# Applicability of authority.

**Citation:** Iowa Code § 476.1  
**Type / status:** regulation / current  
**Agency:** Iowa General Assembly, Legislative Services Agency  
**Effective:** Not stated  
**Published:** 2025-12-22

1. The utilities commission shall regulate the rates and services of public utilities to the extent and in the manner hereinafter provided. 2. As used in this chapter, "public utility" shall include any person, partnership, business association, or corporation, domestic or foreign, owning or operati

## Document text

1. The utilities commission shall regulate the rates and services of public utilities to the extent and in the manner hereinafter provided.

2. As used in this chapter, "public utility" shall include any person, partnership, business association, or corporation, domestic or foreign, owning or operating any facilities for:

a. F urnishing gas by piped distribution system or electricity to the public for compensation.

b. F urnishing communications services to the public for compensation.

c. F urnishing water by piped distribution system to the public for compensation.

d. F urnishing sanitary sewage or storm water drainage disposal by piped collection system to the public for compensation.

3. This chapter does not apply to municipally owned waterworks, waterworks having less than two thousand customers, joint water utilities established pursuant to chapter 389, rural water districts incorporated and organized pursuant to chapters 357A and 504, cooperative water associations incorporated and organized pursuant to chapter 499, municipally owned sanitary sewage or storm water drainage systems, sanitary districts incorporated and organized pursuant to chapter 358, districts organized pursuant to chapter 468, or a person furnishing electricity to five or fewer customers either by secondary line or from an alternate energy production facility or small hydro facility, from electricity that is produced primarily for the person's own use.

4. The jurisdiction of the commission under this chapter shall include efforts designed to promote the use of energy efficiency strategies by gas and electric utilities required to be rate-regulated.

## Provenance

- Official: Yes
- Source: <https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/2026/476.pdf>
- Source ID: `ia-legislature-pipeline-safety`
- SHA-256: `26682d73b51b9ebfebcadf84243c6649901f9e10fd258cb17d064eb567e1cca4`
- Retrieved: 2026-08-20T08:17:15.771Z
- Exported: 2026-08-26T10:51:51.564Z
- Document slug: `ia-code-476-1`

### Source metadata

```json
{
  "jurisdiction": "US-IA",
  "codeEdition": "2026 Iowa Code",
  "exactScope": "This bounded corpus contains every current rule in 199 IAC chapters 10 and 19, the two chapters identified by the Iowa Utilities Commission pipeline-safety page, plus 15 selected Iowa Code sections that directly establish gas-utility applicability, inspection and rulemaking authority, enforcement, penalties, and acceptance of federal pipeline-safety aid. It does not claim all Iowa pipeline law or all of Iowa Code chapters 476 and 479.",
  "excludedScope": "Excluded are hazardous-liquid safety (which the IUC says remains exclusively with PHMSA), hazardous-liquid permitting in 199 IAC chapter 13 and Iowa Code chapter 479B, damage prevention and one-call law, agricultural restoration chapter 9, railroad-crossing chapter 42, general procedure and filing chapters, permits/orders/forms, privately owned propane service, and federal or private incorporated text. Former 199 IAC chapter 12 is inventoried as repealed and is not searchable.",
  "applicabilityCaveat": "Applicability depends on IUC jurisdiction, public-utility or pipeline-company status, intrastate versus interstate status, the gas and facility involved, customer count, rate regulation, exemptions, federal preemption, waivers, permits, tariffs, and Commission orders. Iowa inspects interstate gas operators only as PHMSA's agent; federal authorities retain enforcement. Chapter 19 is limited to rate-regulated gas utilities except where another law or order extends a duty.",
  "incorporationCaveat": "The rules incorporate or reference 49 CFR Parts 191, 192, 193, and 199; ASME B31.8-2022; NFPA 59-2024, NFPA 54-2024, and NFPA 501A-2021; other Iowa rules and statutes; federal forms and interpretations; and utility tariffs. The connector records citations but does not reproduce incorporated federal or private material, decide which edition controls beyond the state text, or grant rights in private standards.",
  "publicationCaveat": "The current IAC chapter listings dated August 5, 2026 are used to prove chapter and rule inventory; their official PDF and DOCX-formatted 'RTF' artifacts are archived independently. The official 2026 Iowa Code was published December 22, 2025. The live 2026 Code & Acts Sections Amended report is provisional; signed HF 2799 sections 23 and 24, effective July 1, 2026, are preserved as overlays to selected sections 476.1B and 476.2. Any unexpected selected-section amendment causes refresh failure.",
  "rights": "Iowa legal text and other government edicts are preserved with official attribution and cryptographic provenance. Public access does not grant rights in agency seals, website presentation, forms, utility filings, incorporated federal compilations, or privately authored standards; redistribution of those materials requires a separate rights review.",
  "references": [],
  "codeHistory": "[C66, 71, 73, 75, §490A.1; C77, 79, 81, §476.1; 81 Acts, ch 156, §4] 83 Acts, ch 127, §15, 16; 84 Acts, ch 1031, §1; 88 Acts, ch 1172, §2; 90 Acts, ch 1252, §18; 91 Acts, ch 150, §1; 91 Acts, ch 168, §9; 96 Acts, ch 1196, §1; 2004 Acts, ch 1049, §191; 2004 Acts, ch 1175, §393; 2012 Acts, ch 1023, §67; 2016 Acts, ch 1013, §1, 2; 2018 Acts, ch 1135, Referred to in §8.86, 16.151, 306.46, 331.301, 352.6, 364.3, 388.2A, 423.3, 427.1(42), 452A.41, 455H.304, 476.6, 476.20, 476.22, 476.27, 476.58, 476.84, 476.91, 499.30, 499.33, 714H.4, 715.9, 715E.6, 716.6B, 716.7",
  "currentActsOverlay": null,
  "region": "IA"
}
```