2005 Idaho Code - 61-505 — JOINT HEARINGS AND INVESTIGATIONS -- RECIPROCITY -- CONTRACTS WITH REGULATORY AGENCIES OF NEIGHBORING STATES

                                  TITLE  61
                          PUBLIC UTILITY REGULATION
                                  CHAPTER 5
                             POWERS AND DUTIES OF
                         PUBLIC UTILITIES COMMISSION
    61-505.  JOINT HEARINGS AND INVESTIGATIONS -- RECIPROCITY -- CONTRACTS
WITH REGULATORY AGENCIES OF NEIGHBORING STATES. (1) The commission shall have
full power and authority to make joint investigations, hold joint hearings
within or without the state of Idaho with any official, board, commission, or
agency of any state or of the United States, whether in the holding of the
investigations or hearings the commission shall function under agreements or
compacts between states or under the concurrent power of states to regulate
the interstate commerce, or as an agency of the federal government, or
otherwise.
    (2)  The commission shall have full power and authority to contract with
the regulatory agencies of neighboring states to hold hearings and set rates
and charges for customers in Idaho located in or nearby border communities
served by utilities principally located in states other than Idaho. These
contracts may have a term that extends beyond the terms of the current
commissioners.
    (3)  The commission shall have this authority under subsection (2) of this
section only if it finds that:
    (a)  The affected Idaho residents live in or nearby a border community
    that is or may be served by a utility principally located in a state other
    than Idaho;
    (b)  The provision of utility service to such a community by a utility
    located principally in a state other than Idaho is in the public interest;
    (c)  It is impractical or not in the public interest to conduct
    proceedings for these affected Idaho residents separate from proceedings
    conducted by the regulatory agency of the neighboring state for rate
    payers of that utility located in that state;
    (d)  The affected Idaho residents have full rights of participation in the
    hearings conducted by the regulatory agency with which the commission has
    contracted, as well as the same rights that customers in the neighboring
    state have to pursue service-related issues; and
    (e)  The rates, charges and service regulations for Idaho customers are
    not less favorable than those of similarly situated customers in the
    neighboring state.
    (4)  When the commission has entered into a contract authorized in
subsection (2) of this section, the findings, decisions and orders of the
regulatory agency of the neighboring state are presumptively correct and will
take effect according to the terms of the order of the regulatory agency of
the neighboring state. Affected Idaho customers may petition the commission
for a review of the contract or the rates set under the contract upon a
showing that:
    (a)  All remedies with the neighboring state's utility have been
    exhausted;
    (b)  All remedies with the neighboring state's regulatory agency with
    which the commission has signed a contract have been exhausted; and
    (c)  Idaho customers have been discriminatorily, preferentially or
    otherwise unlawfully treated by the regulatory agency of the neighboring
    state.
The commission, upon its preliminary finding that rates set by the regulatory
agency of the neighboring state are prima facie discriminatory, preferential
or otherwise unlawful, and that all remedies with the neighboring state's
utility and commission have been exhausted, may initiate proceedings to review
the decision of the regulatory agency of the neighboring state. Any subsequent
order of the commission altering the decision of the regulatory agency of the
neighboring state will be of prospective effect only.
    (5)  The contract authorized in subsection (2) of this section, may be
revoked if the commission finds that the affected Idaho residents have been
unreasonably, discriminatorily, preferentially or otherwise unlawfully treated
by the neighboring state's regulatory agency.