- (1) The commission may adopt rules requiring a public utility to prepare and file a plan for meeting the requirements of its customers in the most cost-effective manner consistent with the public utility's obligation to serve. The rules may prescribe the content and the time for filing a plan.
- (2) A plan must contain but is not limited to an evaluation of the full range of cost-effective means for the public utility to meet the service requirements of its Montana customers, including conservation or similar improvements in the efficiency by which services are used.
- (3) The commission may adopt rules providing guidelines to be used in preparing a plan and identifying the criteria to be used in determining cost-effectiveness. The criteria may include externalities associated with the acquisition of a resource by a public utility. The rules must establish the minimum filing requirements for acceptance of a plan by the commission for further review. If a plan does not meet the minimum filing requirements, it must be returned to the public utility with a list of deficiencies. A corrected plan must be submitted within the time established by the commission.
- (4) A plan filed with the commission by a utility, as defined in 75-20-104, must be provided to the department of environmental quality and the consumer counsel.
History: En. Sec. 4, Ch. 157, L. 1993; amd. Sec. 173, Ch. 418, L. 1995.