Natural gas facilities relocation costs.

(1) As used in this section, the term:

(a) “Authority” has the same meaning as in s. 337.401(1)(a).

(b) “Facilities relocation” means the physical moving, modification, or reconstruction of public utility facilities to accommodate the requirements imposed by an authority.

(c) “Natural gas facilities” or “facilities” means gas mains, laterals, and service lines used to distribute natural gas to customers. The term includes all ancillary equipment needed for safe operations, including, but not limited to, regulating stations, meters, other measuring devices, regulators, and pressure monitoring equipment.

(d) “Natural gas facilities relocation costs” means the costs to relocate or reconstruct facilities as required by a mandate, a statute, a law, an ordinance, or an agreement between the utility and an authority, including, but not limited to, costs associated with reviewing plans provided by an authority. The term does not include any costs recovered through the public utility’s base rates.

(e) “Public utility” or “utility” has the same meaning as in s. 366.02, except that the term does not include an electric utility.

(2) A utility may submit to the commission, pursuant to commission rule, a petition describing the utility’s projected natural gas facilities relocation costs for the next calendar year, actual natural gas facilities relocation costs for the prior calendar year, and proposed cost-recovery factors designed to recover such costs. A utility’s decision to proceed with implementing a plan before filing such a petition does not constitute imprudence.

(3) The commission shall conduct an annual proceeding to determine each utility’s prudently incurred natural gas facilities relocation costs and to allow each utility to recover such costs through a charge separate and apart from base rates, to be referred to as the natural gas facilities relocation cost recovery clause. The commission’s review in the proceeding is limited to determining the prudence of the utility’s actual incurred natural gas facilities relocation costs and the reasonableness of the utility’s projected natural gas facilities relocation costs for the following calendar year, and providing for a true-up of the costs with the projections on which past factors were set. The commission shall require that any refund or collection made as a part of the true-up process includes interest.

(4) All costs approved for recovery through the natural gas facilities relocation cost recovery clause must be allocated to customer classes pursuant to the rate design most recently approved by the commission.

(5) If a capital expenditure is recoverable as a natural gas facilities relocation cost, the public utility may recover the annual depreciation on the cost, calculated at the public utility’s current approved depreciation rates, and a return on the undepreciated balance of the costs at the public utility’s weighted average cost of capital using the last approved return on equity.

(6) The commission shall adopt rules to implement and administer this section and shall propose a rule for adoption as soon as practicable after July 1, 2024.