CHAPTER 272
H.P. 759 - L.D. 1042
An Act To Ensure Proper Funding of the Public Utilities Commission and the Public Advocate
Emergency preamble. Whereas, Acts of the Legislature do not become effective until 90 days after adjournment unless enacted as emergencies; and
Whereas, it is necessary that the Public Utilities Commission and the Public Advocate have sufficient funds to carry out their statutory obligations during fiscal year 2004; and
Whereas, in the judgment of the Legislature, these facts create an emergency within the meaning of the Constitution of Maine and require the following legislation as immediately necessary for the preservation of the public peace, health and safety; now, therefore,
Be it enacted by the People of the State of Maine as follows:
Sec. 1. 35-A MRSA §116, sub-§1, as amended by PL 2001, c. 136, §1, is further amended to read:
1. Utilities subject to assessments. Every transmission and distribution, gas, telephone and water utility and ferry subject to regulation by the commission is subject to an assessment on its intrastate gross operating revenues to produce no more than $4,918,000 $5,505,000 in revenues annually. The commission shall increase the assessment to produce an additional $318,000 during fiscal year 2001-02 and an additional $587,000 during fiscal year 2002-03. The commission shall assess transmission and distribution utilities at a rate sufficient to produce $3,370,000 and $3,772,000 annually. The commission shall assess all other utilities at a rate sufficient to produce $1,548,000 $1,733,000 annually. The commission shall increase the assessment of transmission and distribution utilities to produce an additional $218,000 during fiscal year 2001-02 and an additional $402,000 during fiscal year 2002-03. The commission shall increase the assessment of all other utilities to produce an additional $100,000 during fiscal year 2001-02 and an additional $185,000 during fiscal year 2002-03. The commission shall determine the assessments annually prior to May 1st and assess each utility for its pro rata share for expenditure during the fiscal year beginning July 1st. Each utility shall pay the assessment charged to the utility on or before July 1st of each year. Any increase in the assessment that becomes effective subsequent to May 1st may be billed on the effective date of the act authorizing the increase.
A. The assessments charged to utilities under this section are just and reasonable operating costs for rate-making purposes.
B. For the purposes of this section, "intrastate gross operating revenues" means intrastate revenues derived from filed rates, except revenues derived from sales for resale.
C. Gas utilities subject to the jurisdiction of the commission solely with respect to safety are not subject to any assessment.
D. The commission may correct any errors in the assessments by means of a credit or debit to the following year's assessment rather than reassessing all utilities in the current year.
E. The commission may exempt utilities with annual intrastate gross operating revenues under $50,000 from assessments under this section.
Sec. 2. 35-A MRSA §116, sub-§8, ¶C-1, as amended by PL 2001, c. 28, §1, is further amended to read:
C-1. Except as specified in this subsection, funds that are not expended at the end of a fiscal year do not lapse but must be carried forward to be expended for the purposes specified in this section in succeeding fiscal years; but, with the exception of funds carried forward from fiscal year 1996-97 to fiscal year 1997-98 and with the exception of funds carried forward at the end of fiscal year 2000-01 2002-03 and fiscal year 2001-02 2003-04 for use in the following fiscal year, unexpended funds in excess of 10% of the total annual assessment authorized in this section must, at the option of the Public Advocate, either be presented to the Legislature in accordance with paragraph A for reallocation and expenditure or used to reduce the utility assessment in the following fiscal year. In the case of funds carried forward from fiscal year 1996-97 to fiscal year 1997-98 and funds carried forward from fiscal year 2000-01 2002-03 and fiscal year 2001-02 2003-04 for use in the following fiscal year, 100% of these funds may be expended for the purposes specified in this section.
Sec. 3. PL 2001, c. 136, §2 is amended to read:
Sec. 2. Use of unexpended funds. Notwithstanding the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 35-A, section 116, subsection 5, the Public Utilities Commission may expend in fiscal year 2001-02 2003-04 and fiscal year 2002-03 2004-05, for the purposes specified in Title 35-A, section 116, subsection 4, 100% of any unexpended funds remaining at the end of the prior fiscal year. Treatment of funds not expended at the end of fiscal year 2002-03 2004-05 is governed by Title 35-A, section 116, subsection 5.
Sec. 4. Report and authority to report legislation. No later than January 1, 2004, the Public Utilities Commission shall submit to the Joint Standing Committee on Utilities and Energy a report describing the commission's activities during fiscal year 2003-04 and the extent to which the assessment authorized in the Maine Revised Statutes, Title 35-A, section 116 limits the commission's ability to fulfill its statutory responsibilities. The commission shall also examine and report on the appropriateness of the apportionment of the assessment between transmission and distribution utilities and other utilities. The Joint Standing Committee on Utilities and Energy may report out legislation to the Second Regular Session of the 121st Legislature relating to the commission's assessments under Title 35-A, section 116.
Emergency clause. In view of the emergency cited in the preamble, this Act takes effect when approved.
Effective May 23, 2003.
| Revisor of Statutes Homepage | Subject Index | Search | 121st Laws of Maine | Maine Legislature |
