# Applicability of authority - municipally owned utilities.

**Citation:** Iowa Code § 476.1B  
**Type / status:** regulation / current  
**Agency:** Iowa General Assembly, Legislative Services Agency  
**Effective:** 2026-07-01  
**Published:** 2025-12-22

1. A municipally owned utility furnishing gas or electricity is not subject to the regulation authority of the commission, except for regulatory action pertaining to the following: a. Assessment of fees for the support of the commission and the office of consumer advocate, as set forth in section 47

## Document text

1. A municipally owned utility furnishing gas or electricity is not subject to the regulation authority of the commission, except for regulatory action pertaining to the following:

a. Assessment of fees for the support of the commission and the office of consumer advocate, as set forth in section 476.10.

b. Safety standards.

c. Assigned areas of service, as set forth in sections 476.22 through 476.26.

d. Public utility railroad crossings, as set forth in section 476.27.

e. An electric power agency as defined in chapter 28F and section 390.9 that includes as a member a city or municipally owned utility that builds transmission facilities after July 1, 2001, is subject to applicable transmission reliability rules or standards adopted by the commission for those facilities.

f. Filing alternate energy purchase program plans with the commission, and offering such programs to customers, pursuant to section 476.47.

2. Section 476.20, subsections 1 through 4, sections 476.51, 476.56, 476.58, 476.62, and

Current 2026 Acts overlay: Section 476.1B, subsection 2, Code 2026, is amended to read as follows: 2. Section 476.20, subsections 1 through 4, Section 476.2, subsection 7, section 476.20, subsections 1 through 4, sections 476.51, 476.56, 476.58, 476.62, and 476.66, and chapters 476A and 478, to the extent applicable, apply to such electric and gas utilities.

## Provenance

- Official: Yes
- Source: <https://www.legis.iowa.gov/docs/code/2026/476.pdf>
- Source ID: `ia-legislature-pipeline-safety`
- SHA-256: `22eded262bc90d7d4ac8fa2b1011febf0d8a0399d391121bf16ec8d1a11880b2`
- Retrieved: 2026-08-20T08:17:15.771Z
- Exported: 2026-08-24T03:58:02.053Z
- Document slug: `ia-code-476-1b`

### 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": null,
  "currentActsOverlay": "Section 476.1B, subsection 2, Code 2026, is amended to read as follows: 2. Section 476.20, subsections 1 through 4, Section 476.2, subsection 7, section 476.20, subsections 1 through 4, sections 476.51, 476.56, 476.58, 476.62, and 476.66, and chapters 476A and 478, to the extent applicable, apply to such electric and gas utilities.",
  "region": "IA"
}
```