Title 69, Title 69

(1) Except as provided in subsection (2), the reports, records, accounts, files, papers, and memoranda of every nature in the possession of the commission are open to the public during regular business hours, as defined in 2-16-117. (2) The commission may issue a protective order…

(1) The commission has the authority to inquire into the management of the business of all public utilities, shall keep itself informed as to the manner and method in which the business is conducted, and has the right to obtain from any public utility all necessary information to…

(1) The commission, some member of the commission, or some person deputed by it shall investigate and make inquiry into every accident occurring in the operation of any public utility in this state resulting in death or injury to any person that requires 3 days or more of hospita…

(1) The commission shall ascertain and prescribe for each kind of public utility suitable and convenient commercial units of product or service. These are lawful units for the purposes of this chapter. (2) The commission shall ascertain and fix adequate and serviceable standards …

The commission may, in its discretion, investigate and ascertain the value of the property of each public utility actually used and useful for the convenience of the public. The commission is not bound to accept or use any particular value in determining rates. However, if any va…

(1) The commission shall inquire into any neglect or violation of the laws of this state by any public utility, as hereinbefore defined, doing business in this state or by the officers, agents, or employees thereof. The commission shall enforce the provisions of this chapter and …

The purpose of this part is to provide aggrieved customers and the commission a course of action against operator service providers that charge customers exorbitant rates for intrastate calls from a pay telephone or certain other telephones in commercial establishments and public…

As used in this part, the following definitions apply: (1) "Aggregator surcharge" means a charge to a customer by an entity that, in the ordinary course of its operations, makes telephones available to the public or to transient users of its premises for intrastate telephone call…

The commission may adopt rules that it determines are necessary to implement this part.

An operator service provider shall: (1) identify itself, audibly and distinctly, to the customer at the beginning of each telephone call and before the customer incurs any charges. Each operator service provider shall also identify itself to the billed party when verifying third-…

(1) An operator service provider that charges a customer more than the allowable rate is liable: (a) to the customer for three times the cost of the call charged to the customer or $500, whichever is greater; and (b) to the state for the penalty prescribed in 69-3-206, for other …

A telecommunications carrier that enters into a contract with an operator service provider for the purpose of providing billing services for operator service providers shall include a disclosure in each customer's bill that: (1) plainly and clearly identifies the operator service…

(1) Upon application, the commission may, by order, determine that any person not otherwise a public utility is not a public utility subject to the jurisdiction, control, or regulation of the commission under this title solely because the person owns or controls any plant or equi…

(1) The purchases of coal or other boiler fuel for the generation of electricity by a public utility from a fuel supplier that is an affiliate of the public utility are subject to review by the commission to enable the commission to determine whether the costs incurred by the pub…

A public utility as defined in 69-3-101 may acquire by eminent domain any interest in property, as provided in Title 70, chapter 30, for a public use authorized by law to provide service to the customers of its regulated service.

This part may be cited as the "Montana Integrated Least-Cost Resource Planning and Acquisition Act".

(1) (a) It is the policy of the state to supervise, regulate, and control public utilities. To the extent that it is consistent with the policy and in order to benefit society, the state requires efficient utility operations, efficient use of utility services, and efficient rates…

As used in this part, unless the context requires otherwise, the following definitions apply: (1) "Abandonment costs" means the costs incurred for resources acquired and abandoned pursuant to a plan. (2) "Consumer counsel" means the consumer counsel provided for in 5-15-201. (3) …

(1) (a) The commission shall adopt rules requiring a public utility to prepare and file a plan at least every 3 years for meeting the requirements of its customers in the most cost-effective manner consistent with the public utility's obligation to serve and in accordance with th…

(1) When developing a plan in accordance with this part and prior to submitting a plan to the commission, a public utility shall hold at least four public meetings in the utility's Montana service territory to ensure a plan best meets the diverse goals of shareholders, ratepayers…

(1) The commission may include in a public utility's rates: (a) the cost of resources acquired in accordance with a plan; (b) demand-side management programs established and implemented in accordance with 69-3-1209; (c) the cost-effective expenditures for improving the efficiency…

(1) (a) Except as provided in subsection (6), a public utility that intends to establish [rates] for the acquisition, construction, or purchase of an electricity supply resource shall conduct a competitive solicitation process. (b) A public utility may not prohibit a qualifying s…

(1) A public utility shall maintain a broad-based advisory committee to review, evaluate, and make recommendations on technical, economic, and policy issues related to a utility's electricity system. (2) The committee may advise the utility on demand-side management, portfolio pl…

(1) The commission may establish energy savings and peak demand reduction goals for an electric utility, taking into account the utility's cost-effective demand-side management potential and the need for electricity resources. (2) The commission shall permit electric utilities to…

(1) The independent evaluator shall oversee the competitive solicitation conducted by the public utility to protect the public interest and advance the policies in 69-3-1202. (2) The independent evaluator shall: (a) provide comments to the public utility and the commission on the…

The purpose of this part is to prohibit telecommunications carriers, including entities not otherwise regulated by the commission, from switching a customer's telecommunications services from one telecommunications carrier to another without the customer's consent and to prohibit…

As used in this part, the following definitions apply: (1) "Billing agent" means a telecommunications carrier that includes in a bill that it sends to a customer a charge for a product or service offered by a service provider. (2) "Billing aggregator" means any entity, other than…

(1) A telecommunications carrier may not request a change in a customer's primary interexchange carrier or local exchange company unless: (a) the requesting carrier has obtained the customer's written or electronic signature on a form that contains clear and conspicuous disclosur…

The commission may adopt rules to implement this part.

(1) A telecommunications carrier who initiates an unauthorized change in the customer's telecommunications carrier in violation of 69-3-1303 is liable: (a) to the customer for all intrastate long-distance charges, interstate long-distance charges, monthly service charges, carrier…

(1) A telecommunications carrier, service provider, or other entity may not initiate charges to be placed on a customer's telecommunications bill unless the service or product has been requested by and provided to the customer. A customer request must be made in the following man…

(1) If, after a hearing held pursuant to the Montana Administrative Procedure Act, the commission finds that any entity has initiated unauthorized charges to be placed on a customer's telephone bill for services or products not provided or authorized or that a billing aggregator …

(1) An entity may not misrepresent its association or affiliation with a telephone carrier when soliciting, inducing, or otherwise implementing the customer's agreement to purchase the products or services of the entity and to have the charge for the product or service appear on …

(1) A service provider may not offer a product or service to a customer, the charge for which appears on the bill of a billing agent, unless the service provider is properly registered with the commission. (2) A billing aggregator may not forward to a billing agent charges for a …

Each billing aggregator doing business in Montana shall submit to the commission a list of service providers and other entities for which the billing aggregator provides billing services. The commission shall adopt rules that specify information that must be included with the lis…

If the commission has reason to believe that any entity has violated any provision of the law for which a criminal penalty is provided or any law regarding fraud or consumer protection, the commission shall notify the attorney general.

This part may be cited as the "Natural Gas Utility Restructuring and Customer Choice Act".

As used in this part, the following definitions apply: (1) "Customer" means a natural gas customer or consumer of natural gas supply or natural gas transmission facilities, storage facilities, or distribution facilities. (2) "Distribution facilities" means those facilities that a…

(1) A natural gas utility may voluntarily offer its customers choice of natural gas supplier and provide open access to its transmission facilities, storage facilities, or distribution facilities. (2) If a customer choice offering results in transition costs, the commission may a…

(1) Except as provided in 69-3-1413 through 69-3-1416, a natural gas utility that provides customer choice and open access on its system shall: (a) functionally separate its natural gas production and gathering resources from its natural gas transmission, storage, and distributio…

(1) The commission shall license natural gas suppliers and enforce licensing provisions pursuant to this section. (2) A natural gas supplier shall file an application with and obtain a license from the commission to sell natural gas to customers in the state of Montana. (3) A lic…

(1) All natural gas suppliers are afforded the comparable opportunity to compete. (2) A natural gas distribution services provider or its affiliates may not use another natural gas distribution services provider's facilities in the state of Montana to sell natural gas to customer…

(1) The commission may, upon application and after giving notice and conducting a hearing as provided in 69-3-303, authorize any natural gas utility to implement an optional form of rate regulation using a performance-based ratemaking methodology. (2) The commission may approve a…

(1) Except as provided in subsection (4), a natural gas utility shall implement, upon commission approval and subject to ongoing commission oversight and direction, a universal system benefits program. (2) Except as provided in subsection (4), the commission shall establish a uni…

The purpose of 69-3-1413 through 69-3-1416 is to establish procedures for a natural gas utility that has restructured pursuant to this part to acquire rate-based facilities.

A natural gas utility that provides its customers with a choice of natural gas suppliers pursuant to 69-3-1403 and that does not own natural gas production and gathering resources on April 1, 2009, may acquire those facilities and place them in the rate base as provided in 69-3-1…