Section 656.90  Application for Qualifying Infrastructure Plant Surcharge Rider

a)         A utility's filing seeking initial approval of a QIP surcharge rider for a rate zone shall be accompanied with the necessary testimony and exhibits justifying the rider.

b)         Required testimony and exhibits:

1)         A water utility shall prepare and provide a history of current replacement rates of qualifying plant, as well as history of failure, by location, for the qualified rate zone. The water utility shall provide 5 years of data by year for the following categories, based upon utility records to the extent that records of that data are available, or based upon estimates if records are not available:

A)        Wells, including the age, type of construction and casing, depth, diameter, number and capacity;

B)        Generators, including age, fuel type, size and number;

C)        Pumping equipment, including the age, capacity, number and purpose;

D)        Water treatment equipment, including the age, capacity and description;

E)        Distribution reservoirs and standpipes, including the age, type, size, capacity and material;

F)         Transmission and distribution mains, including the age, footage, size and material;

G)        Services, including the age, number and material;

H)        Meters and meter installations, including the age, size and number; and

I)         Hydrants, including the age, number and size.

2)         A sewer utility shall prepare and provide a history of current replacement rates of qualifying plant, as well as a history of failure, by location, for the qualified rate zone. The sewer utility shall provide 5 years of data by year for the following categories, based upon utility records to the extent that records of that data are available, or based upon estimates if records are not available:

A)        Generators, including age, fuel type, size and number;

B)        Collecting sewers – force, including the age, footage, size and material;

C)        Collecting sewers – gravity, including the age, footage, size and material;

D)        Services to customers, including the age, number and material;

E)        Lift stations, including the age, size and capacity;

F)         Manholes, including the age, size, material and number;

G)        Pumping equipment, including the age, capacity, number and purpose; and

H)        Treatment and disposal equipment, including the age, capacity and description.

3)         All utilities shall provide the reason for each increase in the rate of replacement and include specific data to justify the replacement rate for each plant account.

4)         All utilities shall provide their specific plans for future replacements. The utilities shall provide a schedule showing the replacement projects listed by priority. This schedule shall include an explanation and justification for the prioritization.

5)         All utilities shall provide detailed computations of expected revenue effects of investment in QIP for the shorter of the time period covered by the plans submitted in response to subsection (b)(4) or 5 years.

6)         All utilities proposing to use the annual prospective method shall provide explanations for any changes in the expected rates of investment in QIP for the forecasted period as compared to the historical period.

7)         All utilities shall provide any other information and data that supports the approval of the proposed QIP surcharge rider.

8)         All utilities shall provide bill comparisons showing the effect of the QIP surcharge for each class of customer at the average customer usage level, at 5 usage levels above the average customer usage level, and at 5 usage levels below the average customer usage level.  The bill comparisons shall present the current bill, the proposed bill, the difference between the current bill and the proposed bill, and the percentage change between the current bill and the proposed bill. For the purposes of this subsection (b)(8), the bill comparison shall include only QIP base rate revenues, exclusive of revenue attributable to public/private fire protection service.  All utilities shall also provide supporting schedules showing the billing units, charges and revenues used in calculating the bill comparison.

(Source:  Amended at 40 Ill. Reg. 9467, effective July 1, 2016)