SB 153, the Public Utility Expenditures Amendments, would prohibit certain large electric and natural gas utilities from recovering specific advertising, lobbying, and political activity costs through customer rates. The bill defines “advertising,” “lobbying,” “political activities,” and “qualified utility,” and then bars rate recovery for brand promotion, public-opinion campaigns, lobbying, political contributions, and dues or payments to organizations engaged in those activities. It also excludes from the prohibition certain utility messaging, such as legally required notices, safety and emergency communications, employment advertising, and advertising tied to income-based rates, energy conservation, energy efficiency, or renewable energy programs.
The bill requires each qualified utility to file an annual report with the Public Service Commission by March 1 detailing the prior year’s advertising, lobbying, and political expenses. The report must itemize relevant expenditures, including those made through affiliates, and disclose the number of employees involved in these activities, their job titles, responsibilities, business units, and the share of salary charged to ratepayers. The commission may require additional disclosures it considers relevant.
If the commission finds that a utility improperly recovered prohibited expenses in rates, it must order reimbursement to ratepayers with interest and impose a non-recoverable penalty at least equal to the amount improperly recovered. The bill takes effect May 7, 2025, and enacts a new section of Utah Code, Section 54-4-43.
The bill’s impact would be to tighten oversight of utility rate-setting and limit what costs can be passed on to customers, especially for large-scale electric and natural gas utilities. It would create new reporting obligations and enforcement tools for the Public Service Commission while protecting ratepayers from subsidizing utility advocacy, branding, or political spending.
No committee transcripts or votes were provided, so there is no recorded discussion or vote history to gauge sentiment or identify specific points of contention. Based on the bill text alone, the measure appears aimed at consumer protection and transparency, while potentially raising concerns for utilities about compliance burdens, the scope of prohibited expenses, and how broadly the reporting and reimbursement requirements could be applied.
This bill enacts new Utah Code Section 54-4-43 to bar large electric and natural gas utilities from recovering certain advertising, lobbying, political, and related membership or contribution expenses in customer rates. It also requires annual reporting to the Public Service Commission and authorizes reimbursement and penalties when prohibited costs are improperly charged to ratepayers.
No committee discussion or vote history was provided, so there is no documented sentiment from legislative debate. From the bill text, the measure appears consumer-protection oriented and transparency-focused, with an apparent goal of preventing ratepayers from subsidizing utility advocacy or political spending.
No transcripts or votes were included, so no specific points of contention are documented. Potential areas of dispute suggested by the text include whether the definitions of advertising, lobbying, and political activities are too broad, whether the reporting requirements are burdensome, and whether the reimbursement and penalty provisions are sufficiently strict or fair to utilities.