Public service commission fees.

04LSO-0210.C1

                                                         

FISCAL NOTE (HB0041)

	FY 2005	FY 2006	FY 2007
NON-ADMINISTRATIVE IMPACT
Anticipated Revenue Increase (Decrease):
GENERAL FUND	(7,092)	(7,092)	(7,092)
SPECIAL REVENUE FUND	47,722	47,722	47,722

 

Source of revenue increase (decrease): Filing and other fees paid by utilities and others as provided for in the bill, at increased levels. Redistribution of fees from the General Fund to an account in the Special Revenue Fund.

 

Assumptions:

 

If the bill’s revised PSC fee schedule [amending W.S. § 37-2-125] were applied to actual experience during FY03, the PSC would have collected $45,360 in application fees for tariff applications, rate adjustments, investigations, contract filings, certificate applications and securities filings.  Under the existing fee schedule, these filings in FY03 produced fees of $4,730, which means that the actual revenue increase would be approximately $40,630. 

 

The bill, in amending W.S. § 37-1-105, does not change the filing fee for a utility reorganization, resulting in no net increase in revenue to the State. In FY03, filing fees under this provision amounted to $1900. The bill does not change the PSC’s copy fees, although it substitutes per page in place of per “folio” charges [proposed W.S. § 37-2-125(a)(v)].  In addition to other fees, under the existing “folio” provision, the PSC collected $462.30 for copies in FY03. The bill redirects these fees to the PSC’s account in the Special Revenue Fund and away from the General Fund.  Thus, all of the described fees would be available on appropriation by the legislature to the applied to PSC operating expenses.

 

There is no statutory requirement that the described filings be made with any certain regularity [e.g., rate cases may be filed as often or as infrequently as a utility wishes].  Therefore, any figure given would only be an estimate based on [i] past experience and [ii] the increased level of fees provided for in the bill.  We do not believe that the change in fee levels would affect the number or type of filings made with the PSC.

 

The estimated fees for reorganizations, copies, and existing levels of filing fees, in the total amount of $7,092.30, as discussed above, would not go to the general fund but would be redirected to the PSC’s account in the special revenue fund.  Under the bill, all of the fees would be applied to defraying the operating expenses of the PSC upon appropriation by the legislature.

 

Prepared by:   Dean Temte, LSO    Phone:   777-7881

(Information provided by Steve Oxley, PSC; phone 777-7427)