A bill for an act establishing a temporary prohibition on an increase in rates or charges by gas and electric public utilities, and including effective date provisions.

House

File

2729

-

Introduced

HOUSE

FILE

2729

BY

B.

MEYER

,

WILSON

,

KRESSIG

,

BAETH

,

CROKEN

,

R.

JOHNSON

,

RAMIREZ

,

WICHTENDAHL

,

BROWN-POWERS

,

MATSON

,

KONFRST

,

WILBURN

,

LEVIN

,

WESSEL-KROESCHELL

,

OLSON

,

and

EHLERT

A

BILL

FOR

An

Act

establishing

a

temporary

prohibition

on

an

increase

in

1

rates

or

charges

by

gas

and

electric

public

utilities,

and

2

including

effective

date

provisions.

3

BE

IT

ENACTED

BY

THE

GENERAL

ASSEMBLY

OF

THE

STATE

OF

IOWA:

4

TLSB

5060YH

(9)

91

sb/js

H.F.

2729

Section

1.

Section

476.1A,

subsection

1,

Code

2026,

is

1

amended

by

adding

the

following

new

paragraph:

2

NEW

PARAGRAPH

.

f.

Rate

and

charge

adjustment

prohibitions

3

before

December

31,

2030,

as

set

forth

in

section

476.6,

4

subsections

1A,

8,

and

9.

5

Sec.

2.

Section

476.1B,

subsection

1,

Code

2026,

is

amended

6

by

adding

the

following

new

paragraph:

7

NEW

PARAGRAPH

.

g.

Rate

and

charge

adjustment

prohibitions

8

before

December

31,

2030,

as

set

forth

in

section

476.6,

9

subsections

1A,

8,

and

9.

10

Sec.

3.

Section

476.1C,

subsection

1,

paragraph

a,

Code

11

2026,

is

amended

to

read

as

follows:

12

a.

Are

not

subject

to

the

regulation

authority

of

the

13

utilities

commission

under

this

chapter

unless

otherwise

14

specifically

provided.

Sections

Section

476.6,

subsections

1A,

15

8,

and

9,

and

sections

476.10

,

476.20

,

476.21

,

and

476.51

apply

16

to

such

gas

utilities.

17

Sec.

4.

Section

476.6,

Code

2026,

is

amended

by

adding

the

18

following

new

subsection:

19

NEW

SUBSECTION

.

1A.

Moratorium.

A

public

utility

shall

20

not

make

effective

a

new

or

changed

rate,

charge,

schedule,

21

or

regulation

that

will

result

in

an

increase

of

any

rate

or

22

charge

for

gas

or

electric

service

on

a

customer’s

bill

on

or

23

before

December

31,

2030.

24

Sec.

5.

Section

476.6,

subsection

8,

Code

2026,

is

amended

25

to

read

as

follows:

26

8.

Automatic

adjustments.

27

a.

This

chapter

does

not

prohibit

a

public

utility

from

28

making

provision

for

the

automatic

adjustment

of

rates

and

29

charges

for

public

utility

service

,

except

as

provided

in

30

paragraph

“c”

,

provided

that

a

schedule

showing

the

automatic

31

adjustment

of

rates

and

charges

is

first

filed

with

and

32

approved

by

the

commission.

33

b.

A

public

utility

may

automatically

adjust

rates

and

34

charges

to

recover

costs

related

to

transmission

incurred

by

35

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2729

or

charged

to

the

public

utility

consistent

with

a

tariff

or

1

agreement

that

is

subject

to

the

jurisdiction

of

the

federal

2

energy

regulatory

commission,

except

as

provided

in

paragraph

3

“c”

,

provided

that

a

schedule

showing

the

automatic

adjustment

4

of

rates

and

charges

is

first

filed

with

and

approved

by

the

5

commission.

The

commission

shall

adopt

rules

regarding

the

6

reporting

of

transmission

expenses

and

transmission-related

7

activity

pursuant

to

this

paragraph.

8

c.

A

public

utility

shall

not

automatically

adjust

rates

or

9

charges,

pursuant

to

any

schedule,

tariff,

or

agreement,

that

10

will

result

in

an

increase

of

any

rate

or

charge

for

gas

or

11

electric

service

on

a

customer’s

bill

on

or

before

December

31,

12

2030.

13

Sec.

6.

Section

476.6,

subsection

9,

paragraph

a,

Code

2026,

14

is

amended

to

read

as

follows:

15

a.

A

public

utility

may

choose

to

place

in

effect

temporary

16

rates,

charges,

schedules,

or

regulations

without

commission

17

review

on

or

after

ten

days

following

the

filing

date

under

18

this

section

,

except

as

provided

in

paragraph

“d”

.

If

the

19

utility

chooses

to

place

such

rates,

charges,

schedules,

20

or

regulations

in

effect,

the

utility

shall

file

with

the

21

commission

a

bond

or

other

corporate

undertaking

approved

22

by

the

commission

conditioned

upon

the

refund

in

a

manner

23

prescribed

by

the

commission

of

amounts

collected

in

excess

24

of

the

amounts

which

that

would

have

been

collected

under

25

rates,

charges,

schedules,

or

regulations

finally

approved

26

by

the

commission.

At

the

conclusion

of

the

proceeding

if

27

the

commission

determines

that

the

temporary

rates,

charges,

28

schedules,

or

regulations

placed

in

effect

under

this

paragraph

29

were

not

based

on

previously

established

regulatory

principles,

30

the

commission

shall

consider

ordering

refunds

based

upon

the

31

overpayments

made

by

each

individual

customer

class,

rate

zone,

32

or

customer

group.

If

the

commission

has

not

rendered

a

final

33

decision

with

respect

to

suspended

rates,

charges,

schedules,

34

or

regulations

upon

the

expiration

of

ten

months

after

the

35

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2729

filing

date,

plus

the

length

of

any

delay

that

necessarily

1

results

either

from

the

failure

of

the

public

utility

to

2

exercise

due

diligence

in

connection

with

the

proceedings

or

3

from

intervening

judicial

proceedings,

plus

the

length

of

any

4

extension

permitted

by

section

476.33,

subsection

3

,

then

such

5

temporary

rates,

charges,

schedules,

or

regulations

placed

into

6

effect

on

a

temporary

basis

shall

be

deemed

finally

approved

by

7

the

commission

and

the

utility

may

place

them

into

effect

on

8

a

permanent

basis.

9

Sec.

7.

Section

476.6,

subsection

9,

Code

2026,

is

amended

10

by

adding

the

following

new

paragraph:

11

NEW

PARAGRAPH

.

d.

A

public

utility

shall

not

place

in

12

effect

temporary

rates,

charges,

schedules,

or

regulations

that

13

will

result

in

an

increase

of

any

rate

or

charge

for

gas

or

14

electric

service

on

a

customer’s

bill

on

or

before

December

31,

15

2030.

16

Sec.

8.

EFFECTIVE

DATE.

This

Act,

being

deemed

of

immediate

17

importance,

takes

effect

upon

enactment.

18

EXPLANATION

19

The

inclusion

of

this

explanation

does

not

constitute

agreement

with

20

the

explanation’s

substance

by

the

members

of

the

general

assembly.

21

This

bill

establishes

a

temporary

prohibition

on

an

increase

22

in

rates

or

charges

by

gas

and

electric

public

utilities.

23

The

bill

prohibits

a

public

utility

from

making

effective

a

24

new

or

changed

rate,

charge,

schedule,

or

regulation

that

will

25

result

in

an

increase

of

any

rate

or

charge

for

gas

or

electric

26

service

on

a

customer’s

bill

on

or

before

December

31,

2030.

27

This

rate

freeze

applies

to

all

public

utilities

providing

28

gas

or

electric

service

and

all

rate,

charge,

schedule,

29

and

regulation

changes,

including

automatic

adjustments

and

30

temporary

adjustments.

31

The

bill

authorizes

the

Iowa

utilities

commission

to

32

regulate

this

rate

freeze

for

smaller

gas

or

electric

public

33

utilities,

electric

cooperative

corporations

and

associations,

34

and

municipally

owned

utilities.

35

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2729

The

bill

takes

effect

upon

enactment.

1

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