Minnesota Statutes 216E.18 – Biennial Report; Application Fees; Appropriation; Funding
Subdivision 1.Biennial report.
Before November 15 of each even-numbered year the commission shall prepare and submit to the legislature a report of its operations, activities, findings, and recommendations concerning this chapter. The report shall also contain information on the commission’s biennial expenditures, its proposed budget for the following biennium, and the amounts paid in permit application fees and in assessments pursuant to this section. The proposed budget for the following biennium shall be subject to legislative review.
Subd. 2.Site application fee.
Terms Used In Minnesota Statutes 216E.18
- Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
- Baseline: Projection of the receipts, outlays, and other budget amounts that would ensue in the future without any change in existing policy. Baseline projections are used to gauge the extent to which proposed legislation, if enacted into law, would alter current spending and revenue levels.
- Commission: means the Public Utilities Commission. See Minnesota Statutes 216E.01
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- Route: means the location of a high voltage transmission line between two end points. See Minnesota Statutes 216E.01
- Site: means the location of a large electric power generating plant. See Minnesota Statutes 216E.01
- state: extends to and includes the District of Columbia and the several territories. See Minnesota Statutes 645.44
- Utility: shall mean any entity engaged or intending to engage in this state in the generation, transmission, or distribution of electric energy including, but not limited to, a private investor-owned utility, cooperatively owned utility, and a public or municipally owned utility. See Minnesota Statutes 216E.01
Terms Used In Minnesota Statutes 216E.18
- Appropriation: The provision of funds, through an annual appropriations act or a permanent law, for federal agencies to make payments out of the Treasury for specified purposes. The formal federal spending process consists of two sequential steps: authorization
- Baseline: Projection of the receipts, outlays, and other budget amounts that would ensue in the future without any change in existing policy. Baseline projections are used to gauge the extent to which proposed legislation, if enacted into law, would alter current spending and revenue levels.
- Commission: means the Public Utilities Commission. See Minnesota Statutes 216E.01
- Fiscal year: The fiscal year is the accounting period for the government. For the federal government, this begins on October 1 and ends on September 30. The fiscal year is designated by the calendar year in which it ends; for example, fiscal year 2006 begins on October 1, 2005 and ends on September 30, 2006.
- Route: means the location of a high voltage transmission line between two end points. See Minnesota Statutes 216E.01
- Site: means the location of a large electric power generating plant. See Minnesota Statutes 216E.01
- state: extends to and includes the District of Columbia and the several territories. See Minnesota Statutes 645.44
- Utility: shall mean any entity engaged or intending to engage in this state in the generation, transmission, or distribution of electric energy including, but not limited to, a private investor-owned utility, cooperatively owned utility, and a public or municipally owned utility. See Minnesota Statutes 216E.01
Every applicant for a site permit shall pay to the commissioner of commerce a fee to cover the necessary and reasonable costs incurred by the commission in acting on the permit application and carrying out the requirements of this chapter. The commission may adopt rules providing for the payment of the fee. Section 16A.1283 does not apply to establishment of this fee. All money received pursuant to this subdivision shall be deposited in a special account. Money in the account is appropriated to the commissioner of commerce to pay expenses incurred in processing applications for site permits in accordance with this chapter and in the event the expenses are less than the fee paid, to refund the excess to the applicant.
Subd. 2a.Route application fee; appropriation.
Every applicant for a transmission line route permit shall pay to the commissioner of commerce a fee to cover the necessary and reasonable costs incurred by the commission in acting on the permit application and carrying out the requirements of this chapter. The commission may adopt rules providing for the payment of the fee. Section 16A.1283 does not apply to the establishment of this fee. All money received pursuant to this subdivision shall be deposited in a special account. Money in the account is appropriated to the commissioner of commerce to pay expenses incurred in processing applications for route permits in accordance with this chapter and in the event the expenses are less than the fee paid, to refund the excess to the applicant.
Subd. 3.Funding; assessment.
The commission shall finance its baseline studies, general environmental studies, development of criteria, inventory preparation, monitoring of conditions placed on site and route permits, and all other work, other than specific site and route designation, from an assessment made quarterly, at least 30 days before the start of each quarter, by the commission against all utilities with annual retail kilowatt-hour sales greater than 4,000,000 kilowatt-hours in the previous calendar year.
Each share shall be determined as follows: (1) the ratio that the annual retail kilowatt-hour sales in the state of each utility bears to the annual total retail kilowatt-hour sales in the state of all these utilities, multiplied by 0.667, plus (2) the ratio that the annual gross revenue from retail kilowatt-hour sales in the state of each utility bears to the annual total gross revenues from retail kilowatt-hour sales in the state of all these utilities, multiplied by 0.333, as determined by the commission. The assessment shall be credited to the special revenue fund and shall be paid to the state treasury within 30 days after receipt of the bill, which shall constitute notice of said assessment and demand of payment thereof. The total amount which may be assessed to the several utilities under authority of this subdivision shall not exceed the sum of the annual budget of the commission for carrying out the purposes of this subdivision. The assessment for the third quarter of each fiscal year shall be adjusted to compensate for the amount by which actual expenditures by the commission for the preceding fiscal year were more or less than the estimated expenditures previously assessed.