Iowa Administrative Code › Agency 199 - Utilities Division › Utilities and Transportation Divisions › Chapter 26 - Rate Cases, Tariffs, and Rate Regulation Election Practice and Procedure › Rule 199-26.16 - Rate Regulation Election-electric Cooperative Corporations and Associations

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 3, July 24, 2024
(1)
Application of rules.
Electric cooperative corporations and
				associations shall not be subject to the jurisdiction of the commission except
				as provided in Iowa Code section 476.1A and this chapter.
a.
Procedure for election by
				members.
Upon petition of not less than 10 percent of the members of
				an electric cooperative or upon its own motion, the board of directors of an
				electric cooperative shall order a referendum election to be held to determine
				whether the electric cooperative shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the
				commission. A petition for election shall be completed within 60 days of
				commencement.
(1) Any member of an electric
				cooperative desiring a referendum election shall sign a petition for election
				addressed to the board of directors of an electric cooperative, in
				substantially the following form:
PETITION FOR ELECTION
TO: (Board of Directors of subject electric
				  cooperative)
The undersigned members request you call an election to
				  submit to the members the following proposition:
Shall . . . (name of the electric cooperative) be subject to
				  rate regulation by the Iowa Utilities Commission?
Signature Address Date
(2) Where signatures are made on more than
				one sheet, each sheet of the petition shall reproduce above the signatures the
				same matter as is on the first sheet. Each petitioner shall sign the
				petitioner's name in the petitioner's own handwriting and shall write the
				petitioner's address and the date on which the petitioner signed.
(3) The petition shall be filed with the
				board of directors of the electric cooperative and an election shall be held
				not less than 60 days nor more than 90 days from the date on which the petition
				was filed.
(4) On the election
				date, the board of directors of the electric cooperative shall mail by
				first-class mail to each member of the electric cooperative a ballot containing
				the following language:
Shall . . . (name of the electric cooperative) be subject to
				  rate regulation by the Iowa Utilities Commission? Yes/No.
(5) The ballot shall also contain a
				self-addressed envelope to return the ballot to the secretary of the board of
				directors of the electric cooperative. The ballot shall be dated when received
				by the secretary. The ballot must be received by the secretary not more than 30
				days after it was mailed to the members. The election procedure shall require a
				signature form for verification, but shall not allow the signature to be traced
				to the vote of a particular member.
(6) The issue in the election shall be
				decided by a majority of the members voting, whose ballots are received by the
				secretary. Fifty-one percent of the membership shall constitute a quorum for
				the election. The secretary shall certify the results of the election and file
				the results with the commission within 30 days of the election.