Relating to rate-regulated electric utilities and integrated resource plans

This bill relates to an electric utility filing an integrated resource plan. The bill directs the Iowa utilities board (board) to seek safe, adequate, reliable, and affordable services and nondiscriminatory rates for Iowa customers. The bill prohibits a public utility from setting a different rate for a customer of the same service class unless the public utility demonstrates the measurable difference in costs of providing the service. The bill requires a rate-regulated electric utility to file an integrated resource plan (plan) within one year of the enactment of the bill. The plan shall be subject to a contested case proceeding. The electric utility shall then file an update to the initial plan three years after the initial filing with any changes made since the initial filing. Only the changes made from the initial filing shall be subject to a contested case proceeding after the updated plan is filed. The electric utility shall file a fully comprehensive plan three years after the updated plan filing. The entire fully comprehensive plan shall be subject to a contested case. The bill requires a plan to include existing and proposed facilities and resources, projected service demand, comparative evaluations, cost analysis, and energy efficiency plans and demand response plans. There shall be a rebuttable presumption in favor of the least-cost option in the cost analysis. The plan shall not include any investment, cost, or expense in the revenue requirement for a rate application. An electric utility may not apply for a franchise for any transmission facility that is not already included in the current plan. No investment shall be eligible for advance ratemaking unless it is included in the most recent approved plan. An electric utility required to file an energy efficiency plan and demand response plan shall include the plans in the integrated resource plan and shall not be subject to a separate contested case proceeding for the energy efficiency plan and demand response plan.6 requiring an energy efficiency plan and demand response plan to be filed every five years. Instead, the electric utility shall adhere to the same timeline included in the bill for the filing deadlines for the energy efficiency plan and demand response plan. The bill provides authority to the board to create by rule the procedures for a contested case proceeding pursuant to the bill. After the electric utility files the plan, the board and the office of consumer advocate (office) shall review the plan. The office shall submit an evaluation of the filed plan to the board to use in determining approval of the plan. A plan may be conditionally approved by the board within months of the initial filing or within months of an updated filing. Current law provides intent of the general assembly to encourage the development of renewable electric power generation, to use the renewable power to meet local electric needs, and to develop transmission capacity to export wind power generated in Iowa. The bill strikes this intent.