(6) APPLICATION SUBMITTAL. A utility shall submit an application under this section using the commission's Electronic Regulatory Filing (ERF) system.
184.05 Commission procedures. (1) APPLICATION REVIEW. (a) Except as provided in par. (b), upon receipt of an application under s.
PSC 184.03, the commission shall issue a notice of investigation or proceeding. The commission may approve, modify and approve, or deny the application.
(b) Upon receipt of an application from a utility for a proposed project under s.
PSC 184.03 (4) that has a cost of less than $500,000, the commission may acknowledge receipt of the application and accept the information for filing, in which case the utility may proceed with the construction work.
(2) TIME FOR REVIEW. If no action is taken by the commission within 90 days after the commission issues a notice of investigation under sub. (1) (a), the application is considered approved.
(3) HEARING. The commission is not required to hold a hearing on a utility application for a certificate unless any of the following apply:
(a) A statute or rule otherwise requires a hearing.
(b) The commission treats the application as a contested case, as defined in s.
227.01 (3), Stats.
(c) The proposed project requires the preparation of an environmental impact statement under s.
1.11, Stats.
(d) The commission determines a hearing is appropriate.
184.06 Emergency work. In case of an emergency, a utility may begin necessary repair work without receiving prior commission authorization. The utility shall promptly notify the commission of the emergency work and shall, within 30 days after commencing the work, furnish the commission with the information required under s.
PSC 184.04 (3).
PSC 185.12 (3e) “Class AB utility" means a public utility that has 4,000 or more service connections.
185.12 (3m) “Class C utility" means a public utility that has between 1,000 and 4,000 service connections.
185.12 (3s) “Class D utility" means a public utility that has less than 1,000 service connections.
PSC 185.12 (4m) “Commercial customer" means any business, not-for-profit organization, or other institution that provides goods or services and that takes service for non-residential purposes, except that multiple-family apartments and condominiums with three or more dwelling units and that share service through a single water meter are classified as commercial.
Note: Churches, private schools, private colleges and universities, co-ops, and associations are non-governmental entities and are considered commercial customers.
PSC 185.12 (10e) “Industrial customer" means a customer who is engaged in the manufacture or production of goods.
185.12 (10m) “Irrigation" means the use of water to sustain crops, lawns, or landscapes, including water used on athletic fields, parks, and golf courses.
185.12 (10s) “Irrigation customer" means any customer who has water service provided primarily for irrigation and other outdoor uses. Irrigation customers may include persons who have multiple meters installed on a single lateral for the purpose of measuring water that is not discharged to the sanitary sewer system.
PSC 185.12 (12m) “Non-residential customer" includes commercial, industrial, and public authority customers.
PSC 185.12 (17m) “Public authority customer" means any department, agency, or entity of the local, state, or federal government, including a public school, college, or university.
PSC 185.12 (20g) “Residential customer" means any customer taking service for residential or domestic purposes, except that multi-family buildings that house three or more dwelling units and that are served by a single meter are classified as commercial unless otherwise specified by tariff.
185.12 (20r) “Station meter" means any meter used to measure the volume or flow of water within a utility's distribution system and not used to measure customer use. Station meters include any meter used to measure water pumped from groundwater wells, surface water intakes, storage facilities, treatment facilities, and booster pumps.
PSC 185.12 (22) “Water conservation" means practices, techniques, and technologies that result in a reduction of water use, water loss, or waste, or that improve water use efficiency.
SECTION 9. Section PSC 185.21 (intro.) is renumbered PSC 185.21 (1) (intro.).
PSC 185.21 (1) (title) INCLUDED IN SCHEDULES.
PSC 185.21 (2) RATES FOR WATER SERVICE. (a) A public utility shall adopt general service water rates that do all of the following:
1. Reflect the cost of service for each class of customer.
2. Include a fixed charge based on the size of the meter.
3. Include a volume charge based on actual customer consumption.
(b) A public utility may not adopt a rate under par. (a) if the commission finds that the rate is discriminatory or otherwise not in the public interest.
(c) The commission may approve rates that promote efficient water use.
SECTION 12. Section PSC 185.22 (5) is renumbered PSC 185.22 (5) (a).
PSC 185.33 (1m) A public utility that calculates its volume charges in units of cubic feet shall include customer usage in both cubic feet and gallons on the customer bill or provide a formula for converting usage in cubic feet to gallons on the customer bill. In lieu of providing the information on the customer bill, a public utility may provide the information in a document provided to each customer under sub. (1) (f).
SECTION 14. Section PSC 185.33 (2) is renumbered PSC 185.22 (5) (b) and, as renumbered, amended to read:
PSC 185.22 (5) (b) Upon a residential customer request, the public utility shall provide consumption information by billing periods for at least the last year and information and instructions needed by the customer to make consumption comparisons to similar residential customers in the same class and to evaluate water conservation efforts.
SECTION 15. Section PSC 185.815 is repealed.
SECTION 16. Section PSC 185.84 is repealed.
SECTION 17. Section PSC 185.85 is repealed and re-created to read:
PSC 185.85 Water audits and water loss control. (1) DEFINITIONS. In this section:
(a) “Apparent loss" means the volume of water attributable to customer and station meter inaccuracies, billing and data transfer errors, unauthorized consumption, and theft.
(b) “Authorized consumption" means the volume of water used by metered and unmetered customers and the volume of water used for other purposes that is implicitly or explicitly authorized by the utility, including water used for flushing water mains and sewers, fire protection and training, street cleaning, public fountains, freeze prevention, and other municipal purposes regardless of whether the use is metered.
(c) “Non-revenue water" means the volume of water equal to the difference between the volume of water entering the distribution system and the volume of water that is sold.
(d) “Real loss" means the volume of water attributable to leaks and losses in the pressurized distribution system up to the customer meter, including water lost due to main breaks, service breaks, and tank and reservoir overflows.
(e) “Revenue water" means the volume of water entering the distribution system that is billed and for which the utility receives revenue.
(f) “Unaccounted for water" means the volume of water entering the distribution system for which a specific use or purpose cannot be determined.
(g) “Water loss" means the difference between the volume of water entering the distribution system and authorized consumption.
Note: Water loss equals the sum of real and apparent losses that are caused by unauthorized consumption, meter inaccuracies, accounting errors, data processing errors, leaks in transmission and distribution mains, leaks in service connections up to the customer meter, seepage, overflow, evaporation, theft, malfunctioning distribution system controls, and other unaccounted for water, as described in the American Water Works Association M36 manual.
(2) UTILITY PRACTICES. Each public utility shall do all of the following:
(a) Meter all water uses and sales, where practicable.
(b) Maintain and verify the accuracy of customer meters.
(c) Maintain and verify the accuracy of station meters.
(d) Identify and repair leaks in its distribution system to the extent that it is cost-effective for the public utility to do so.
(e) Control water usage from hydrants.
(f) Maintain a continuing record of system pumpage and metered consumption.
(g) Conduct an annual water audit.
(3) WATER AUDITS. (a) A public utility shall conduct an annual water audit on a calendar year basis and submit the results of the audit to the commission in a format specified by the commission no later than April 1 of each year.
(b) A public utility water audit shall include the measured or estimated volume of all of the following:
1. Water purchased or pumped from all sources.
2. Water used in treatment or production processes.
3. Water entering the distribution system.
4. Water sold, including both metered and unmetered sales.
5. Water not sold but used for utility-authorized purposes, including flushing mains, fire protection, freeze prevention, and other authorized system uses.
6. Water loss.
7. Unknown or unaccounted for water.
(c) The components of a water audit are shown as follows:
System Input Volume (Finished Water + Purchased Water)
|
Authorized
Consumption
|
Billed Authorized Consumption
|
Billed Metered Consumption
(including water exported, wholesale sales)
|
Revenue
Water
|
|
|
|
|
Billed Unmetered Consumption
(Bulk water sales, utility uses)
|
|
|
|
|
Unbilled Authorized Consumption
|
Unbilled Metered Consumption
|
Non-
revenue Water
|
|
|
|
|
Unbilled Unmetered Consumption
|
|
|
|
Water Losses
|
Apparent Loss
|
Unauthorized Consumption
(Theft, uncontrolled hydrants, etc.)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Metering Inaccuracies
(Customer, station meters)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Data Handling Errors
|
|
|
|
|
Real Losses
|
Leakage on Transmission and Distribution Mains
|
|
|
|
|
|
Leakage and Overflows at Utility's Storage Tanks
|
|
|
|
|
|
Leakage on Service Connections
(Up to point of customer meter)
|
|
(3) WATER LOSS CONTROL. (a) Each public utility shall calculate its annual percentage of non-revenue water and its percentage of water loss, based on the volume of water entering its distribution system.
(b) A public utility shall submit to the commission a water loss control plan if a water audit shows the public utility has any of the following:
1. A percentage of non-revenue water that exceeds 30 percent.
2. A percentage of water loss that exceeds 15 percent for a Class AB or Class C utility or 25 percent for a Class D utility.
(c) A water loss control plan under par. (b) shall include all of the following:
1. The reasons for the excessive non-revenue water or water loss.
2. A description of the measures that the utility plans to undertake to reduce water loss to acceptable levels within a reasonable time period.
3. An analysis of the costs of implementing a water loss control program, including a comparison of lost sales revenue and the costs that would be avoided by reducing leaks and losses.
4. Any additional information required by the commission.
(d) The commission may require a public utility to conduct a leak detection survey of its entire distribution system if for three consecutive years the public utility's percentage of water loss exceeds 15 percent for a Class AB and Class C utility or 25 percent for a Class D utility.
SECTION 18. Section PSC 185.87 is repealed.
SECTION 19. Section
PSC 185.89 is created to read:
PSC 185.89 Adequacy of Water Supply, Emergency Operations and Interruptions of Service. (1) ADEQUACY OF WATER SUPPLY. A public utility shall exercise reasonable diligence to furnish a continuous and adequate supply of water to its customers.
(2) EMERGENCY OPERATION. (a) A public utility shall make reasonable provisions to meet an emergency resulting from the failure of power supply or from fire, storm, or similar events. A public utility shall inform its employees of procedures to be followed in an emergency to prevent or mitigate the interruption or impairment of water service.
