Iowa Code » Chapter 476 — PUBLIC UTILITY REGULATION
Iowa Code

Iowa Code § 476.2 (2026)

Commission powers and rules — utility’s Iowa office

✓ current as of July 2026
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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. [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

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Notes of Decisions
Cited in 19 cases, 1983–2019 · leading case: Nextera Energy Resources LLC v. Iowa Utils. Bd., 815 N.W.2d 30 (Iowa 2012).
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Nextera Energy Resources LLC v. Iowa Utils. Bd., 815 N.W.2d 30 (Iowa 2012). · cites it 36× “Historically, we have deferred to the Iowa Utilities Board’s interpretation of the complex and technical laws that it administers.”
Renda v. Iowa Civil Rights Comm'n, 784 N.W.2d 8 (Iowa 2010). · cites it 4× “1 (quoting Iowa Code § 476.2 (1)(2005))); Birchansky Real Estate, L.”
Sz Enter., LLC D/B/A Eagle Point Solar v. Iowa Utils. Bd., a Div. of the Dep't of Com., State of Iowa, 850 N.W.2d 441 (Iowa 2014). · cites it 4× “The Board has rulemaking authority, see Iowa Code section 476.2(1), and it must determine what a public utility is in order to carry out its duties.”
City of Des Moines v. Iowa Dep't of Transp. & Iowa Transp. Comm'n, 911 N.W.2d 431 (Iowa 2018). · cites it 2× “at 752 (quoting Iowa Code § 476.2 (1981) ). "Such commission authority, if it exists, must be implied from the statutory language the commission relies on.”
Hawkeye Land Co. v. Iowa Utils. Bd., 847 N.W.2d 199 (Iowa 2014). · cites it 2× “We recognized that section 476.2(1) grants IUB “broad general powers to carry out the purposes of chapter 476.”
Iowa-Illinois Gas & Elec. Co. v. Iowa State Com. Comm'n, 334 N.W.2d 748 (Iowa 1983). · cites it 4× “The Assembly also amended section 476.2, dealing with commission powers and rules, by adding this paragraph: The commission shall promulgate rules concerning the use of energy conservation strategies by rate or service-regulated gas and electric utilities by July 1, 1981.”
UtiliCorp United Inc. v. Iowa Utils. Bd., 570 N.W.2d 451 (Iowa 1997). · cites it 4× “1196, § 7 (amending Iowa Code § 476.2 ) (location of utility's principal office for Iowa operations); § 13 (amending Iowa Code § 476.”
City of Coralville v. Iowa Utils. Bd., 750 N.W.2d 523 (Iowa 2008). “§ 476.2(1). The agency has clearly been vested with authority to interpret the “rates and services” provision of section 476.”
East Buchanan Tel. Coop. v. Iowa Utils. Bd., 738 N.W.2d 636 (Iowa 2007). · cites it 3× “§ 476.2(1) (conferring “broad general powers to effect the purposes of [chapter 476]”).”
Iowa Power & Light Co. v. Iowa State Utils. Bd., 448 N.W.2d 468 (Iowa 1989). · cites it 8× “In challenging the action of the board and the district court’s order upholding that action, the utility asserts that the only vehicle available to the board in obtaining the utility’s business records is the issuance of a subpoena pursuant to Iowa Code section 476.2 (1987).…”
OCMC, Inc. v. Norris, 428 F. Supp. 2d 930 (S.D. Iowa 2006). · cites it 4× “Iowa Code § 476.2 grants the Iowa Utilities Board broad authority to regulate utilities in Iowa.”
Mid-Iowa Cmty. Action, Inc. v. Iowa State Com. Comm'n, 421 N.W.2d 899 (Iowa 1988). · cites it 2× “See Iowa Code § 476.2 . To suggest that the board has the authority to regulate the imposition of fees but is powerless to order refunds for fees unlawfully charged is untenable.”
Show all 19 citing cases →
— Iowa Code § 476.2(1) — 9 cases
Nextera Energy Resources LLC v. Iowa Utils. Bd., 815 N.W.2d 30 (Iowa 2012). “Historically, we have deferred to the Iowa Utilities Board’s interpretation of the complex and technical laws that it administers.”
Sz Enter., LLC D/B/A Eagle Point Solar v. Iowa Utils. Bd., a Div. of the Dep't of Com., State of Iowa, 850 N.W.2d 441 (Iowa 2014). “The Board has rulemaking authority, see Iowa Code section 476.2(1), and it must determine what a public utility is in order to carry out its duties.”
Hawkeye Land Co. v. Iowa Utils. Bd., 847 N.W.2d 199 (Iowa 2014). “We recognized that section 476.2(1) grants IUB “broad general powers to carry out the purposes of chapter 476.”
City of Coralville v. Iowa Utils. Bd., 750 N.W.2d 523 (Iowa 2008). “§ 476.2(1). The agency has clearly been vested with authority to interpret the “rates and services” provision of section 476.”
East Buchanan Tel. Coop. v. Iowa Utils. Bd., 738 N.W.2d 636 (Iowa 2007). “§ 476.2(1) (conferring “broad general powers to effect the purposes of [chapter 476]”).”
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