Senate File 2300 - Introduced SENATE FILE 2300 BY COMMITTEE ON COMMERCE (SUCCESSOR TO SSB 3075) A BILL FOR An Act relating to public utilities, including energy 1 production, public utility affiliates, and cable and video 2 service. 3 BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF IOWA: 4 TLSB 5445SV (2) 90 lh/js
S.F. 2300 DIVISION I 1 ENERGY PRODUCTION 2 Section 1. Section 476.42, subsection 1, paragraph a, 3 subparagraph (1), Code 2024, is amended to read as follows: 4 (1) A solar, wind turbine, electric storage unit, nuclear, 5 waste management, resource recovery, refuse-derived fuel, 6 agricultural crops or residues, or woodburning facility. For 7 purposes of this definition only, waste management includes a 8 facility using plasma gasification to produce synthetic gas, 9 either as a stand-alone fuel or for blending with natural gas, 10 the output of which is used to generate electricity or steam. 11 For purposes of this definition only, plasma gasification 12 means the thermal dissociation of carbonaceous material into 13 fragments of compounds in an oxygen-starved environment. 14 Sec. 2. Section 476.48, subsection 6, Code 2024, is amended 15 by striking the subsection. 16 Sec. 3. Section 476A.1, subsection 5, Code 2024, is amended 17 to read as follows: 18 5. Facility means any electric power generating plant , 19 electric storage unit, or a combination of plants or units at 20 a single site, owned by any person, with a total capacity of 21 twenty-five megawatts of electricity for plants or twenty-five 22 or more megawatt hours of electricity for electric storage 23 units, and those associated transmission lines connecting the 24 generating plant or electric storage unit to either a power 25 transmission system or an interconnected primary transmission 26 system or both. Transmission lines subject to the provisions 27 of this subchapter shall not require a franchise under chapter 28 478 . 29 DIVISION II 30 PUBLIC UTILITY AFFILIATES 31 Sec. 4. Section 476.74, subsection 5, Code 2024, is amended 32 to read as follows: 33 5. Exemption. The provisions of this section requiring 34 filing of contracts or agreements with the board shall not 35 -1- LSB 5445SV (2) 90 lh/js 1/ 17
S.F. 2300 apply to transactions with an affiliate where the amount of 1 consideration involved is not in excess of fifty thousand 2 dollars or five percent of the capital equity of the utility, 3 whichever is smaller two hundred fifty thousand dollars . 4 However, regularly recurring payments under a general or 5 continuing arrangement which that aggregate a greater annual 6 amount shall not be broken down into a series of transactions 7 to come within this exemption. In any proceeding involving 8 the rates, charges , or practices of the public utility, the 9 board may exclude from the accounts of the public utility 10 any unreasonable payment or compensation made pursuant to 11 any contract or arrangement which that is not required to be 12 filed under this subsection. All contracts or agreements 13 between a public utility and an affiliate are subject to 14 the cross-subsidization prohibition under section 476.78, 15 regardless of whether the filing of information is required by 16 this section. 17 DIVISION III 18 CABLE OR VIDEO SERVICE 19 Sec. 5. Section 474.1, subsection 4, Code 2024, is amended 20 to read as follows: 21 4. As used in this chapter and chapters 475A , 476 , 476A , 22 477A, 477C , 478 , 479 , 479A , and 479B , board and utilities 23 board mean the Iowa utilities board. 24 Sec. 6. Section 477A.1, Code 2024, is amended by adding the 25 following new subsections: 26 NEW SUBSECTION . 2A. Cable or video service includes the 27 terms cable service , cable system , and video service . 28 NEW SUBSECTION . 4A. Competitive cable or video service 29 provider includes the terms competitive cable service provider 30 and competitive video service providers . 31 Sec. 7. Section 477A.1, subsection 7, Code 2024, is amended 32 to read as follows: 33 7. Franchise means an initial authorization, or renewal 34 of an authorization, issued by the board or a municipality, 35 -2- LSB 5445SV (2) 90 lh/js 2/ 17
S.F. 2300 regardless of whether the authorization is designated as a 1 franchise, permit, license, resolution, contract, certificate, 2 agreement, or otherwise, that authorizes the construction and 3 operation of a cable system person to erect, maintain, and 4 operate plants and systems for the provision of a cable or 5 video service providers network in a public right-of-way. 6 Sec. 8. Section 477A.1, subsection 9, paragraph a, Code 7 2024, is amended to read as follows: 8 a. Gross revenues means all consideration of any kind or 9 nature, including but not limited to cash, credits, property, 10 and in-kind contributions , received from subscribers for the 11 provision of cable service over a cable system by a competitive 12 cable service provider or for the provision of or video service 13 by a competitive cable or video service provider within a 14 municipalitys jurisdiction. Gross revenues are limited to the 15 following: 16 (1) Recurring charges for cable service or video service. 17 (2) Event-based charges for cable service or video service, 18 including but not limited to pay-per-view and video-on-demand 19 charges. 20 (3) Rental of set-top boxes and other cable service or video 21 service equipment. 22 (4) Service charges related to the provision of cable 23 service or video service, including but not limited to 24 activation, installation, and repair charges. 25 (5) Administrative charges related to the provision of 26 cable service or video service, including but not limited to 27 service order and service termination charges. 28 (6) A pro rata portion of all revenue derived, less refunds, 29 rebates, or discounts, by a cable service provider or a video 30 service provider for advertising over the cable service or 31 video service network to subscribers within the franchise area 32 where the numerator is the number of subscribers within the 33 franchise area, and the denominator is the total number of 34 subscribers reached by such advertising. This subparagraph 35 -3- LSB 5445SV (2) 90 lh/js 3/ 17
S.F. 2300 applies only to municipalities that include this provision in 1 their franchise agreements as of January 1, 2007. 2 Sec. 9. Section 477A.1, subsection 9, paragraph b, 3 subparagraphs (2), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8), (9), and (11), Code 4 2024, are amended to read as follows: 5 (2) Revenues received by any affiliate or any other person 6 in exchange for supplying goods or services used by the person 7 providing cable service or video service. 8 (4) Regardless of whether the services are bundled, 9 packaged, or functionally integrated with cable service 10 or video service, any revenues derived by the holder of 11 a certificate of franchise authority from services not 12 classified as cable service or video service, including, 13 without limitation, revenue received from telecommunications 14 services, revenue received from information services, revenue 15 received in connection with home-shopping services, or any 16 other revenues attributed by the competitive cable service 17 provider or competitive video service provider to noncable 18 service or nonvideo service in accordance with the holders 19 books and records kept in the regular course of business and 20 any applicable rules, regulations, standards, or orders. 21 (5) Revenues paid by subscribers to home-shopping 22 programmers directly from the sale of merchandise through any 23 home-shopping channel offered as part of the cable services or 24 video services. 25 (6) Revenues from the sale of cable services or video 26 services for resale in which the purchaser is required to 27 collect the franchise fee from the purchasers customer. 28 (7) Revenues from any tax of general applicability imposed 29 upon the competitive cable service provider or competitive 30 video service provider or upon subscribers by a city, state, 31 federal, or any other governmental entity and required to 32 be collected by the competitive cable service provider or 33 competitive video service provider and remitted to the taxing 34 entity, including but not limited to sales or use tax, gross 35 -4- LSB 5445SV (2) 90 lh/js 4/ 17
S.F. 2300 receipts tax, excise tax, utility users tax, public service 1 tax, and communication taxes, and including the franchise fee 2 imposed under section 477A.7 . 3 (8) Revenues forgone from the provision of cable services 4 or video services to public institutions, public schools, or 5 governmental entities at no charge. 6 (9) Revenues forgone from the competitive cable service 7 providers or competitive video service providers provision of 8 free or reduced-cost video service to any person, including, 9 without limitation, any municipality and other public 10 institutions or other institutions. 11 (11) Revenues from reimbursements by programmers of 12 marketing costs incurred by the competitive cable service 13 provider or competitive video service provider for the 14 introduction or promotion of new programming. 15 Sec. 10. Section 477A.2, Code 2024, is amended to read as 16 follows: 17 477A.2 Certificate of franchise authority requirement. 18 1. After July 1, 2007, a person providing cable service 19 or video service in this state shall not provide such service 20 without a franchise. The franchise may be issued by either the 21 board pursuant to section 477A.3 or by a municipality pursuant 22 to section 364.2 . 23 2. a. A person providing cable service or video service 24 under a franchise agreement with a municipality prior to July 25 1, 2007, is not subject to this section with respect to such 26 municipality until the franchise agreement expires or is 27 converted pursuant to subsection 6 . 28 b. Upon expiration of a franchise, a person may choose to 29 renegotiate a franchise agreement with a municipality or may 30 choose to obtain a certificate of franchise authority under 31 this chapter . An application for a certificate of franchise 32 authority pursuant to this subsection may be filed within 33 sixty days prior to the expiration of a municipal franchise 34 agreement. A certificate of franchise authority obtained 35 -5- LSB 5445SV (2) 90 lh/js 5/ 17
S.F. 2300 pursuant to an application filed prior to the expiration of 1 a municipal franchise agreement shall take effect upon the 2 expiration date of the municipal franchise agreement. 3 c. A municipal utility that provides cable service or 4 video service in this state is not subject to this section and 5 shall not be required to obtain a certificate of franchise 6 authority pursuant to this chapter in the municipality in 7 which the provision of cable service or video service by that 8 municipality was originally approved. 9 3. For purposes of this section , a person providing 10 cable service or video service is deemed to have executed a 11 franchise agreement to provide cable service or video service 12 with a specific municipality if an affiliate or predecessor 13 of the person providing cable service or video service has 14 or had executed an unexpired franchise agreement with that 15 municipality as of May 29, 2007. 16 4. A competitive cable service provider or competitive 17 video service provider shall provide at least thirty days 18 notice to each municipality with authority to grant a franchise 19 in the service area, and to the incumbent cable or video 20 service provider, in which the competitive cable service 21 provider or competitive video service provider is granted 22 authority to provide service under a certificate of franchise 23 authority that the competitive cable service provider or 24 competitive video service provider will offer cable services 25 or video services within the jurisdiction of the municipality, 26 and shall not provide service without having provided such 27 thirty days notice. A copy of the notice shall be filed with 28 the board on the date that the notice is provided. All notices 29 required by this subsection shall be sent by certified mail. 30 5. As used in this section , affiliate includes but is 31 not limited to a person that directly, or indirectly through 32 one or more intermediaries, controls, is controlled by, or is 33 under common control with a person receiving, obtaining, or 34 operating under a franchise agreement with a municipality to 35 -6- LSB 5445SV (2) 90 lh/js 6/ 17
S.F. 2300 provide cable service or video service through merger, sale, 1 assignment, restructuring, or any other type of transaction. 2 6. If a competitive cable service provider or a competitive 3 video service provider applies for a certificate of franchise 4 authority to operate within a municipality, the incumbent 5 cable provider may, at its discretion, apply for a certificate 6 of franchise authority for that same municipality. Such 7 application shall be automatically granted on the same day 8 as a competitive cable service provider or competitive video 9 service provider files a thirty days notice of offering 10 service as required pursuant to subsection 4 . The franchise 11 agreement with the municipality is terminated on the date the 12 board issues the certificate of franchise authority to an 13 incumbent cable provider. The terms and conditions of the 14 certificate of franchise authority shall be the same as the 15 terms and conditions of a competitive cable service provider or 16 a competitive video service provider pursuant to this chapter 17 and shall replace the terms and conditions of the franchise 18 agreement previously granted by the municipality. 19 Sec. 11. Section 477A.3, subsection 1, paragraphs a, c, d, 20 and f, Code 2024, are amended to read as follows: 21 a. That the applicant has filed or will timely file with 22 the federal communications commission all forms required by 23 the commission in advance of offering cable service or video 24 service in this state. 25 c. That the applicant agrees to comply with all applicable 26 state laws and nondiscriminatory municipal ordinances and 27 regulations regarding the use and occupation of a public 28 right-of-way in the delivery of the cable service or video 29 service, to the extent consistent with this chapter , including 30 the police powers of the municipalities in which the service 31 is delivered. 32 d. A description of the service area to be served and the 33 municipalities to be served by the applicant , which may include 34 certain designations of unincorporated areas. This description 35 -7- LSB 5445SV (2) 90 lh/js 7/ 17
S.F. 2300 shall be updated by the applicant prior to the expansion of 1 cable service or video service to a previously undesignated 2 service area and, upon such expansion, notice shall be given to 3 the board of the service area to be served by the applicant. 4 f. Documentation that the applicant possesses sufficient 5 managerial, technical, and financial capability to provide the 6 cable service or video service proposed in the service area. 7 Sec. 12. Section 477A.3, subsection 1, paragraph g, Code 8 2024, is amended by striking the paragraph. 9 Sec. 13. Section 477A.3, subsections 5 and 9, Code 2024, are 10 amended to read as follows: 11 5. The certificate of franchise authority issued by the 12 board shall contain all of the following: 13 a. A grant of authority to provide cable service or video 14 service in the service area designated in the application. 15 b. A grant of authority to use and occupy the public 16 right-of-way in the delivery for the purpose of erecting, 17 maintaining, and operating plants and systems for the provision 18 of cable service or video service, subject to the laws of this 19 state, including the police powers of the municipalities in 20 which the service is delivered. 21 c. A statement that the grant of authority provided by the 22 certificate is subject to the lawful operation of the cable 23 service or video service by the applicant or the applicants 24 successor. 25 d. A statement that the franchise is for a term of ten 26 twenty-five years, is renewable under the terms of this 27 section , and is nonexclusive. 28 9. The certificate of franchise authority issued by the 29 board may be terminated by a person providing cable service or 30 video service by submitting written notice to the board and 31 any affected municipality. Neither the board nor an affected 32 municipality shall have authority to review or require approval 33 of such termination. 34 Sec. 14. Section 477A.3, subsection 6, paragraph a, Code 35 -8- LSB 5445SV (2) 90 lh/js 8/ 17
S.F. 2300 2024, is amended to read as follows: 1 a. If the holder of a certificate of franchise authority 2 fails to commence operation of a cable system or video service 3 network within twelve months from the date the application is 4 granted, the board may determine that the applicant is not in 5 compliance with the certificate of franchise authority and may 6 revoke the certificate. 7 Sec. 15. Section 477A.3, subsection 7, paragraph a, Code 8 2024, is amended to read as follows: 9 a. In the event that an applicant granted a certificate 10 of franchise authority subsequently ceases to engage in 11 construction or operation of a cable system or video service 12 network and is no longer providing service, the applicant 13 shall notify the municipality, the board, and the incumbent 14 cable provider on the date that construction or service is 15 terminated. 16 Sec. 16. Section 477A.4, Code 2024, is amended to read as 17 follows: 18 477A.4 Applicability to federal law. 19 To the extent required by applicable law, a certificate of 20 franchise authority issued under this chapter shall constitute 21 a franchise for the purposes of 47 U.S.C. 541(b)(1). To 22 the extent required for the purposes of 47 U.S.C. 521 23 561, only the state of Iowa shall constitute the exclusive 24 franchising authority for competitive cable service providers 25 and competitive video service providers in this state. 26 Sec. 17. Section 477A.6, subsections 1 and 2, Code 2024, are 27 amended to read as follows: 28 1. Not later than one hundred eighty days after a request by 29 a municipality in which a competitive cable service provider or 30 a competitive video service provider is providing cable service 31 or video service, the holder of the certificate of authority 32 for that municipality shall designate a sufficient amount of 33 capacity on the certificate holders communications network 34 to allow the provision of a comparable number of public, 35 -9- LSB 5445SV (2) 90 lh/js 9/ 17
S.F. 2300 educational, and governmental channels that the incumbent cable 1 provider in the municipality has activated and provided in the 2 municipality under the terms of a franchise agreement with a 3 municipality prior to July 1, 2007. If no such channels are 4 active, the municipality may request a maximum of three public, 5 educational, and governmental channels for a municipality 6 with a population of at least fifty thousand, and a maximum 7 of two public, educational, and governmental channels for a 8 municipality with a population of less than fifty thousand. 9 a. The public, educational, and governmental content to 10 be provided pursuant to this section and the operation of 11 the public, educational, and governmental channels shall be 12 the responsibility of the municipality receiving the benefit 13 of such capacity. The holder of a certificate of franchise 14 authority shall be responsible only for the transmission of 15 such content, subject to technological restraints. 16 b. The municipality receiving capacity under this section 17 shall ensure that all transmissions, content, or programming to 18 be transmitted by the holder of the certificate of franchise 19 authority are provided or submitted to the competitive 20 cable service provider or competitive video service provider 21 in a manner or form that is capable of being accepted and 22 transmitted by the competitive cable service provider or 23 competitive video service provider, without requirement for 24 additional alteration or change in the content, over the 25 particular network of the competitive cable service provider 26 or competitive video service provider, which is compatible 27 with the technology or protocol utilized by the competitive 28 cable service provider or competitive video service provider 29 to deliver services. At its election the municipality may 30 reasonably request any cable service provider or video service 31 provider to make any necessary change to the form of any 32 programming, furnished for transmission, which shall be charged 33 to the municipality, not to exceed the providers incremental 34 costs. The municipality shall have up to twelve months to 35 -10- LSB 5445SV (2) 90 lh/js 10/ 17
S.F. 2300 reimburse the cable service provider or video service provider. 1 The provision of such transmissions, content, or programming 2 to the competitive cable service provider or competitive video 3 service provider shall constitute authorization for such 4 holder to carry such transmissions, content, or programming, 5 at the holders option, beyond the jurisdictional boundaries 6 stipulated in any franchise agreement. 7 2. Where technically feasible, a competitive cable service 8 provider or competitive video service provider that is a holder 9 of a certificate of franchise authority and an incumbent 10 cable provider shall use reasonable efforts to interconnect 11 the cable or video communications network systems of the 12 certificate holder and incumbent cable provider for the purpose 13 of providing public, educational, and governmental programming. 14 Interconnection may be accomplished by direct cable, microwave 15 link, satellite, or other reasonable method of connection. A 16 holder of a certificate of franchise authority and an incumbent 17 cable provider shall negotiate in good faith and an incumbent 18 cable provider shall not withhold interconnection of public, 19 educational, or governmental channels. 20 Sec. 18. Section 477A.7, subsections 1 and 3, Code 2024, are 21 amended to read as follows: 22 1. a. In any service area in which a competitive cable 23 service provider or a competitive video service provider 24 holding a certificate of franchise authority offers or provides 25 cable service or video service, the competitive cable service 26 provider or competitive video service provider shall calculate 27 and pay a franchise fee to the municipality with authority to 28 grant a certificate of franchise authority in that service area 29 upon the municipalitys written request. If the municipality 30 makes such a request, the franchise fee shall be due and paid 31 to the municipality on a quarterly basis, not later than 32 forty-five days after the close of the quarter, and shall be 33 calculated as a percentage of gross revenues. The municipality 34 shall not demand any additional franchise fees from the 35 -11- LSB 5445SV (2) 90 lh/js 11/ 17
S.F. 2300 competitive cable service provider or competitive video service 1 provider, and shall not demand the use of any other calculation 2 method for the franchise fee. 3 b. All cable service providers and video service providers 4 shall pay a franchise fee at the same percent of gross revenues 5 as had been assessed on the incumbent cable provider by the 6 municipality as of January 1, 2007, and such percentage shall 7 continue to apply for the period of the remaining term of the 8 existing franchise agreement with the municipality. Upon 9 expiration of the period of the remaining term of the agreement 10 with the incumbent cable service provider, a municipality may 11 request an increase in the franchise fee up to five percent of 12 gross revenues. 13 c. A provider who is both a competitive cable service 14 provider and a competitive video service provider shall be 15 subject to and only be required to pay one franchise fee to a 16 municipality under this subsection regardless of whether the 17 provider provides both cable service and video service. 18 d. At the request of a municipality and not more than once 19 per year, an independent auditor may perform reasonable audits 20 of the competitive cable service providers or competitive 21 video service providers calculation of the franchise fee under 22 this subsection . The municipality shall bear the costs of 23 any audit requested pursuant to this subsection , unless the 24 audit discloses that the competitive cable service provider or 25 competitive video service provider has underpaid franchise fees 26 by more than five percent, in which case the competitive cable 27 service provider or competitive video service provider shall 28 pay all of the reasonable and actual costs of the audit. 29 e. A competitive cable service provider or competitive video 30 service provider may identify and collect the amount of the 31 franchise fee as a separate line item on the regular bill of 32 each subscriber. 33 3. a. If an incumbent cable provider is required by 34 a franchise agreement as of January 1, 2007, to provide 35 -12- LSB 5445SV (2) 90 lh/js 12/ 17
S.F. 2300 institutional network capacity to a municipality for use by 1 the municipality for noncommercial purposes, the incumbent 2 cable provider and any subsequent holder of a certificate of 3 franchise authority shall provide support only for the existing 4 institutional network on a pro rata basis per customer. Any 5 financial support provided for an institutional network shall 6 be limited to ongoing maintenance and support of the existing 7 institutional network. This subsection shall be applicable 8 only to a cable service providers or video service providers 9 first certificate of franchise authority issued under this 10 chapter , and shall not apply to any subsequent renewals. For 11 the purposes of this subsection , maintenance and support shall 12 only include the reasonable incremental cost of moves, changes, 13 and restoring connectivity of the fiber or coaxial cable lines 14 up to a demarcation point at the building. 15 b. For purposes of this subsection , the number of customers 16 of a cable service provider or video service provider shall 17 be determined based on the relative number of subscribers in 18 that municipality at the end of the prior calendar year as 19 reported to the municipality by all incumbent cable providers 20 and holders of a certificate of franchise authority. Any 21 records showing the number of subscribers shall be considered 22 confidential records pursuant to section 22.7 . The incumbent 23 cable provider shall provide to the municipality, on an annual 24 basis, the maintenance and support costs of the institutional 25 network, subject to an independent audit. A municipality 26 acting under this subsection shall notify and present a bill 27 to competitive cable service providers or competitive video 28 service providers for the amount of such support on an annual 29 basis, beginning one year after issuance of the certificate of 30 franchise authority. The annual institutional network support 31 shall be due and paid by the providers to the municipality in 32 four quarterly payments, not later than forty-five days after 33 the close of each quarter. The municipality shall reimburse 34 the incumbent cable provider for the amounts received from 35 -13- LSB 5445SV (2) 90 lh/js 13/ 17
S.F. 2300 competitive cable service providers or competitive video 1 service providers. 2 c. This subsection shall not apply if the incumbent 3 cable service provider is a municipal utility providing 4 telecommunications services under section 388.10 . 5 Sec. 19. Section 477A.10, subsection 2, Code 2024, is 6 amended to read as follows: 7 2. A competitive cable service provider or competitive 8 video service provider holding a certificate of franchise 9 authority shall not deny access to any group of potential 10 residential subscribers because of the income of residents in 11 the local area in which such group resides. 12 Sec. 20. Section 477A.10, subsection 3, paragraph a, 13 subparagraph (3), Code 2024, is amended to read as follows: 14 (3) These dwelling units do not have cable or video service 15 available from another cable service provider or video service 16 provider. 17 Sec. 21. Section 477A.10, subsection 3, paragraph b, Code 18 2024, is amended to read as follows: 19 b. This subsection shall be applicable only after the first 20 date on which the video service provider operating under a 21 certificate of franchise authority is providing cable service 22 or video service to more than fifty percent of all cable and 23 video subscribers receiving cable or video service from the 24 holders of certificates of franchise authority and any other 25 providers of cable or video services operating under franchise 26 agreements with a municipality. 27 EXPLANATION 28 The inclusion of this explanation does not constitute agreement with 29 the explanations substance by the members of the general assembly. 30 This bill relates to public utilities, including energy 31 production, public utility affiliates, and cable and video 32 service. 33 DIVISION I. Division I of the bill relates to energy 34 production. Current law defines an alternate energy 35 -14- LSB 5445SV (2) 90 lh/js 14/ 17
S.F. 2300 production facility as a solar, wind turbine, waste 1 management, resource recovery, refuse-derived fuel, 2 agricultural crops or residues, or woodburning facility. The 3 bill adds an electric storage unit facility and a nuclear 4 facility to the definition. 5 Under current law, the Iowa utilities board (IUB) 6 administers a small wind innovation zone program to optimize 7 local, regional, and state benefits from wind energy and to 8 facilitate and expedite interconnection of small wind energy 9 systems with electric utilities throughout Iowa. IUB is 10 required to submit to the general assembly an annual report 11 summarizing the number of applications received from political 12 subdivisions seeking to be designated a small wind innovation 13 zone, the number of applications granted, the number of small 14 wind energy systems generating electricity within each small 15 wind innovation zone, and the amount of wind energy produced. 16 The bill strikes the reporting requirement. 17 Current law defines facility, for purposes of electric 18 power generating and transmission, as any electric power 19 generating plant or a combination of plants at a single site, 20 owned by any person, with a total capacity of 25 megawatts of 21 electricity or more and those associated transmission lines 22 connecting the generating plant to either a power transmission 23 system or an interconnected primary transmission system or 24 both. The bill includes in the definition of facility an 25 electric storage unit with a capacity of 25 or more megawatt 26 hours of electricity. 27 DIVISION II. Division II of the bill relates to public 28 utility affiliates. A public utility affiliate is a party that 29 directly, or indirectly through one or more intermediaries, 30 controls, is controlled by, or is under common control with a 31 rate-regulated public utility. Under current law, a public 32 utility affiliate is required to file documents relating to 33 certain transactions with IUB on an annual basis unless, 34 subject to certain restrictions, the amount of consideration 35 -15- LSB 5445SV (2) 90 lh/js 15/ 17
S.F. 2300 involved is not in excess of $50,000 or 5 percent of the 1 capital equity of the utility, whichever is smaller. The 2 bill changes the threshold amount to $250,000 regardless of 3 the capital equity of the utility. A contract or agreement 4 between a public utility and an affiliate is subject to a 5 cross-subsidization prohibition. 6 DIVISION III. Division III of the bill relates to the 7 provision of cable and video service. The bill defines the 8 phrases cable or video service and competitive cable or 9 video service provider to indicate the inclusion of terms 10 defined in current law. 11 Current law defines franchise, in relation to cable or 12 video service, as an initial authorization, or renewal of an 13 authorization, issued by IUB or a municipality, to construct 14 and operate a cable system or video service providers network 15 in a public right-of-way. The bill removes construction 16 and operation from the definition and instead refers to the 17 authorization of a person to erect, maintain, and operate 18 plants and systems for the provision of a cable or video 19 service providers network in a public right-of-way. 20 Current law requires an applicant for a certificate of 21 franchise authority to include in its application copies of 22 advertisements or news releases announcing the applicants 23 intent to provide cable service or video service in the service 24 area intended for release if the certificate of franchise 25 authority is granted. The bill strikes that requirement. 26 Current law requires a certificate of franchise authority 27 to include a grant of authority to use and occupy the public 28 right-of-way in the delivery of cable or video service, subject 29 to the laws of this state, including the police powers of the 30 municipalities in which the service is delivered. The bill 31 amends this requirement so the certificate instead grants 32 authority to use and occupy the public right-of-way for the 33 purpose of erecting, maintaining, and operating plants and 34 systems for the provision of cable or video service. Current 35 -16- LSB 5445SV (2) 90 lh/js 16/ 17
S.F. 2300 law also requires the certificate to include a statement that 1 the franchise is for a term of 10 years, is renewable under 2 the terms of this Code section, and is nonexclusive. The bill 3 lengthens the term of a franchise to 25 years. 4 -17- LSB 5445SV (2) 90 lh/js 17/ 17