Iowa Code section
476.2(1)
provides that the Iowa utilities board shall have authority to establish all
needful, just and reasonable rules, not inconsistent with law, to govern the
exercise of its powers and duties, the practice and procedure before it, and to
govern the form, content and filing of reports, documents and other papers
provided for in Iowa Code chapter 476 or in the board's rules.
(1)
Application of rules.
The rules shall apply to electric cooperatives and municipal electric utilities
operating within the state of Iowa subject to Iowa Code sections
476.1A and
476.1B, and to the construction,
operation and maintenance of electric transmission lines to the extent provided
in Iowa Code chapter 478, and shall supersede all tariffs on file with the
board that are in conflict with these rules.
(2)
Regulation of electric
cooperatives. Iowa Code section
476.1A provides that electric
cooperatives are not subject to the regulation of the board, except for
regulatory action pertaining to the following:
a. Assessment of fees for the support of the
board and the office of consumer advocate pursuant to Iowa Code section
476.10.
b. Safety and engineering
standards for equipment, operations, and procedures.
c. Assigned service areas.
d. Pilot projects of the board.
e. Assessment of fees for the support of the
Iowa energy center and the center for global and regional environmental
research. This paragraph is rescinded July 1, 2022, unless extended by
statute.
f. Filing of alternative
energy purchase program plans with the board, and offering such programs to
customers, pursuant to Iowa Code section
476.47.
g. Disconnection of service and winter
moratorium pursuant to Iowa Code sections
476.20(1)
through 476.20(4).
h.
Discrimination against renewable energy pursuant to Iowa Code section
476.21.
i. Civil penalties pursuant to Iowa Code
section 476.51.
j. Annual energy costs to be provided
pursuant to Iowa Code section
476.56.
k. Energy-efficient lighting pursuant to Iowa
Code section 476.62.
l. Customer contribution fund pursuant to
Iowa Code section 476.66.
m. Certification requirements for electric
power generation and transmission pursuant to Iowa Code chapter 476A, to the
extent applicable.
n. Franchise
requirements for electric transmission lines pursuant to Iowa Code chapter 478,
to the extent applicable.
(3)
Regulation of municipal electric
utilities. Iowa Code section
476.1B provides that municipal
electric utilities are not subject to regulation by the board under Iowa Code
chapter 476 unless otherwise specifically provided by statute, except for
regulatory action pertaining to the following:
a. Assessment of fees for the support of the
board and the office of consumer advocate.
b. Safety standards.
c. Assigned areas of service as set forth in
Iowa Code sections 476.22 through
476.26.
d. Civil penalties pursuant to Iowa Code
section 476.51.
e. Disconnection of service in Iowa Code
sections 476.20(1)
through 476.20(4).
f. Encouragement of alternative energy
production facilities pursuant to Iowa Code sections
476.41 through 476.45.
g. Annual energy costs to be provided
pursuant to Iowa Code section
476.56.
h. Energy-efficient lighting pursuant to Iowa
Code section 476.62.
i. Customer contribution fund pursuant to
Iowa Code section 476.66.
j. Assessment of fees for the support of the
Iowa energy center and the center for global and regional environmental
research. This paragraph is rescinded July 1, 2022, unless extended by
statute.
k. Electric power
agencies, as defined in Iowa Code chapter 28F and section
390.9, that include as a member
a city or municipally owned utility that builds transmission facilities after
July 1, 2001, are subject to applicable transmission reliability rules or
standards adopted by the board for those facilities.
l. Filing alternative energy purchase program
plans with the board, and offering such programs to customers pursuant to Iowa
Code section 476.47.
m. Iowa Code chapters 476A and 478, to the
extent applicable.
(4)
Definitions. The following words and terms, when used in these
rules, shall have the meanings indicated below:
"Board" means the utilities board.
"Capacity" means the instantaneous rate at
which energy can be delivered, received, or transferred, measured in
kilowatts.
"Complaint," as used in these rules, means a
statement or question by any person, whether a utility customer or not,
alleging a wrong, grievance, injury, dissatisfaction, illegal action or
procedure, dangerous condition or action, or obligation of an electric
cooperative or municipal electric utility.
"Customer" means any person, firm,
association, or corporation; any agency of the federal, state or local
government; or any legal entity responsible by law for payment for the electric
service or heat from the electric cooperative or municipal electric
utility.
"Delinquent" or
"delinquency" means an account for which a service bill or
service payment agreement bill has not been paid in full on or before the last
day for timely payment.
"Distribution line" means any single or
multiphase electric power line operating at nominal voltage in either of the
following ranges: 2,000 to 26,000 volts between ungrounded conductors or 1,155
to 15,000 volts between grounded and ungrounded conductors, regardless of the
functional service provided by the line.
"Electric plant" includes all real estate,
fixtures and property owned, controlled, operated or managed in connection with
or to facilitate production, generation, transmission, or distribution, in
providing electric service or heat by an electric utility.
"Electric service" means furnishing
electricity to the public for compensation for use as heat, light, power, or
energy.
"Energy" means electric energy measured in
kilowatt hours.
"Engineering standards" means standards
adopted by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI), or the Institute
of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Rural Utilities Service (RUS),
or similar type of engineering organizations or engineering standards adopted
by the board.
"Major event" means when an event results in
extensive physical damage to transmission or distribution facilities within an
electric cooperative or municipal electric utility's operating area due to
unusually severe and abnormal weather or event and:
1. Wind speed exceeds 90 mph for the affected
area, or
2. One-half inch of ice is
present and wind speed exceeds 40 mph for the affected area, or
3. Ten percent of the affected area total
customer count is incurring a loss of service for a length of time to exceed
five hours, or
4. 20,000 customers
in a metropolitan area are incurring a loss of service for a length of time to
exceed five hours, or
5. A regional
transmission organization or independent system operator declares an energy
emergency alert that the organization can no longer provide expected energy
requirements or has lower than required reserves, implements procedures up to
shedding load, declares a maximum generation warning, declares conservative
operations, or calls a maximum generation alert event in compliance with North
American Electric Reliability Corporation requirements.
"Meter" means, unless otherwise qualified, a
device that measures and registers the integral of an electrical quantity with
respect to time.
"Power" means electric power measured in
kilowatts.
"Safety standard" means a set of policies,
procedures, or specifications formally adopted by a governmental agency, an
accrediting agency, or standards developing organization, the purpose of which
is to ensure the safe generation, transmission, or distribution of electric
energy to customers or electric utilities, including electric cooperatives and
municipal electric utilities. "Safety standard" includes, but is not limited
to, the safety standards in rule
199-27.8 (476), the electrical
safety code in 199-Chapter 25, the National Electrical Safety Code, the
American National Standards Institute, and the Institute of Electrical and
Electronics Engineers.
"Secondary line" means any single or
multiphase electric power line operating at nominal voltage less than either
2,000 volts between ungrounded conductors or 1,155 volts between grounded and
ungrounded conductors, regardless of the functional service provided by the
line.
"Service limitation" means the establishment
of a limit on the amount of power that may be consumed by a residential
customer through the installation of a service limiter device on the customer's
meter.
"Tariff" means, for the purposes of this
chapter, the service classifications, rules, procedures, and policies filed
with and approved by the board.
"Timely payment" means a payment on a
customer's account made on or before the date shown on a current bill for
service, or on a form which records an agreement between the customer and a
utility for a series of partial payments to settle a delinquent account, as the
date which determines application of a late payment charge to the current bill
or future collection efforts.
"Transmission line" means any single or
multiphase electric power line operating at nominal voltages at or in excess of
either 69,000 volts between ungrounded conductors or 40,000 volts between
grounded and ungrounded conductors, regardless of the functional service
provided by the line.
(6)
Electric cooperative service
rules tariffs. Electric cooperatives subject to the board's
jurisdiction under Iowa Code section
476.1A shall maintain tariffs
which are consistent with the rules in this chapter and shall file those
tariffs with the board for approval.
a.
Electric cooperatives shall file those portions of their tariff or tariff pages
regarding matters over which the board has jurisdiction with strikethroughs for
the language deleted and underlining of the language that is added.
b. If an electric cooperative chooses to file
a revised tariff with provisions which are not subject to board jurisdiction,
the electric cooperative shall identify which provisions are jurisdictional
either in the cover letter or elsewhere in the filing. The provisions that are
not jurisdictional need not include strikeouts of deleted language and
underlining of new language.
c. An
electric cooperative association may file a model tariff for board approval
that may be adopted by an electric cooperative with any revisions the electric
cooperative proposes to the model tariff.
d. An electric cooperative may file a revised
tariff adopting the model tariff approved by the board. The electric
cooperative shall include the docket number and date of board approval with the
revised tariff.
e. Electric
cooperatives shall make tariffs filed with the board available to all
customers.
(7)
Municipal electric utilities service rules. Municipal electric
utilities shall not be required to file tariffs with the board implementing the
provisions in this chapter; however, municipal utilities shall adopt service
rules or other legally enforceable provisions that are consistent with the
provisions in this chapter.
a. A municipal
electric utility shall make rules or other legally enforceable provisions
implementing the requirements of this chapter available to all
customers.
b. A municipal electric
utility may adopt a model ordinance prepared by a municipal utility association
that has been approved by the board.
c. A municipal electric utility shall provide
a copy of its ordinance, or other legally enforceable document, that implements
the rules in this chapter within 15 days of a request from the board.
(8)
Notice of rate
increases. Electric cooperatives and municipal electric utilities
shall provide notice of rate increases to all affected customers at least 30
days in advance of the rate increase taking effect. The notice may be sent by
U.S. mail or electronically.