HSB 527 (LSB 5597YC (6) 91)

HOUSE FILE _____ 

BY  (PROPOSED COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE BILL BY CHAIRPERSON YOUNG)

A BILL FOR

An Act relating to a public utility’s ability to provide nonutility service and repair of residential heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:

    Section 1.  Section 476.78, Code 2026, is amended to read as follows:
   476.78  Cross-subsidization prohibited.
   1.  A public utility shall not directly or indirectly include any costs or expenses attributable to providing nonutility service in regulated rates or charges.
   2.  a.  Except for contracts existing as of July 1, 1996 as provided in paragraph “b”, a public utility or its affiliates shall not use vehicles, service tools and instruments, or employees, the costs, salaries, or benefits of which are recoverable in the regulated rates for electric service or gas service to install, service, or repair residential or commercial gas or electric heating, ventilating, or air conditioning systems, or interior lighting systems and fixtures; or to.
   b.  A public utility with fewer than two hundred fifty thousand customers may service and repair residential heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems in a manner that complies with section 476.79. A public utility providing these services shall comply with the applicable sections of chapters 103 and 105.
   c.  A public utility or its affiliates shall not sell at retail heating, ventilating, air conditioning, or interior lighting equipment.
   3.  For the purpose of this section, “commercial” means a place of business primarily used for the storage or sale, at wholesale or retail, of goods, wares, services, or merchandise.
   4.  Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit a public utility from using its utility vehicles, service tools and instruments, and employees to market systems, services, and equipment, to light pilots, or to eliminate a customer emergency or threat to public safety.
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 a public utility’s ability to provide nonutility service and repair of residential heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems.
   Under current law, a public utility or its affiliates may not use certain resources, the benefits of which are recoverable in the regulated rates for electric service or gas service, to install, service, or repair residential or commercial gas or electric heating, ventilating, or air conditioning systems, or interior lighting systems and fixtures.
   The bill allows a public utility with fewer than 250,000 customers to service and repair residential heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems in a manner that complies with applicable Code provisions, including keeping records of nonutility service and following applicable licensure requirements.