# Commission powers and rules - utility's Iowa office. **Citation:** Iowa Code § 476.2 **Type / status:** regulation / current **Agency:** Iowa General Assembly, Legislative Services Agency **Effective:** 2026-07-01 **Published:** 2025-12-22 1. The commission shall have broad general powers to effect the purposes of this chapter notwithstanding the fact that certain specific powers are set forth in this section. The commission shall have authority to issue subpoenas and to pay the same fees and mileage as are payable to witnesses in the ## Document text 1. The commission shall have broad general powers to effect the purposes of this chapter notwithstanding the fact that certain specific powers are set forth in this section. The commission shall have authority to issue subpoenas and to pay the same fees and mileage as are payable to witnesses in the courts of record of general jurisdiction and shall establish all needful, just and reasonable rules, not inconsistent with law, to govern the exercise of its powers and duties, the practice and procedure before it, and to govern the form, contents and filing of reports, documents and other papers provided for in this chapter or in the commission's rules. In the establishment, amendment, alteration or repeal of any of such rules, the commission shall be subject to the provisions of chapter 17A. 2. The commission shall employ at rates of compensation consistent with current standards in industry such professionally trained engineers, accountants, attorneys, and skilled examiners and inspectors, secretaries, clerks, and other employees as it may find necessary for the full and efficient discharge of its duties and responsibilities as required by this chapter. 3. The commission may intervene in any proceedings before the federal energy regulatory commission or any other federal or state regulatory body when it finds that any decision of that tribunal would adversely affect the costs of any public utility service within the state of Iowa. 4. The commission shall have authority to inquire into the management of the business of all public utilities, and shall keep itself informed as to the manner and method in which the same is conducted, and may obtain from any public utility all necessary information to enable the commission to perform its duties. 5. The commission shall have the authority to employ or appoint an independent administrative law judge to preside over any hearing or proceeding before the commission. Sections 10A.801 and 17A.11 do not apply to the employment or appointment of an administrative law judge pursuant to this subsection. 6. Each rate-regulated gas and electric utility operating within the state shall maintain within the state the utility's principal office for Iowa operations. The principal office shall be subject to the jurisdiction of the commission and shall house those books, accounts, papers, and records of the utility deemed necessary by the commission to be housed within the state. The utility shall maintain within the state administrative, technical, and operating personnel necessary for the delivery of safe and reasonably adequate services and facilities as required pursuant to section 476.8. A public utility which violates this section shall be subject to the penalties provided in section 476.51 and shall be denied authority to recover, for a period determined by the commission, the costs of an energy efficiency plan pursuant to section 476.6, subsection 8. Current 2026 Acts overlay: Section 476.2, Code 2026, is amended by adding the following new subsection: NEW SUBSECTION. 7. The commission shall have the authority to compel all public utilities to share with Iowa state university of science and technology the utility's information necessary to develop state load forecasts and state electric transmission system expansion planning analysis pursuant to section 15.120A. A public utility may use a third party to prepare such information to be shared with Iowa state university of science and technology. A public utility may enter into a nondisclosure agreement with Iowa state university of science and technology requiring the shared information be kept confidential if the public utility reasonably believes the information is a confidential record pursuant to section 22.7. The state load forecast and state electric transmission system expansion planning aggregate analysis published pursuant to section 15.120A may be used as evidentiary support in any proceedings before the commission, provided the confidentiality of any information provided by a public utility is maintained. ## Provenance - Official: Yes - Source: - Source ID: `ia-legislature-pipeline-safety` - SHA-256: `2b0c12170f9b3ee216d7082a8364f5045af0e13d358b4f494d0bbbab63203d8e` - Retrieved: 2026-08-20T08:17:15.771Z - Exported: 2026-08-26T23:27:13.070Z - Document slug: `ia-code-476-2` ### 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.2; C77, 79, 81, §476.2] 90 Acts, ch 1168, §51; 90 Acts, ch 1252, §22; 96 Acts, ch 1196, §7; 2018 Acts, ch 1135, §6; 2018 Acts, ch 1160, §8; 2020 Acts, ch 1063, §262; 2021 Acts, ch 75, §1; 2024 Acts, ch 1170, §369 Referred to in §476.12", "currentActsOverlay": "Section 476.2, Code 2026, is amended by adding the following new subsection: NEW SUBSECTION. 7. The commission shall have the authority to compel all public utilities to share with Iowa state university of science and technology the utility's information necessary to develop state load forecasts and state electric transmission system expansion planning analysis pursuant to section 15.120A. A public utility may use a third party to prepare such information to be shared with Iowa state university of science and technology. A public utility may enter into a nondisclosure agreement with Iowa state university of science and technology requiring the shared information be kept confidential if the public utility reasonably believes the information is a confidential record pursuant to section 22.7. The state load forecast and state electric transmission system expansion planning aggregate analysis published pursuant to section 15.120A may be used as evidentiary support in any proceedings before the commission, provided the confidentiality of any information provided by a public utility is maintained.", "region": "IA" } ```