Sunset Public Utilities Commission

      Sunset Process - House Energy and Environment Committee. The bill implements recommendations of the department of regulatory agencies in its 2025 sunset review of the public utilities commission (commission) as follows:

• Sections 1 and 2 of the bill continue the commission for 11 years to September 1, 2037;
• Section 3 permits the commission members to engage in nonpublic communications regarding adjudicatory matters after the close of the evidentiary record if prior notice of the communications is provided and the final reasoning and determinations of the matter are later made at a public hearing;

       

• Sections 4 through 9 authorize the commission to send communications by email;
• Sections 10 through 13 modernize certain processes, provide additional transparency, and clarify inconsistencies in certain energy statutes by:

• Aligning the renewable energy standard with the statutes governing clean energy plans;
• Directing the commission to perform a study to identify any barriers to joint procurement by electric utilities with regard to advanced technology generation resources;
• Authorizing the commission to require a commission-regulated utility to contract with one or more third parties to administer certain customer-facing programs; and
• Clarifying that a municipally owned utility, cooperative electric association, independent transmission developer, or independent power producer may appeal to the commission a local government's decision to deny a land use permit or application for a major electrical or natural gas facility owned by the municipally owned utility, cooperative electric association, independent transmission developer, or independent power producer;

• Sections 14 through 19 authorize the commission to direct investor-owned electric utilities to use securitization through the 'Colorado Energy Impact Bond Act' as an alternative means of financing and recovering costs;
• Section 20 requires the commission to:

• Adopt rules standardizing the implementation of the various income-based energy assistance programs provided by commission-regulated utilities in the state; and
• Conduct a study into commission-regulated utilities' income-based energy assistance programs to determine whether funding access and equity can be improved in the state;

• Section 21 :

• Prohibits an individual from impersonating a transportation network company (TNC) driver (driver). An individual who violates the prohibition commits a class 2 misdemeanor. An individual who impersonates a driver during the commission of a felony offense commits a class 6 felony. A TNC is required to conduct periodic checks utilizing facial recognition software to prevent driver impersonation in accordance with rules adopted by the commission.
• Requires a TNC to anonymize data reported to the commission concerning driver refusals to provide service to a rider and the commission to make the anonymized reports available to the public;
• Requires a TNC to provide information about the commission, including the commission's contact information, to a rider in accordance with rules adopted by the commission; and
• Repeals the burden to prove that a driver's violation was reported to the TNC for the TNC to be held liable for the violation and raises the fine for a violation from $550 to $1,100;

• Section 22 requires TNCs to annually submit to the commission a report, redacted to protect personal identifying information, that contains all safety-related incident reports made to or created by the TNC in the preceding calendar year. The commission shall make the reports publicly available.

       

• Section 23 expands the types of drivers who need to have criminal history record checks performed to include drivers who are employed by any motor carriers and contract carriers;
• Section 24 requires the commission to perform a market study to determine if the current systems of regulating intrastate contract and common carriers optimally balance consumer protections with industry and regulatory efficiency and to report its findings and recommendations based on the study to the general assembly by January 1, 2028;
• Sections 25 and 26 replace the current inspection requirements for a charter bus, children's activity bus, fire crew transport, luxury limousine, off-road scenic charter, and large-market taxicab with a requirement that these vehicles be inspected on a schedule and to a standard set by rules adopted by the commission;
• Sections 27 through 33 update the state railroad regulation requirements to mirror current federal law and to repeal obsolete provisions;
• Section 34 removes the $500 fee cap paid by companies to access the Colorado no-call list, replaces it with a $1,000 fee cap, and requires conforming list brokers, which are companies that purchase the no-call list and sell it to other companies, to pay a fee established by the commission by rule;
• Sections 35 through 39 apply the fees that the commission assesses on public utilities on intrastate telecommunications and voice service providers to help finance the commission's telecommunications-related work;
• Section 40 aligns the usage of money collected from charges related to the provision of 911 services with federal requirements by clarifying that the money may be expended for public safety radio equipment outside of a public safety answering point only if the equipment is used for dispatching emergency service providers to respond to 911 calls;
• Section 41 authorizes the commission to adopt rules that establish caps on rates charged by penal communications service providers on intrastate penal communications services provided for intrastate communications with individuals in correctional facilities and to enforce the intrastate rate. Section 41 also requires penal communications service providers to cooperate with commission staff when the staff is performing biannual testing of penal communications services.
• Section 42 exempts small operators of natural gas pipelines from the minimum $5,000 civil penalty required for violations of pipeline safety laws and authorizes the commission to impose a lesser civil penalty against a small operator; and
• Section 43 directs the commission to perform a study identifying all privately owned water utilities in the state and assessing their financial conditions and needs.(Note: This summary applies to this bill as introduced.)