Substitute for HB 2435 by Committee on Energy, Utilities and Telecommunications - Authorizing natural gas public utilities to recover certain growth-related investments in the gas system reliability surcharge, increasing the cap on the amount that the monthly fixed charge may be increased for residential customers and reducing the time for the state corporation commission to act on gas system reliability surcharge filings.
What changed between versions
The bill's title and summary were changed to focus on gas system reliability surcharges and plant recovery rather than general regulatory asset deferrals.
New definitions were added for 'GSRS', 'eligible infrastructure system investments', 'obsolete facility', and 'system security' to clarify exactly what projects qualify for the surcharge.
The timeline for the commission to issue an order on a rate change petition was shortened to 90 days, down from the previous 120 days.
Provisions allowing utilities to defer depreciation expenses and carry costs for all new plant were removed and replaced with a specific surcharge mechanism.
New requirements mandate that utilities submit proposed rate schedules and serve specific boards when filing petitions to establish or change the surcharge.
Eligibility criteria were expanded to explicitly include investments for system security (cyber and physical) and facility relocations due to public works, while excluding projects that directly connect new customers.