§ 39-1-46 - Application and proceedings relating to securitization order.
SECTION 39-1-46
§ 39-1-46 Application and proceedingsrelating to securitization order. – (a) An electric distribution company seeking a securitization order shall filean application with the commission. The contents of the application shallinclude:
(1) A financing plan, including a description and theprincipal terms and conditions of the transactions contemplated;
(2) A statement and appropriate schedules defining theportion of the qualified transition expenditures that will be financed;
(3) An analysis showing the savings to the electricdistribution company's customers that are expected, on average, to be realizedthrough the financing plan;
(4) A statement and appropriate schedules setting forth thespecific qualified transition charges that will be charged in rates, onaverage, to the electric distribution company's customers in lieu of theapplicable portion of the original transition charges authorized by §39-1-27.4;
(5) A proposed adjustment procedure, as described insubsection (h) below; and
(6) A statement regarding the use or uses of the proceeds ofthe transition bonds, and a description of how the intangible transitioncharges are to be billed, collected, held, accounted for, and paid over to afinancing party in respect of the financing.
(b) The commission shall review the application to determinewhether the application meets the following criteria: (1) the transaction(s)contemplated in the application, including without limitation issuance oftransition bonds, are reasonably certain to result, on average, in quantifiablesavings in the transition charges authorized by § 39-1-27.4 and paid tothe electric distribution company by its retail distribution customers; (2) theterms of the financing plan are commercially reasonable; (3) all of the savingsto be achieved by the financing plan, net of costs, will be credited to thecustomer of the electric distribution company through the intangible transitioncharges; and (4) the procedures and terms proposed in the application areconsistent with the terms and intent of this chapter.
(c) The commission will take action to approve or disapprovethe application within not more than one hundred and twenty (120) days aftersuch application is filed by the electric distribution company.
(d) If the commission finds that the application meets thecriteria specified in subsection (b) above, the commission shall issue asecuritization order approving the terms of the application, consistent withthe provisions of this chapter. If, however, the commission finds that theapplication does not meet such criteria, the commission shall issue a writtenorder denying the application and specifying with reasonable particularity thereasons why the application does not meet the criteria.
(e) After the agreements that will be used to implement thefinancing plan have been completed and executed, but before they becomeeffective, the electric distribution company applicant shall make a compliancefiling with the commission containing the final executed agreements. Ifrequested by the applicant electric distribution company, the commission shallissue a written compliance order within thirty (30) days after receiving thecompliance filing confirming whether the final agreements are materiallyconsistent with the original application that was approved by the commission inthe securitization order.
(f) In the event that the applicant electric distributioncompany submits a financing plan that contemplates transition bond financingsoccurring in stages, the commission shall determine whether the applicationmeets the criteria specified in subsection (b) above and, if it so finds, shallmake such determination in the securitization order in connection with suchfinancing plan as provided above. The commission shall not, thereafter, inconnection with any supplementary compliance filings that may be contemplatedin the application to carry out the stages of financing, condition the approvalof such compliance filings on the commission renewing any of its findings thatwere made in the securitization order approving the financing plan.
(g) An electric distribution company shall be permitted todesignate in its application for a securitization order the portions,sub-parts, or components of qualified transition expenditures that shall be thesubject of the securitization order and subsequent related financing throughthe issuance of transition bonds.
(h) The application of the electric distribution companyshall include a procedure through which the commission will annually review theintangible transition charges authorized therein, and within not more thanthirty (30) days after each such review, adjust such charges if and to theextent necessary to ensure the timely recovery of revenues sufficient toprovide for the payment for all principal, interest, premium, if any, and othercharges, or, with respect to certificates of beneficial interest, participationor ownership, amounts corresponding thereto, in respect of the transition bondsproposed in the application; provided, however, that any such adjustments shallin no event require the acceleration of payments of any such charges or amountsrelated to the securitization order.
(i) The application may propose the principal terms andconditions upon which the transition bonds may be refinanced, including thedisposition of any savings achieved by it thereby and the effect of suchrefinancing upon the intangible transition charges from such refinancing.