by Julie Smith, IAMU Legislative and Regulatory Counsel
On December 3, 2014, the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) opened a new Notice of Inquiry, NOI-2014-0004 to address two issues that were raised in the now closed Payment Plan NOI.
On December 3, 2014, the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) opened a new Notice of Inquiry, NOI-2014-0004 to address two issues that were raised in the now closed Payment Plan NOI.
The first issue was raised by MidAmerican Energy and asks the question of whether a payment agreement is a written agreement for purposes of the 10-year statute of limitations. The Iowa Code establishes a 5 year statute of limitation for recovery of debt for unwritten contracts and 10 years for written contracts. Also at issue is whether the statute of limitation provisions apply to debts owed for natural gas and electric service under chapter 476.
The second issue was raised by IAMU in response to member concerns over whether the IUB has jurisdiction over municipal utilities in regard to level payment plan rules. IAMU filed a request for the IUB to consider this issue and argued that level payment plan rules are not related to disconnections and therefore section 476.20 does not give the IUB jurisdiction. The Consumer Advocate filed a response in opposition.
The IUB has specifically asked for responses on the following questions:
Initial responses are due on January 15, 2015. Reply Comments are due on February 2, 2015. IAMU will file a response and welcomes any member input on these issues. Please email Julie at jasmithlaw@mchsi.com with comments.
The second issue was raised by IAMU in response to member concerns over whether the IUB has jurisdiction over municipal utilities in regard to level payment plan rules. IAMU filed a request for the IUB to consider this issue and argued that level payment plan rules are not related to disconnections and therefore section 476.20 does not give the IUB jurisdiction. The Consumer Advocate filed a response in opposition.
The IUB has specifically asked for responses on the following questions:
- Whether, and under what circumstances, a written payment agreement should be considered a written contract for purposes of calculating the ten-year statute of limitations established in Iowa Code section 614.1(5)
- Whether statutes of limitations … are applicable to debts for natural gas or electric service under Board jurisdiction pursuant to Iowa Code chapter 476.
- Whether level payment plans relate to disconnection of natural gas and electric service under the provisions of Iowa Code section 476.20(3)(a) and other applicable provisions in Iowa Code section 476.20.
Initial responses are due on January 15, 2015. Reply Comments are due on February 2, 2015. IAMU will file a response and welcomes any member input on these issues. Please email Julie at jasmithlaw@mchsi.com with comments.
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