support of the division and the office of consumer advocate, pursuant to section 476.10.
   b.  Safety standards and engineering standards for equipment, operations, and procedures.
   c.  Assigned area areas of service, as set forth in sections 476.22 through 476.26.
   d.  Pilot projects of the board Public utility railroad crossings, as set forth in 476.27.
   e.  Filing alternate energy purchase program plans with the board, and offering such programs to customers, pursuant to section 476.47.
   2.  However, sections 476.20, subsections 1 through 4, 476.21,  476.51, 476.56, 476.58, 476.62, and 476.66 and chapters 476A and 478, to the extent applicable, apply to such electric utilities.
   3.  Electric cooperative corporations and associations and electric public utilities exempt from rate regulation under this section shall not make or grant any unreasonable preferences or advantages as to rates or services to any person or subject any person to any unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage.
   4.  The board of directors or the membership of an electric cooperative corporation or association otherwise exempt from rate regulation may elect to have the cooperative’s rates regulated by the board. The board shall adopt rules prescribing the manner in which the board of directors or the membership of an electric cooperative may so elect. If the board of directors or the membership of an electric cooperative has elected to have the cooperative’s rates regulated by the board, after two years have elapsed from the effective date of such election the board of directors or the membership of the electric cooperative may elect to exempt the cooperative from the rate regulation authority of the board, provided, however, that if the membership elected to have the cooperative’s rates regulated by the board, only the membership may elect to exempt the cooperative from the rate regulation authority of the board.
   5.  An electric utility subject to regulatory action pursuant to this section is subject to complaints and investigations as set forth in section 476.3, but only with regard to matters within the regulatory authority of the board as set forth in subsections 1 and 2.
   6.  As used in this section:
   a.  “Engineering standards” means standards adopted by the American national standards institute, or the institute of electrical and electronics engineers, rural utilities service, or comparable engineering organization or engineering standards adopted by the board.
   b.  “Rates” means the same as defined in section 384.80 and includes all charges or fees imposed or collected for the provision of or incidental to utility service.
   c.  “Safety standards” means applicable regulations promulgated by the United States occupational safety and health administration and by Iowa occupational safety and health by the administration. Safety standards for electric utilities subject to this section also include outage notifications, safety standards contained in the national electric safety code, as published by the institute of electrical and electronic engineers, inc., and electric safety standards approved by the American national standards institute.
    Sec. 2.  Section 476.1B, Code 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   476.1B  Applicability of authority —— municipally owned utilities.
   1.  Unless otherwise specifically provided by statute, a A municipally owned utility furnishing gas or electricity is not subject to the regulation by authority of the board under this chapter, except for regulatory action pertaining to the following:
   a.  Assessment of fees for the support of the division and the office of consumer advocate, as set forth in section 476.10.
   b.  Safety standards.
   c.  Assigned areas of service, as set forth in sections 476.22 through 476.26.
   d.  Enforcement of civil penalties pursuant to section 476.51.
   e.  Disconnection of service, as set forth in section 476.20, subsections 1 through 4.
   f.  Encouragement of alternate energy production facilities, as set forth in sections 476.41 through 476.45.
   g.  Enforcement of section 476.56.
   h.  Enforcement of section 476.66.
   i.  Enforcement of section 476.62.
   d.  Public utility railroad crossings, as set forth in section 476.27.
   j.  e.  An electric power agency as defined in chapter 28F and section 390.9 that includes as a member a city or municipally owned utility that builds transmission facilities after July 1, 2001, is subject to applicable transmission reliability rules or standards adopted by the board for those facilities.
   k.  f.  Filing alternate energy purchase program plans with the board, and offering such programs to customers, pursuant to section 476.47.
   2.  The board may waive all or part of the energy efficiency filing and review requirements for municipally owned utilities which demonstrate superior results with existing energy efficiency efforts Sections 476.20, subsections 1 through 4, 476.51, 476.56, 476.58, 476.62, and 476.66 and chapters 476A and 478, to the extent applicable, apply to such electric and gas utilities.
   3.  Unless otherwise specifically provided by statute, a A municipally owned utility providing local exchange services is not subject to the regulation by authority of the board under this chapter except for regulatory action pertaining to the enforcement of sections 476.10,  476.95, 476.95A, 476.95B, 476.100, and 476.102, and 476.103.
   4.  An electric utility subject to regulatory action pursuant to this section is subject to complaints and investigations as set forth in section 476.3, but only with regard to matters within the regulatory authority of the board as set forth in subsections 1 and 2.
    Sec. 3.  Section 476.20, subsection 3, paragraph a, Code 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   a.  The board shall establish adopt rules which shall be uniform with respect to all rate-regulated public utilities furnishing gas or electricity relating to disconnection of service.  The board shall adopt rules with respect to electric and gas utilities subject to sections 476.1A and 476.1B that prescribe the procedures and notice requirements for the disconnection of service consistent with the rules for rate-regulated public utilities, but such rules shall not regulate the rates of such utilities. This subsection applies both to regulated rate-regulated utilities, utilities subject to regulation under sections 476.1A and 476.1B, and to municipally owned utilities and unincorporated villages which own their own distribution systems, and violations. Violations of this subsection may subject the utilities a utility to civil penalties under section 476.51.
    Sec. 4.  Section 476.20, subsection 5, paragraph a, unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   The board shall establish rules which shall be uniform with respect to all rate-regulated public utilities furnishing gas or electricity relating to deposits which may be required by the public utility for the initiation or reinstatement of service. This subsection shall not apply to utilities subject to section 476.1A, or to municipally owned utilities, which shall be governed by the provisions of section 384.84 with respect to deposits and payment plans for delinquent amounts owed. Municipally owned utilities and electric utilities that are not required to be rate-regulated utilities subject to section 476.1A shall not be subject to the board’s rules in regards regard to deposits, rates and charges for the disconnection or reinstatement of service, and payment plans for delinquent amounts owed and repayment of past due debt. Municipally owned utilities and electric utilities that are not required to be rate-regulated utilities subject to section 476.1A shall be subject to the board’s rules in regards to payment plans made prior to the disconnection of services.
    Sec. 5.  Section 592.9, Code 2023, is amended to read as follows:
   592.9  City waterworks utilities and utility boards.
   All proceedings taken prior to January 1, 1961 the effective date of this Act purporting to provide for the establishment, organization, formation, operation, or maintenance of a city waterworks utility or utility board and not previously declared invalid by any court, are legalized, validated and confirmed. All such proceedings are declared to be legally sufficient to create, establish and authorize the maintenance and operation of a city waterworks as a city utility, as defined in section 362.2, subsection 6.
EXPLANATION
The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with
the explanation’s substance by the members of the general assembly.
   This bill relates to the regulation of specified gas and electric utilities.
   The bill provides that electric public utilities having fewer than 10,000 customers and electric cooperative corporations and associations are subject to regulatory action from the Iowa utilities board (board) regarding public utility railroad crossings. The bill removes regulation authority from the board for electric public utilities having fewer than 10,000 customers and electric cooperative corporations and associations regarding pilot projects of the board. The bill provides that such utilities are subject to complaint and investigation procedures set forth in Code section 476.3. The bill provides definitions for “engineering standards”, “rates”, and “safety standards”.
   With regard to municipally owned utilities furnishing gas or electricity, the bill similarly provides that such utilities are subject to regulation authority regarding public utility railroad crossings. The bill strikes provisions relating to waiver of energy efficiency filing and review requirements, civil penalties in Code section 476.51, disconnection of service, encouragement of alternate energy production facilities, enforcement of the energy costs provided in Code section 476.56, enforcement of the customer contribution fund provided in Code section 476.66, and enforcement of energy-efficient lighting requirements provided in Code section 476.62. The bill adds that the board has regulatory authority over a municipally owned utility providing local exchange services regarding Code section 476.10, relating to investigations, and Code section 476.103, relating to unauthorized change in service. The bill provides that disconnection of services in Code section 476.20, subsections 1 through 4, civil penalties in Code section 476.51, encouragement of alternate energy production facilities, energy cost requirements, safety of distributed generation facilities, customer contribution fund requirements, and energy-efficient lighting requirements, Code chapter 476A relating to electric power generation and transmission, and Code chapter 478 relating to electric transmission lines, also apply to municipally owned utilities furnishing gas or electricity. The bill provides that disconnection of services in Code section 476.20, subsections 1 through 4, civil penalties in Code section 476.51, encouragement of alternate energy production facilities, energy cost requirements, safety of distributed generation facilities, customer contribution fund requirements, and energy-efficient lighting requirements, Code chapter 476A relating to electric power generation and transmission, and Code chapter 478 relating to electric transmission lines, also apply to municipally owned utilities furnishing gas or electricity.
   The bill changes the applicability of deposit-related uniform rules established by the board from all public utilities furnishing gas or electricity to rate-regulated public utilities furnishing gas or electricity and excludes utilities subject to Code section 476.1A. The bill provides that municipally owned utilities and utilities subject to Code section 476.1A shall not be subject to the board’s rules in regards to deposits, rates, charges for the disconnection or reinstatement of service, and payment plans for delinquent amounts owed and repayment of past-due debt, but are subject to rules regarding payment plans made prior to the disconnection of services.
   The bill provides that all proceedings taking place before the effective date of the bill for the establishment, organization, formation, operation, or maintenance of a city utility or utility board that were not previously declared invalid shall be determined to be legally sufficient to create, establish, and authorize the maintenance and operation of a city utility. Current law provides for the procedure to apply exclusively to city waterworks processed before January 1, 1961.