Compendium of Budget Information for the 2012 General Session
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Agency: Public Service Commission Function The Public Service Commission ensures safe, reliable and adequate utility service. It conducts hearings and investigations of utility company operations in order to determine just and reasonable rates for service. The commission's goals for regulation are efficient, reliable, reasonably-priced utility service for customers, and maintenance of financially healthy utility companies. These goals are generally attained through the regulatory decisions the Commission makes in each formal case. The commission is a quasi-judicial body that regulates privately owned electricity, natural gas, water public utilities, and telecommunications. The commission works to ensure that rates, terms, and conditions of utility service are 'just and reasonable,' to meet the public interest defined by statute and case law. Recent changes in state and federal law recognize the influence of competition in telecommunications, which have traditionally been regulated monopolies. The transition from monopoly to competition must be done fairly to protect the public interest to ensure that services remain reliable, and reasonably priced. Traditional regulation is still utilized in the electric and natural gas industry sectors. With the Division of Public Utilities (Department of Commerce), the commission initiates investigations into situations where utilities may be in violation of the law or are not operating in the public interest. Statutory Authority Title 54, chapters 1 through 15, establish the Commission and authorize it to regulate utilities. Intent Language Under Section 63J-1-603 of the Utah Code the Legislature intends that appropriations provided for the Public Service Commission not lapse at the close of Fiscal Year 2010. The use of any nonlapsing funds is limited to the completion of the document management system. Funding Detail The Public Service Commission budget is comprised of three different line items: Public Service Commission, Speech & Hearing Impaired, and Universal Telecommunications Support Fund. All three line items are shown in the following table and broken out into further detail in the following sections.
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