Bill Text: IA SF2195 | 2013-2014 | 85th General Assembly | Enrolled

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Bill Title: A bill for an act relating to matters under the purview of the utilities division of the department of commerce. (Formerly SSB 3093.) Effective 7-1-14.

Spectrum: Committee Bill

Status: (Passed) 2014-04-25 - Signed by Governor. S.J. 868. [SF2195 Detail]

Download: Iowa-2013-SF2195-Enrolled.html

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Senate File 2195
AN ACT
RELATING TO MATTERS UNDER THE PURVIEW OF THE UTILITIES DIVISION
OF THE DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA:
Section 1. Section 476.1D, subsection 1, paragraph c, Code
2014, is amended by striking the paragraph.
Sec. 2. Section 476.1D, subsection 2, Code 2014, is amended
to read as follows:
2. Except as provided in subsection 1 , paragraph “c” ,
deregulation Deregulation of a service or facility for
a utility is effective only after a finding of effective
competition by the board.
Sec. 3. Section 476.3, subsection 2, paragraph b, Code 2014,
is amended by striking the paragraph.
Sec. 4. Section 476.4, Code 2014, is amended to read as
follows:
476.4 Tariffs filed.
1. Every public utility shall file with the board tariffs
showing the rates and charges for its public utility services
and the rules and regulations under which such services were

Senate File 2195, p. 2
furnished, on April 1, 1963, which rates and charges shall be
subject to investigation by the board as provided in section
476.3 , and upon such investigation the burden of establishing
the reasonableness of such rates and charges shall be upon the
public utility filing the same. These filings shall be made
under such rules as the board may prescribe within such time
and in such form as the board may designate. In prescribing
rules and regulations with respect to the form of tariffs,
the board shall, in the case of public utilities subject to
regulation by any federal agency, give due regard to any
corresponding rules and regulations of such federal agency, to
the end that unnecessary duplication of effort and expense may
be avoided so far as reasonably possible. Each public utility
shall keep copies of its tariffs open to public inspection
under such rules as the board may prescribe.
2. No later than January 1, 2015, a telephone utility is
required to file tariffs as provided in this section only for
such wholesale services as may be specified by the board.
3. Every rate, charge, rule , and regulation contained in
any filing made with the commission on or prior to July 4,
1963, shall be effective as of such date, subject, however, to
investigation as herein provided. If any such filing is made
prior to the time the commission prescribes rules as aforesaid,
and if such filing does not comply as to form or substance with
such rules, then the public utility which filed the same shall
within a reasonable time after the adoption of such rules make
a new filing or filings complying with such rules, which new
filing or filings shall be deemed effective as of July 4, 1963.
Sec. 5. Section 476.5, Code 2014, is amended to read as
follows:
476.5 Adherence to schedules —— discounts .
No public utility subject to rate regulation shall directly
or indirectly charge a greater or less compensation for its
services than that prescribed in its tariffs, and no such
public utility shall 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.
Nothing in this section shall be construed to prohibit
any public utility furnishing communications services from
providing any service rendered by it without charge or
at reduced rate to any of its active or retired officers,
directors, or employees, or such officers, directors or
employees of other public utilities furnishing communications

Senate File 2195, p. 3
services. Provided, however, said service is for personal use,
and not for engaging in a business for profit.
Sec. 6. Section 476.6, subsection 9, Code 2014, is amended
by striking the subsection.
Sec. 7. Section 476.29, subsections 3 and 6, Code 2014, are
amended to read as follows:
3. A certificate is transferable, subject to approval of
the board pursuant to section 476.20, subsection 1 , and for
purposes of a rate-regulated local exchange utility shall be
treated by the board in the same manner as a reorganization
pursuant to sections 476.76 and 476.77 .
6. The certificate and tariffs approved by the board are
is the only authority required for the utility to furnish
land-line local telephone service. However, to the extent
not inconsistent with this section , the power to regulate the
conditions required and manner of use of the highways, streets,
rights-of-way, and public grounds remains in the appropriate
public authority.
Sec. 8. Section 476.29, subsection 15, Code 2014, is amended
by striking the subsection.
Sec. 9. Section 476.72, subsections 4 and 5, Code 2014, are
amended to read as follows:
4. “Public utility” includes only means a gas or electric
rate-regulated public utilities and rate-regulated telephone
utilities providing local exchange telecommunication service
utility .
5. “Utility business” means the generation or transmission
of electricity or furnishing of gas or furnishing electricity
or furnishing rate-regulated communications services to the
public for compensation.
Sec. 10. Section 476.78, Code 2014, is amended to read as
follows:
476.78 Cross-subsidization prohibited.
A rate-regulated gas or electric public utility shall
not directly or indirectly include any costs or expenses
attributable to providing nonutility service in regulated
rates or charges. Except for contracts existing as of July
1, 1996, a rate-regulated gas or electric 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,

Senate File 2195, p. 4
or air conditioning systems, or interior lighting systems
and fixtures; or to sell at retail heating, ventilating,
air conditioning, or interior lighting equipment. 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. Nothing in this
section shall be construed to prohibit a rate-regulated gas
or electric 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.
Sec. 11. Section 476.79, Code 2014, is amended to read as
follows:
476.79 Provision of nonutility service.
1. A rate-regulated gas or electric public utility
providing any nonutility service to its customers shall keep
and render to the board separate records of the nonutility
service. The board may provide for the examination and
inspection of the books, accounts, papers, and records of
the nonutility service, as may be necessary, to enforce any
provisions of this chapter .
2. The board shall adopt rules which specify the manner and
form of the accounts relating to providing nonutility services
which the rate-regulated gas or electric public utility shall
maintain.
Sec. 12. Section 476.80, unnumbered paragraph 1, Code 2014,
is amended to read as follows:
A rate-regulated gas or electric public utility which
engages in a systematic marketing effort as defined by the
board, other than on an incidental or casual basis, to promote
the availability of nonutility service from the public
utility shall make available at reasonable compensation on a
nondiscriminatory basis to all persons engaged primarily in
providing the same competitive nonutility services in that area
all of the following services to the same extent utilized by
the public utility in connection with its nonutility services:
Sec. 13. Section 476.81, Code 2014, is amended to read as
follows:
476.81 Audit required.
The board may periodically retain a nationally or regionally
recognized independent auditing firm to conduct an audit of
the nonutility services provided by a rate-regulated gas or
electric public utility subject to the provisions of section

Senate File 2195, p. 5
476.80 . A nonutility service audit shall not be conducted more
frequently than every three years, unless ordered by the board
for good cause. The cost of the audit shall be paid by the
public utility to the independent auditing firm and shall be
included in its regulated rates and charges, unless otherwise
ordered by the board for good cause after providing the public
utility the opportunity for a hearing on the board’s decision.
Sec. 14. Section 476.83, Code 2014, is amended to read as
follows:
476.83 Complaints.
Any person may file a written complaint with the board
requesting that the board determine compliance by a
rate-regulated gas or electric public utility with the
provisions of section 476.78 , 476.79 , or 476.80 , or any validly
adopted rules to implement these sections. Upon the filing
of a complaint, the board may promptly initiate a formal
complaint proceeding and give notice of the proceeding and the
opportunity for hearing. The formal complaint proceeding may
be initiated at any time by the board on its own motion. The
board shall render a decision in the proceeding within ninety
days after the date the written complaint was filed, unless
additional time is requested by the complainant.
Sec. 15. Section 476.96, Code 2014, is amended to read as
follows:
476.96 Definitions.
As used in section 476.95 , this section , and sections
476.97 through 476.102 476.100 and 476.101 , unless the context
otherwise requires:
1. “Basic communications service” includes at a minimum,
basic local telephone service, switched access, 911 and
E-911 services, and dual party relay service. The board is
authorized to classify by rule at any time, any other two-way
switched communications services as basic communications
services consistent with community expectations and the public
interest.
2. “Basic local telephone service” means the provision
of dial tone access and usage, for the transmission of
two-way switched communications within a local exchange area,
including, but not limited to, the following:
a. Residence service and business services, including flat
rate or local measured service, private branch exchange trunks,
trunk type hunting services, direct inward dialing, and the
network access portion of central office switched exchange

Senate File 2195, p. 6
service.
b. Extended area service.
c. Touch tone service when provided separately.
d. Call tracing.
e. Calling number blocking on either a per call or a per
line basis.
f. Local exchange white pages directories.
g. Installation and repair of local network access.
h. Local operator services, excluding directory assistance.
i. Toll service blocking and 1-900 and 1-976 access
blocking.
3. 1. “Competitive local exchange service provider” means
any person, including a municipal utility, that provides local
exchange services, other than a local exchange carrier or a
nonrate-regulated wireline provider of local exchange services
under an authorized certificate of public convenience and
necessity within a specific geographic area described in maps
filed with and approved by the board as of September 30, 1992.
4. “Interim number portability” means one or more mechanisms
by which a local exchange customer at a particular location
may change the customer’s local exchange services provider
without any change in the local exchange customer’s telephone
number, while experiencing as little loss of functionality as
is feasible using available technology.
5. 2. “Local exchange carrier” means any person that was
the incumbent and historical rate-regulated wireline provider
of local exchange services or any successor to such person
that provides local exchange services under an authorized
certificate of public convenience and necessity within a
specific geographic area described in maps filed with and
approved by the board as of September 30, 1992.
6. “Nonbasic communications services” means all
communications services subject to the board’s jurisdiction
which are not deemed either by statute or by rule to be basic
communications services, including any service offered by
the local exchange carrier for the first time after July 1,
1995. A service is not considered new if it constitutes the
bundling, unbundling, or repricing of an already existing
service. Consistent with community expectations and the public
interest, the board may reclassify by rule as nonbasic those
two-way switched communications services previously classified
by rule as basic.
7. “Provider number portability” means the capability of a

Senate File 2195, p. 7
local exchange customer to change the customer’s local exchange
services provider at the customer’s same location without any
change in the local exchange customer’s telephone number, while
preserving the full range of functionality that the customer
currently experiences. “Provider number portability” includes
the equal availability of information concerning the local
exchange provider serving the number to all carriers, and the
ability to deliver traffic directly to that provider without
having first to route traffic to the local exchange carrier or
otherwise use the services, facilities, or capabilities of the
local exchange carrier to complete the call, and without the
dialing of additional digits or access codes.
Sec. 16. Section 476.101, subsections 1, 8, and 10, Code
2014, are amended to read as follows:
1. A certificate of public convenience and necessity to
provide local telephone service shall not be interpreted as
conveying a monopoly, exclusive privilege, or franchise. A
competitive local exchange service provider shall not be
subject to the requirements of this chapter , except that a
competitive local exchange service provider shall obtain a
certificate of public convenience and necessity pursuant
to section 476.29 , file tariffs, notify affected customers
prior to any rate increase, file reports, information, and
pay assessments pursuant to section 476.2, subsection 4 , and
sections 476.9 , 476.10 , 476.16 , 476.102 , and 477C.7 , and shall
be subject to the board’s authority with respect to adequacy
of service, interconnection, discontinuation of service, civil
penalties, and complaints. If, after notice and opportunity
for hearing, the board determines that a competitive local
exchange service provider possesses market power in its local
exchange market or markets, the board may apply such other
provisions of this chapter to a competitive local exchange
service provider as it deems appropriate.
8. Any person may file a written complaint with the board
requesting the board to determine compliance by a local
exchange carrier with the provisions of sections 476.96 ,
through 476.100 , and 476.102 , and this section , or any
board rules implementing those sections. Upon the filing
of such complaint, the board may promptly initiate a formal
complaint proceeding and give notice of the proceeding and the
opportunity for hearing. The formal complaint proceeding may
be initiated at any time by the board on its own motion. The
board shall render a decision in the proceeding within ninety

Senate File 2195, p. 8
days after the date the written complaint was filed. The
board, for good cause shown, may extend the deadline for acting
upon the complaint for an additional period not to exceed
thirty days.
10. In a proceeding associated with the granting of a
certificate under section 476.29 , approving maps and tariffs
for competitive local exchange providers provided for in
this section , or in resolving a complaint filed pursuant
to subsection 8 and proceedings under 47 U.S.C. §251 –
254, the board shall allocate the costs and expenses of the
proceedings to persons identified as parties in the proceeding
who are engaged in or who seek to engage in providing
telecommunications services or other persons identified as
participants in the proceeding. The funds received for the
costs and the expenses shall be remitted to the treasurer of
state for deposit in the department of commerce revolving fund
created in section 546.12 as provided in section 476.10 .
Sec. 17. Section 476.101, subsections 4, 5, and 6, Code
2014, are amended by striking the subsections.
Sec. 18. Section 477.9A, Code 2014, is amended to read as
follows:
477.9A Deregulated services.
1. A telegraph or telephone company whose services are
deregulated by the board under section 476.1D may use public
notice as a means of conveying terms and conditions to
customers where identification of those customers is infeasible
or impractical. Public notice may also be used to convey
changes in terms and conditions, other than price increases or
limitations of liability, to all other customers, but only if
those customers were put on notice that this means would be
used to convey subsequent changes. Notwithstanding section
477.7 , when services are deregulated by the board under section
476.1D , a telegraph or telephone company, in any contract,
agreement, or by means of public notice, may reasonably limit
its liability under section 477.7 in the course of providing
the deregulated communications services to its customers,
except for acts of willful misconduct. However, this section
does not allow a greater limitation on liability than exists in
any contract or approved tariff as of the effective date of the
deregulation of the services.
2. A telephone company whose services are subject to
regulation by the board with respect to terms and conditions,
but not rates, shall give notice of rate changes to customers.

Senate File 2195, p. 9
Sec. 19. REPEAL. Sections 476.4A, 476.97, and 476.99, Code
2014, are repealed.
______________________________
PAM JOCHUM
President of the Senate
______________________________
KRAIG PAULSEN
Speaker of the House
I hereby certify that this bill originated in the Senate and
is known as Senate File 2195, Eighty-fifth General Assembly.
______________________________
MICHAEL E. MARSHALL
Secretary of the Senate
Approved _______________, 2014
______________________________
TERRY E. BRANSTAD
Governor