Title 42. PUBLIC UTILITIES AND CARRIERS AND ENERGY PROGRAMS

Chapter 42.04. REGULATORY COMMISSION OF ALASKA

Article 01. COMMISSION AND STAFF

Sec. 42.04.010. Regulatory Commission of Alaska created.

 (a) There is created within the Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development as an independent agency of the state the Regulatory Commission of Alaska.

 (b) The commission shall annually elect one of its members to serve as chair for the following fiscal year. When a vacancy occurs in the office of chair, the commission shall elect one of its members to serve the remaining term as chair. The term as chair is one year. The chair may be elected to not more than three successive terms as chair. After a year of not serving as chair, the commissioner is eligible for election as chair again.

Sec. 42.04.020. Commissioners.

 (a) The commission consists of five commissioners appointed by the governor and confirmed by the legislature in joint session. To qualify for appointment as a commissioner, a person must be a member in good standing of the Alaska Bar Association or have a degree from an accredited college or university with a major in engineering, finance, economics, accounting, business administration, or public administration. Actual experience for a period of five years in the practice of law or in the field of engineering, finance, economics, accounting, business administration, or public administration is equivalent to a degree.

 (b) The term of office of each member is six years. A commissioner, upon the expiration of a term, shall continue to hold office until a successor is appointed and qualified.

 (c) A vacancy arising in the office of a commissioner shall be filled by appointment by the governor and confirmed by the legislature in joint session, and, except as provided in AS 39.05.080 (4), an appointee selected to fill a vacancy shall hold office for the balance of the full term for which the predecessor on the commission was appointed.

 (d) A vacancy in the commission does not impair the authority of a quorum of commissioners to exercise all the powers and perform all the duties of the commission.

 (e) The governor may remove a commissioner from office for cause, including incompetence, neglect of duty, inability to serve, or misconduct in office or because the member, while serving on the commission, is convicted of a misdemeanor for violating a statute or regulation related to public utilities or is convicted of a felony. A commissioner, to be removed for cause, shall be given a copy of the charges and afforded an opportunity to be publicly heard in person or by counsel in the commissioner's own defense upon not less than 10 days' notice. If a commissioner is removed for cause, the governor shall file with the lieutenant governor a complete statement of all charges made against the commissioner and the governor's finding based on the charges, together with a complete record of the proceedings.

 (f) Members of the commission are in the exempt service and are entitled to a monthly salary equal to a step in Range 27 of the salary schedule in AS 39.27.011 (a) for Juneau, Alaska. The chair of the commission is entitled to a monthly salary equal to a step in Range 27 of the salary schedule in AS 39.27.011 (a) for Juneau, Alaska.

 (g) Each commissioner, before entering upon the duties of office, shall take and subscribe to the oath prescribed for principal officers of the state.

Sec. 42.04.030. Principal office; seal.

 (a) The commission shall establish a principal office and branch offices necessary to discharge its business efficiently. For the convenience of the public or of parties to a proceeding, the commission may hold meetings, hearings, or other proceedings at other locations.

 (b) The commission shall have an official seal.

Sec. 42.04.040. Legal counsel.

 (a) The Department of Law shall provide full-time legal counsel to the commission.

 (b) The commission may, subject to the approval of the attorney general, contract for the services of specialized legal counsel or legal consultants.

Sec. 42.04.050. Employment of commission personnel.

 (a) The chair of the commission is responsible for directing the administrative functions of the commission and carrying out the policies as set by the commission. The commission chair may employ engineers, hearing examiners, administrative law judges, arbitrators, mediators, experts, clerks, accountants, and other agents and assistants considered necessary. Employees of the commission who are not in the exempt service under AS 39.25.110 or the partially exempt service under AS 39.25.120 are in the classified service under AS 39.25.100.

 (b) The chair of the commission may enter into a contract for no more than $5,000 to engage the services of a consultant or expert the chair considers necessary. The commission may contract for and engage the services of consultants and experts the commission considers necessary.

 (c) At the request of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission and to the extent workload permits, the Regulatory Commission of Alaska shall make available to the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission the services of a hearing examiner.

Sec. 42.04.060. Restrictions on members and employees.

 (a) A member of the commission or an employee of the commission may not have an official connection with, hold stock or securities in, or have a pecuniary interest in a public utility or pipeline carrier within the state. Membership in a cooperative association is not a "pecuniary interest" within the meaning of this section; however, a member or employee of the commission may not be an officer, board member, or employee of a cooperative association. A member or employee may not act upon a matter in which a relationship of the member or employee with any person creates a conflict of interest.

 (b) A member or employee of the commission may not, after leaving the position as a member or employee of the commission, act as agent for or on behalf of a public utility in any matter before the commission that was before the commission during the employee's employment or the member's term of office. A violation of this subsection is a class A misdemeanor.

 (c) Members and employees of the commission, except clerical and secretarial staff, are subject to AS 39.50. Members and employees of the commission are subject to AS 39.52.

 (d) A member of the commission is disqualified from voting upon any matter before the commission in which the member has a conflict of interest.

Sec. 42.04.070. Powers and duties of commission chair.

 (a) The chair of the commission shall

 (1) employ the commission staff;

 (2) establish and implement a time management system for the commission;

 (3) assign the work of the commission to members and staff of the commission so that matters before the commission are resolved as expeditiously and competently as possible; when assigning a matter, the chair shall also set a date by which time the matter should be completed.

 (b) The chair of the commission may appoint a hearing examiner or an administrative law judge to hear a matter that has come before the commission; a member of the commission may serve as hearing examiner or, if qualified, as an administrative law judge.

 (c) The chair of the commission shall request the attorney general to participate as a party in a matter when the commission believes that it is in the public interest for the attorney general to do so.

Sec. 42.04.080. Decision-making procedures.

 (a) Except as provided in AS 42.05.171 or AS 42.06.140 , when a matter comes for decision before the commission under AS 42.05, AS 42.06, or AS 42.08, the chair shall appoint a hearing panel composed of three or more members to hear, or if a hearing is not required, to otherwise consider, and decide the case. The panel shall exercise the powers of the commission with respect to the matter.

 (b) The commission shall adopt regulations that establish standards of timeliness for the types of cases that come before the commission. The commission shall establish standards based in part on degrees of complexity of the cases.

Sec. 42.04.090. Impartial decision-making. [Repealed, Sec. 6 ch 2 TSSLA 2002].

 Repealed or Renumbered

Article 02. COMMUNICATIONS CARRIERS SECTION

Sec. 42.04.100. Communications carriers section.

There is established within the commission a communications carriers section that shall develop, recommend, and administer policies and programs with respect to the regulation of rates, services, accounting, and facilities of communications common carriers within the state involving the use of wire, cable, radio, and space satellites.

Sec. 42.04.150. Public advocacy section. [Repealed, E.O. No. 111, Sec. 4 (2003). For current law, see AS 44.23.020 (e)].

 Repealed or Renumbered

Chapter 42.05. ALASKA PUBLIC UTILITIES REGULATORY ACT

Article 01. POWERS AND DUTIES OF THE COMMISSION

Sec. 42.05.010. - 42.05.131. Establishment of Public Utilities Commission. [Repealed, Sec. 5 ch 113 SLA 1970; Sec. 24 ch 25 SLA 1999].

 Repealed or Renumbered

Sec. 42.05.141. General powers and duties of the commission.

 (a) The Regulatory Commission of Alaska may do all things necessary or proper to carry out the purposes and exercise the powers expressly granted or reasonably implied in this chapter, including

 (1) regulate every public utility engaged or proposing to engage in a utility business inside the state, except to the extent exempted by AS 42.05.711;

 (2) investigate, upon complaint or upon its own motion, the rates, classifications, rules, regulations, practices, services, and facilities of a public utility and hold hearings on them;

 (3) make or require just, fair, and reasonable rates, classifications, regulations, practices, services, and facilities for a public utility;

 (4) prescribe the system of accounts and regulate the service and safety of operations of a public utility;

 (5) require a public utility to file reports and other information and data;

 (6) appear personally or by counsel and represent the interests and welfare of the state in all matters and proceedings involving a public utility pending before an officer, department, board, commission, or court of the state or of another state or the United States and to intervene in, protest, resist, or advocate the granting, denial, or modification of any petition, application, complaint, or other proceeding;

 (7) examine witnesses and offer evidence in any proceeding affecting the state and initiate or participate in judicial proceedings to the extent necessary to protect and promote the interests of the state.

 (b) The commission shall perform the duties assigned to it under AS 42.45.100 - 42.45.190.

 (c) In the establishment of electric service rates under this chapter the commission shall promote the conservation of resources used in the generation of electric energy.

 (d) When considering whether the approval of a rate or a gas supply contract proposed by a utility to provide a reliable supply of gas for a reasonable price is in the public interest, the commission shall

 (1) recognize the public benefits of allowing a utility to negotiate different pricing mechanisms with different gas suppliers and to maintain a diversified portfolio of gas supply contracts to protect customers from the risks of inadequate supply or excessive cost that may arise from a single pricing mechanism; and

 (2) consider whether a utility could meet its responsibility to the public in a timely manner and without undue risk to the public if the commission fails to approve a rate or a gas supply contract proposed by the utility.

Sec. 42.05.145. Telecommunications regulation policy; restriction on regulation of telephone directories.

 (a) A utility that provides local exchange or interexchange telecommunications service in the state affects the public interest. Regulation of these utilities shall, consistent with this chapter, seek to maintain and further the efficiency, availability, and affordability of universal basic telecommunications service.

 (b) Notwithstanding other provisions of this chapter, the commission may not regulate the production and distribution of telephone directories.