SB 646

Under current law, a public utility may not change the rates that it charges to

customers without first applying to the Public Service Commission for approval of

the change.

This bill requires a public utility that supplies gas or electricity to its customers

to provide notice to those customers with their utility bills if the utility submits a rate

change application to PSC or if the utility submits an amendment to such an

application that would change a proposed rate by 1 percent or more. If PSC approves

such a rate change, the bill also requires the public utility to provide notice of the rate

change to customers with their utility bills. The bill requires the public utility to

provide notice of a proposed or final rate change as an insert to a paper bill or in the

email by which a digital bill is sent. The bill requires a notice of a proposed or final

rate change to include a number of items, such as the impact of the rate change on

customers, represented as a percentage increase or decrease and as a dollar increase

or decrease for the average customer in each class of customers; the amount that a

rate increase will generate in revenue annually for the public utility; and a

comparison of current and proposed or new rates with average rates across the

Midwest, as calculated by PSC. The bill also requires a notice of a proposed rate

change to include information to facilitate consumer access to and public comments

on the rate case.

The bill requires the public utility to submit to PSC a copy of the notice and

requires PSC to include it as a record in the docket. However, the bill allows PSC to

require the public utility to provide a new notice if it determines the notice does not

meet the requirements under the bill or is not easily comprehensible by a typical

customer. The bill also requires the public utility to make the notice or a link to the

notice available on the home page of its website or on a web page used by customers

to view and pay bills online, or both, for at least 90 days beginning on the day the first

notice is provided to customers.

Under the bill, PSC may not open a public comment period or issue a final

decision on a proposed rate change until a copy of the required notice of an initial rate

change application is submitted to PSC and may not close a public comment period

or issue a final decision on a proposed rate change until a copy of the required notice

of an amendment to such an application is submitted to PSC.