Section 8-1-2-42.7 - Designation of test period; temporary implementation of rates and charges; extension of time; reconciliation of rates and charges(a) For purposes of this section,"average prime rate" means the arithmetic mean, to the nearest one-hundredth of one percent (0.01%), of the prime rate values published in the Federal Reserve Bulletin for the three (3) months preceding the first month of a calendar quarter.(b) For purposes of this section, "case in chief" includes the following: (1) Testimony, exhibits, and supporting work papers.(2) Proposed test year and rate base cutoff dates.(3) Proposed revenue requirements.(4) Jurisdictional operating revenues and expenses, including taxes and depreciation.(5) Balance sheet and income statements.(6) Jurisdictional rate base.(7) Proposed cost of capital and capital structure.(8) Jurisdictional class cost of service study.(9) Proposed rate design and pro forma tariff sheets.(c) For purposes of this section, "utility" refers to the following:(2) A municipally owned utility.(3) A cooperative owned utility.(d) In a petition filed with the commission to change basic rates and charges, a utility may designate a test period for the commission to use. The utility must include with its petition the utility's complete case in chief. The commission shall approve a test period that is one (1) of the following: (1) A forward looking test period determined on the basis of projected data for the twelve (12) month period beginning not later than twenty-four (24) months after the date on which the utility petitions the commission for a change in its basic rates and charges.(2) A historic test period based on a twelve (12) month period that ends not more than two hundred seventy (270) days before the date on which the utility petitions the commission for a change in its basic rates and charges. The commission may adjust a historic test period for fixed, known, and measurable changes and appropriate normalizations and annualizations.(3) A hybrid test period based on at least twelve (12) consecutive months of combined historic data and projected data. The commission may adjust the historic data as set forth in subdivision (2).(e) This subsection does not apply to a proceeding in which a utility is seeking an increase in basic rates and charges and requesting initial relief under IC 8-1-2.5-5 or IC 8-1-2.5-6. If the commission does not issue an order on a petition filed by a utility under subsection (d) within three hundred (300) days after the utility files its case in chief in support of the proposed increase, the utility may temporarily implement fifty percent (50%) of the utility's proposed permanent increase in basic rates and charges, subject to the commission's review and determination under subsection (f). The utility shall submit the proposed temporary rates and charges to the commission at least thirty (30) days before the date on which the utility seeks to implement the temporary rates and charges. The temporary rates and charges may reflect proposed or existing approved customer class allocations and rate designs. However, if the utility uses a forward looking test period described in subsection (d)(1) or a hybrid test period described in subsection (d)(3), the utility may not: (1) implement the temporary increase before the date on which the projected data period begins; or(2) object during a proceeding before the commission to a discovery request for historic data as described in subsection (d)(2) solely on the basis that the utility has designated a forward looking or hybrid test period.(f) The commission shall review the temporary rates and charges to determine compliance with this section. The temporary rates and charges take effect on the latest of the following dates unless the commission determines that the temporary rates and charges are not properly designed in compliance with this section:(1) The date proposed by the utility.(2) Three hundred (300) days after the date on which the utility files its case in chief.(3) The termination of any extension of the three hundred (300) day deadline authorized under subsection (g) or (h). If the commission determines that the temporary rates and charges are not properly designed in compliance with this section, the utility may cure the defect and file the corrected temporary rates and charges with the commission within a reasonable period determined by the commission.
(g) If the commission grants a utility an extension of the procedural schedule, the commission may extend the three hundred (300) day deadline set forth in subsection (e) by the length of the extension.(h) The commission may suspend the three hundred (300) day deadline set forth in subsection (e) one (1) time for good cause. The suspension may not exceed sixty (60) days.(i) If a utility implements temporary rates and charges that differ from the permanent rates and charges approved by the commission in a final order on the petition filed under subsection (d), the utility shall perform a reconciliation and implement a refund, in the form of a credit rider, or a surcharge, as applicable, on customer bills rendered on or after the date the commission approves the credit or surcharge. The refund or surcharge shall be credited or added in equal amounts each month for six (6) months. The amount of the total refund or surcharge equals the amount by which the temporary rates and charges differ from the permanent rates and charges, plus, for a refund only, interest at the applicable average prime rate for each calendar quarter during which the temporary rates and charges were in effect.Added by P.L. 133-2013, SEC. 4, eff. 4/30/2013.