Iowa Admin. Code r. 199-20.19 - [Effective 7/16/2025] Transmission cost adjustment (TCA)
(1)
Transmission cost adjustment. Pursuant to Iowa Code section
476.6(8)
"b," public utilities may automatically adjust rates and
charges to recover transmission-related costs incurred by or charged to the
public utility consistent with a tariff or agreement that is subject to the
jurisdiction of the FERC, provided that a schedule showing the automatic
adjustment of rates and charges is first filed with and approved by the
commission. Transmission cost adjustments shall be computed and tracked
separately for each customer classification or grouping previously approved by
the commission and shall use the same unit of measure as the utility's tariffed
rates. Changes in the customer classification and grouping on file are not
automatic and require prior approval by the commission. If any eligible cost is
recovered outside of the TCA, the cost shall not be recovered through the TCA
until the cost is removed from its current recovery mechanism. If any eligible
cost is recovered outside of the TCA, the cost shall not be recovered through
the TCA until the cost is removed from base rates during a utility's rate case.
The TCA factor shall be included as a separate line item on the customer's
bill.
(2)
TCA annual
factor. An annual TCA factor update shall be filed as a tariff (TF)
docket at least 30 days prior to the beginning of the utility's TCA year. The
TCA update shall include information describing which eligible TCA costs are
being recovered through the TCA and, if not recovered through the TCA, where
eligible costs are being recovered. The annual TCA factors for each customer
classification or grouping shall be based upon forecasted transmission costs
allocated to Iowa retail customers, forecasted Iowa sales or demand, and
allocation factors approved by the commission. The forecasted allocation
factors shall be based on a three-year average of the actual allocation factors
for each of the three previous calendar years. For customers billed by kWh, the
factors shall be developed on a kWh basis. For customers billed by kW, the
factors shall be developed on a kW basis. In addition, the following is
required to be included with this filing:
a. A
listing of all transmission costs that are incurred by or charged to the public
utility and are consistent with a tariff or agreement that is subject to the
jurisdiction of the FERC, detailing where each transmission cost is currently
being recovered (e.g., base rates, TCA).
b. A time series chart of each transmission
cost eligible for inclusion in the TCA for the previous three calendar
years.
(3)
Annual
reconciliation. Within four months after the effective date of annual
TCA factors, a utility shall file an annual reconciliation based upon actual
costs and revenues attributed to Iowa customers for the prior calendar year.
The annual reconciliation shall be filed in the same TF docket identified for
the annual filing required in subrule 20.19(2). The reconciliation shall
include updated allocators for each customer classification or grouping based
on actual load data from the prior calendar year. The actual costs for the
prior calendar year shall be allocated to each customer class based upon the
updated allocation factors. The utility shall compare the actual transmission
costs allocated to each customer class with the actual revenue billed through
the TCA by customer class net of the prior year's reconciliation dollar amount
for each customer class. Any resulting overcollection or undercollection for
each class shall be divided by the forecasted sales or demand for each customer
class for the remainder of the TCA period. The resulting adjustments shall be
added to the effective TCA factors that were approved in the TCA annual factor
filing under subrule 20.19(2). The adjusted TCA factor for customers billed by
kWh shall be developed on a kWh basis, and for customers billed on a kW basis,
the adjusted TCA factor shall be developed on a kW basis.
(4)
Other adjustments to the TCA
factor. A utility may propose other adjustments to the TCA factor
throughout the 12-month TCA period to assist with accurate recovery of
forecasted costs and revenues, subject to commission approval. Any midyear
adjustments shall be filed in the same TF docket as the annual filing. If a
utility proposes an adjustment to the TCA factor, other than the reconciliation
required in subrule 20.19(3), the utility shall provide an explanation for the
proposed adjustment and provide information to support the proposed adjustment.
For any customer billed by kWh, the proposed adjustment shall be developed on a
kWh basis. For any customer billed on a kW basis, the proposed adjustment shall
be developed on a kW basis.
(5)
Quarterly informational filings. By the end of the month
following the end of each calendar quarter, the utility shall file a report
containing, at minimum, the current cumulative overcollection or
undercollection balance, support for the overcollection or undercollection
calculation, the total transmission cost for the current calendar year by
category, and the supporting invoices and documentation for the most recent
calendar quarter. The reports shall be filed in the same TF docket as the
annual TCA filing.
(6)
Semiannual transmission reports. Each year at the beginning,
and midpoint of a utility's TCA year, each utility shall file a report
detailing the utility's transmission-related activities. These reports shall
detail the utility's recent efforts to mitigate transmission costs and
influence policy to the benefit of the utility and its ratepayers.
(7)
Midcontinent Independent System
Operator, Inc. (MISO) refunds. Any utility utilizing a TCA mechanism
that receives transmission-related refunds from MISO shall file a refund plan
for commission approval, detailing how the utility will distribute the refund
to customers. The refund plan must be filed once the amount and timing of the
refund is known to the utility. The refund plan shall include an applicable
interest rate for refund amounts held more than 30 days, the method of
distributing the refund to customers, and the timing of distributing the refund
to customers.
Notes
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
(1) Notification. The notification requirements in subrules 20.19(1) and 20.19(2) are for the timely collection of electric outage information that may be useful to emergency management agencies in providing for the welfare of individual Iowa citizens. Each electric utility shall notify the board when it is projected that an outage may result in a loss of service for more than six hours and the outage meets one of the following criteria:
a. Loss of service for more than six hours to substantially all of a municipality, including the surrounding area served by the same utility. A utility may use loss of service to 75 percent or more of customers within a municipality, including the surrounding area served by the utility, to meet this criterion;
b. Loss of service for more than six hours to 20 percent of the customers in a utility's established zone or loss of service to more than 5,000 customers in a metropolitan area, whichever is less;
c. A major event as defined in subrule 20.18(4); or
d. Any other outage considered significant by the electric utility. This includes loss of service for more than six hours to significant public health and safety facilities known to the utility at the time of the notification, even when the outage does not meet the criteria in paragraphs 20.19(1)"a" and "b."
(2) Information required.
a. Notification shall be provided regarding outages that meet the requirements of subrule 20.19(1) by notifying the board duty officer by email at dutyofficer@iub.iowa.govor, in appropriate circumstances, by telephone at (515)745-2332. Notification shall be made at the earliest possible time after it is determined the event may be reportable and should include the following information, as available:
(1) The general nature or cause of the outage;
(2) The area affected;
(3) The approximate number of customers that have experienced a loss of electric service as a result of the outage;
(4) The time when service is estimated to be restored; and
(5) The name of the utility, the name and telephone number of the person making the report, and the name and telephone number of a contact person knowledgeable about the outage.
The notice should be supplemented as more complete or accurate information is available.
b. The utility shall provide to the board updates of the estimated time when service will be restored to all customers able to receive service orof significant changed circumstances, unless service is restored within one hour of the time initially estimated.
c. The utility shall notify the board once service is fully restored to all customers after an outage meeting the requirements of subrule 20.19(1).