Powers and duties of an electric transmission company and certificates of public convenience and necessity and permits for certain electric generating facilities and high-voltage transmission lines

This bill requires instead that the PSC must submit the copies within ten days after the PSC determines that the application is complete or after the application is considered to be complete. In addition, current law requires an applicant for a CPCN for a high-voltage transmission line to submit a detailed project plan to the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) at least 60 days prior to filing the CPCN application. This bill eliminates the requirement to submit the plan to DNR.

Current law also provides that, if an applicant for a CPCN is also required to obtain one or more permits from DNR, the applicant must use a procedure for submitting only one application to DNR for all of the required DNR permits (combined permit procedure), rather than submitting separate applications to DNR for each permit. However, the combined permit procedure does not apply if the only DNR permit the applicant is required to obtain is a storm water discharge permit.

Current law specifies two deadlines for DNR to complete action on the permit applications. The first deadline is that DNR must complete action within 120 days after the date on which the permit application is complete or considered to be complete. Like the PSC, current law requires DNR to determine whether an application is complete within 30 days after filing, allows an applicant to refile an application that is incomplete, and specifies that, if DNR fails to determine that an application is complete within 30 days after filing or refiling, the application is considered to be complete. The second deadline is that DNR must complete action on the permit application within 30 days after the PSC issues its decision on the CPCN application. This bill provides that, if the combined permit procedure applies to an applicant, the second deadline applies to DNR, and not the first deadline.

Also under current law, certain electric utilities have contributed their transmission facilities to a transmission company, which is defined, in part, as a company whose sole purpose is the planning, constructing, operating, maintaining, and expanding of transmission facilities that it owns. In addition, under current law, the transmission company has certain duties and powers, including the power to purchase or acquire transmission facilities in addition to those contributed by the electric utilities, subject to any approvals that are required under federal or state law. This bill revises that power so that the transmission company is also allowed to purchase or acquire the right to provide transmission service over transmission facilities that it does not own. The bill makes a related change to the definition of "transmission company" so that the purpose of the transmission company is to provide transmission service, which is not limited to transmission facilities that it owns. Finally, the bill specifies that the transmission company may exercise its powers either directly or through one or more affiliates.