Signed by Governor Roy Cooper III

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that authorizes rate changes to public electric utilities for storm recovery costs.

Highlights:

• Authorizes the North Carolina Utilities Commission to approve multiyear rate plans, banding of authorized returns, or a combination of both, in a general rate case proceeding for rate-making mechanisms, plans, or settlements proposed by an electric public utility (Sec. 2).

• Defines “multiyear rate plan” as a rate mechanism under which the Commission sets base rates and revenue requirements for a multiyear plan period and authorizes periodic changes in base rates during the approved plan period without the need for a base rate proceeding during the plan period (Sec. 2).

• Authorizes the Commission to authorize amounts to repay, finance, or refinance storm recovery costs and financing costs that are non-bypassable charges (Sec. 1):

• Imposed on all and part of customer bills;

• Collected by a public utility or its successors or assignees, or a collection agent, in full, separate and apart from the public utility’s base rates; and

• Paid by all existing or future retail customers receiving transmission or distribution service, or both, from the public utility or its successors or assignees under Commission-approved rate schedules, even if a customer elects to purchase electricity from an alternative electricity supplier following a fundamental change in regulation of public utilities in the state.

• Authorizes a public utility to petition the Commission for a financing order (Sec. 1).

• Defines “financing order” as an order that authorizes the issuance of storm recovery bonds; the imposition, collection, and periodic adjustments of a storm recovery charge; the creation of storm recovery property; and the sale, assignment, or transfer of storm recovery property to an assignee (Sec. 1).

• Prohibits the Commission from considering the storm recovery bonds issues in order to acquire a financing order, to be the debt of the public utility other than for federal income tax purposes, consider the storm recovery charges paid under the financing order to be the revenue to the public utility for any purpose, or consider the storm recovery costs to be the costs of the public utility, nor may the Commission determine any action taken by a public utility, which is consistent with the financing order to be unjust or unreasonable (Sec. 1).

• Prohibits the Commission from requiring a public utility to use storm recovery bonds to finance any project, addition, plant, facility, extension, capital improvement, equipment, or any other expenditure (Sec. 1).

• Specifies that after the issuance of a financing order, the public utility retains sole discretion regarding whether to cause the storm recovery bonds to be issued, including the right to defer or postpone such sale, assignment, transfer, or issuance, and nothing shall prevent the public utility from abandoning the issuance of storm recovery bonds under the financing order (Sec. 1).  

Full Bill Text