North Carolina § 62-302 - Regulatory fee.

§ 62-302. Regulatory fee.

Fee Imposed. - It is the policy of the State of North Carolina to provide fair regulation of public utilities in the interest of the public, as provided in G.S. 62-2. The cost of regulating public utilities is a burden incident to the privilege of operating as a public utility. Therefore, for the purpose of defraying the cost of regulating public utilities, every public utility subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission shall pay a quarterly regulatory fee, in addition to all other fees and taxes, as provided in this section. The fees collected shall be used only to pay the expenses of the Commission and the Public Staff in regulating public utilities in the interest of the public and to maintain a reasonable margin for a reserve fund. The amount of the reserve may not exceed one-half of the cost of operating the Commission and the Public Staff as reflected in the certified budget for the previous fiscal year. Public Utility Rate. - Repealed by Session Laws 2000-140, s. 56, effective July 21, 2000. Unless adjusted under subdivision (3) of this subsection, the public utility fee is a percentage of a utility's jurisdictional revenues as follows: In the first half of each calendar year, the Commission shall review the estimated cost of operating the Commission and the Public Staff for the next fiscal year, including a reasonable margin for the reserve fund allowed under this section. In making this determination, the Commission shall consider all relevant factors that may affect the cost of operating the Commission or the Public Staff or a possible unanticipated change in competitive and noncompetitive jurisdictional revenues. If the estimated receipts provided for under this section are less than the estimated cost of operating the Commission and the Public Staff for the next fiscal year, including the reasonable margin for the reserve fund, then the Commission may increase the public utility regulatory fee on noncompetitive jurisdictional revenues effective for the next fiscal year. In no event may the percentage rate of the public utility regulatory fee on noncompetitive jurisdiction revenues exceed seventeen and one-half hundredths of one percent (0.175%). If the estimated receipts provided for under this section are more than the estimated cost of operating the Commission and the Public Staff for the next fiscal year, including the reasonable margin for the reserve fund, then the Commission shall decrease the public utility regulatory fee on noncompetitive jurisdictional revenues effective for the next fiscal year. As used in this section: "Noncompetitive jurisdictional revenues" means all revenues derived or realized from intrastate tariffs, rates, and charges approved or allowed by the Commission or collected pursuant to Commission order or rule, but not including tap-on fees or any other form of contributions in aid of construction. "Subsection (h) competitive jurisdictional revenues" means all revenues derived from retail services provided by local exchange companies and competing local providers that have elected to operate under G.S. 62-133.5(h). "Subsection (m) competitive jurisdictional revenues" means all revenues derived from retail services provided by local exchange companies and competing local providers that have elected to operate under G.S. 62-133.5(m). Electric Membership Corporation Rate. - The electric membership corporation regulatory fee for each fiscal year is two hundred thousand dollars ($200,000). When Due. - The electric membership corporation regulatory fee imposed under this section shall be paid in quarterly installments. The fee is due and payable to the Commission on or before the 15th day of the second month following the end of each quarter. Use of Proceeds. - A special fund in the office of State Treasurer, the Utilities Commission and Public Staff Fund, is created. The fees collected pursuant to this section and all other funds received by the Commission or the Public Staff, except for the clear proceeds of civil penalties collected pursuant to G.S. 62-50(d) and the clear proceeds of funds forfeited pursuant to G.S. 62-310(a), shall be deposited in the Utilities Commission and Public Staff Fund. The Fund shall be placed in an interest bearing account and any interest or other income derived from the Fund shall be credited to the Fund. Moneys in the Fund shall only be spent pursuant to appropriation by the General Assembly. Fee changes. - If a utility's regulatory fee obligation is changed, the Commission shall either adjust the utility's rates to reflect the change or approve the utility's request for an accounting order allowing deferral of the change in the fee obligation. It is also the policy of the State to provide limited oversight of certain electric membership corporations as provided in G.S. 62-53. Therefore, for the purpose of defraying the cost of providing the oversight authorized by G.S. 62-53 and G.S. 117-18.1 , each fiscal year each electric membership corporation whose principal purpose is to furnish or cause to be furnished bulk electric supplies at wholesale as provided in G.S. 117-16 shall pay an annual fee as provided in this section. Noncompetitive jurisdiction revenues 0.148% Subsection (h) competitive jurisdictional revenues 0.04% Subsection (m) competitive jurisdictional revenues 0.02% The public utility regulatory fee imposed under this section is due and payable to the Commission on or before the 15th day of the second month following the end of each quarter. Every public utility subject to the public utility regulatory fee shall, on or before the date the fee is due for each quarter, prepare and render a report on a form prescribed by the Commission. The report shall state the public utility's total North Carolina jurisdictional revenues for the preceding quarter and shall be accompanied by any supporting documentation that the Commission may by rule require. Receipts shall be reported on an accrual basis. If a public utility's report for the first quarter of any fiscal year shows that application of the percentage rate would yield a quarterly fee of twenty-five dollars ($25.00) or less, the public utility shall pay an estimated fee for the entire fiscal year in the amount of twenty-five dollars ($25.00). If, after payment of the estimated fee, the public utility's subsequent returns show that application of the percentage rate would yield quarterly fees that total more than twenty-five dollars ($25.00) for the entire fiscal year, the public utility shall pay the cumulative amount of the fee resulting from application of the percentage rate, to the extent it exceeds the amount of fees, other than any surcharge, previously paid. The Utilities Commission and Public Staff Fund shall be subject to the provisions of the State Budget Act except that no unexpended surplus of the Fund shall revert to the General Fund. All funds credited to the Utilities Commission and Public Staff Fund shall be used only to pay the expenses of the Commission and the Public Staff in regulating public utilities in the interest of the public as provided by this Chapter and in regulating electric membership corporations as provided in G.S. 117-18.1 . The clear proceeds of civil penalties collected pursuant to G.S. 62-50(d) and the clear proceeds of funds forfeited pursuant to G.S. 62-310(a) shall be remitted to the Civil Penalty and Forfeiture Fund in accordance with G.S. 115C-457.2. History (1989, c. 787, s. 1; 1998-215, s. 126; 1999-180, s. 5; 2000-140, s. 56; 2006-203, s. 18; 2009-238, s. 6; 2011-52, s. 2; 2014-59, s. 1; 2015-134, ss. 1(a), 2, 3.) Percentage Rates for Calculating Regulatory Fee Under Subdivision (b)(2) Prior to the 2015 Amendment. - The percentage rates for calculating regulatory fees under subdivision (b)(2) prior to the effective date of the 2015 amendment were found in Session Laws 2008-107, s. 28.14(b), Session Laws 2009-451, s. 14.26(b), as amended by Session Laws 2010-31, s. 14.14, Session Laws 2011-145, s. 31.4(a), Session Laws 2012-74, s. 1(a), Session Laws 2013-360, s. 15.1(a), as amended by Session Laws 2014-100, s. 15.2B, and Session Laws 2014-59, ss. 2(a), (b), 3(a), (b), and 4. Regulatory Fee Imposed Under Subsection (b1) Prior to the 2015 Amendment. - The regulatory fees imposed under subsection (b1) prior to the effective date of the 2015 amendment were found in Session Laws 2008-107, s. 28.14(b), Session Laws 2009-451, s. 14.26(b), as amended by Session Laws 2010-31, s. 14.14, Session Laws 2011-145, s. 31.4(b), Session Laws 2012-74, s. 1(b), and Session Laws 2013-360, s. 15.1(b). Editor's Note. - The preamble to Session Laws 2009-238, provides: "Whereas, the technology used to provide communications services has evolved and continues to evolve at an ever-increasing pace; and "Whereas, the resulting competition between traditional telephone service providers, cable companies offering communications services, Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) providers, wireless communications service providers, and other communications service providers promotes and continues to promote additional consumer choices for these services; and "Whereas, traditional telephone service providers remain subject to certain antiquated statutory and regulatory restrictions that do not apply to other communications service providers; and "Whereas, this disparity may deprive consumers of traditional telephone companies of the full range of timely and competitive options and offerings that otherwise would be available to them; and "Whereas, the General Assembly finds that relaxing certain restrictions for traditional telephone companies will relieve consumers of unnecessary costs and burdens, encourage investment, and promote timely deployment of more innovative offerings at more competitive prices for customers; and "Whereas, in order to make the full range of competitive options and offerings available to consumers of communications services while maintaining inflation-based price controls for those existing customers who currently receive and wish to continue receiving only stand-alone basic residential lines from traditional telephone companies, the General Assembly hereby enacts the 'Consumer Choice and Investment Act of 2009'; Now, therefore," Session Laws 2015-134, s. 4, provides: "Section 2 [which rewrote (b)(2), (b)(3), (b1), and (e)] is effective July 1, 2015, and applies to jurisdictional revenues earned in each quarter that begins on or after July 1, 2015. Section 3 [which, in the form in subdivision (b)(2), substituted "0.04%" for "0.06%" in the second row, and "0.02%" for "0.05%" in the third row] is effective July 1, 2016, and applies to jurisdictional revenues earned in each quarter that begins on or after July 1, 2016. The remainder of this act is effective when it becomes law." Effect of Amendments. - Session Laws 2006-203, s. 18, effective July 1, 2007, and applicable to the budget for the 2007-2009 biennium and each subsequent biennium thereafter, substituted "G.S. 143C-3-5" for "G.S. 143-11" in the first undesignated paragraphs following the second paragraph of subdivision (b)(2) and subsection (b1); and substituted "State Budget Act" for "Executive Budget Act" in the first sentence of the second paragraph of subsection (d). Session Laws 2009-238, s. 6, effective June 30, 2009, designated the previously existing provisions of subdivision (b)(4) as subdivisions (b)(4) and (b)(4)a; added subdivision (b)(4)b, and made a related stylistic and punctuation change. Session Laws 2011-52, s. 2, effective April 26, 2011, in subdivision (b)(4)b., inserted "or G.S. 62-133.5(m)" and substituted "under those subsections" for "under that subsection" at the end. Session Laws 2014-59, s. 1, effective July 1, 2015, rewrote subdivisions (b)(2) and (b)(4); and added subsection (e). Session Laws 2015-134, s. 1(a), in the first paragraph of subsection (a), added "and to maintain a reasonable margin for a reserve fund" at the end of the former last sentence, and added the present last sentence. For effective date and applicability, see editor's note. Session Laws 2015-134, s. 2, rewrote (b)(2), (b)(3), (b1), and (e). For effective date and applicability, see editor's note. Session Laws 2015-134, s. 3, in the form in subdivision (b)(2), substituted "0.04%" for "0.06%" in the second row, and "0.02%" for "0.05%" in the third row. For effective date and applicability, see editor's note.