House File 617 Review of Specified Provisions and Utility Ratemaking Procedures (NOI-2023-0001)
On June 1, 2023, Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds signed into law House File 617 of the Ninetieth General Assembly of 2023 (HF 617).
The law directs the Iowa Utilities Board (Board) to “initiate and coordinate an independent review of current Iowa Code provisions and ratemaking procedures.”
The review must “take into account the policy objectives of ensuring safe, adequate, reliable, and affordable utility services provided at rates that are nondiscriminatory, just, reasonable, and based on the utility’s cost of providing service to its customers within the state.”
The Board is required to consider four specific review elements under the mandated review of ratemaking procedures:
- An evaluation of the adequacy of current ratemaking law and procedure to promote the policy objectives;
- Identification of possible changes in law or procedure that might better advance the policy objectives;
- Recommendations for changes in law and administrative rules; and
- Identification of ratemaking laws and procedures of other states that, if adopted in Iowa, could enhance the competitiveness of utility rates in Iowa as compared with utility rates in other jurisdictions.
A report with the findings and recommendations of the Board must be delivered to the Iowa Legislature by January 1, 2024.
The Board’s overarching approach is to hold three policy charrettes that will engage stakeholders with review elements 1, 2, and 4 separately, and use the feedback and discussions arising from those policy charrettes to support any Board-recommended changes under review element 3.
CEDI filed its intention to participate on July 24, 2023, and was accepted July 26, 2023.
- Find all filings in the study docket here.
- Read the full application here.
- First Round Comments (Filed 9-8-2023)
- Third Round of Comments (Filed 10-23-23)
- Joint Letter to IUB (Filed 11-13-23)
- Find the Final Report submitted to the Iowa Legislature here.