§ 3203 — Adoption Of Certain Standards

(a) and (4) of subsection (b)), each State regulatory authority (with respect to each gas utility for which it has ratemaking authority) and each nonregulated gas utility shall provide public notice and conduct a hearing respecting the standards established by subsection (b), and, on the basis of such hearing, shall— (1) adopt the standard established by subsection (b)(1), if, and to the extent, such authority or nonregulated utility determines that such adoption is appropriate and is consistent with otherwise applicable State law, and (2) (4), (5), and (6) of subsection (b), if, and to the extent, such authority or nonregulated utility determines that such adoption is appropriate to carry out the purposes of this chapter, is otherwise appropriate, and is consistent with otherwise applicable State law. (b) The following Federal standards are hereby established: (1) No gas utility may terminate natural gas service to any gas consumer except pursuant to procedures described in section 3204(a) of this title. (2) No gas utility may recover from any person other than the shareholders (or other owners) of such utility any direct or indirect expenditure by such utility for promotional or political advertising as defined in section 3204(b) of this title. (3) Each gas utility shall employ, in order to provide adequate and reliable service to its gas customers at the lowest system cost. All plans or filings of a State regulated gas utility before a State regulatory authority to meet the requirements of this paragraph shall (A) be updated on a regular basis, (B) provide the opportunity for public participation and comment, (C) provide for methods of validating predicted performance, and (D) contain a requirement that the plan be implemented after approval of the State regulatory authority. Subsection (c) shall not apply to this paragraph to the extent that it could be construed to require the State regulatory authority to extend the record of a State proceeding in submitting reports to the Federal Government. (4) The rates charged by any State regulated gas utility shall be such that the utility’s prudent investments in, and expenditures for, energy conservation and load shifting programs and for other demand-side management measures which are consistent with the findings and purposes of the Energy Policy Act of 1992 are at least as profitable (taking into account the income lost due to reduced sales resulting from such programs) as prudent investments in, and expenditures for, the acquisition or construction of supplies and facilities. This objective requires that (A) regulators link the utility’s net revenues, at least in part, to the utility’s performance in implementing cost-effective programs promoted by this section; and (B) regulators ensure that, for purposes of recovering fixed costs, including its authorized return, the utility’s performance is not affected by reductions in its retail sales volumes. (5) Each natural gas utility shall— (A) integrate energy efficiency resources into the plans and planning processes of the natural gas utility; and (B) adopt policies that establish energy efficiency as a priority resource in the plans and planning processes of the natural gas utility. (A) The rates allowed to be charged by a natural gas utility shall align utility incentives with the deployment of cost-effective energy efficiency. (B) In complying with subparagraph (A), each State regulatory authority and each nonregulated utility shall consider— (i) separating fixed-cost revenue recovery from the volume of transportation or sales service provided to the customer; (ii) providing to utilities incentives for the successful management of energy efficiency programs, such as allowing utilities to retain a portion of the cost-reducing benefits accruing from the programs; (iii) promoting the impact on adoption of energy efficiency as 1 of the goals of retail rate design, recognizing that energy efficiency must be balanced with other objectives; and (iv) adopting rate designs that encourage energy efficiency for each customer class. (c) Each State regulatory authority (with respect to each gas utility for which it has ratemaking authority) and each nonregulated gas utility, within the 2-year period specified in subsection (a), shall adopt, pursuant to subsection (a), each of the standards established by subsection (b), or, with respect to any such standard which is not adopted, such authority or nonregulated gas utility shall state in writing that it has determined not to adopt such standard, together with the reasons for such determination. Such statement of reasons shall be available to the public. (d) If a State regulatory authority implements a standard established by subsection (b)(3) or (4), such authority shall— (1) consider the impact that implementation of such standard would have on small businesses engaged in the design, sale, supply, installation, or servicing of energy conservation, energy efficiency, or other demand-side management measures, and (2) implement such standard so as to assure that utility actions would not provide such utilities with unfair competitive advantages over such small businesses.