One of the final bills that was signed by Governor Kim Reynolds before the legislative session ended last week was regulating utility companies.

Commonly called the “Energy Bill” State Senator Jerry Behn says a key component was making utility companies show, what he calls, “a hidden tax,” on an individual’s billing statement.

“Somewhere around 1990 there was a tax that was put on your electric bill (and) it paid for these energy efficiency programs. Well obviously not everybody takes advantage of those efficiency programs, so where’s the money been going? This should provide some ways for people to see how much that tax is and it’s going to provide an option for individuals to opt off. I think that was a big deal.”

State Representative Chip Baltimore says the old law stated that energy companies didn’t have to disclose that type of tax. He points out that the tax totaled $250 million per year.

“We just thought that was too high. So part of this bill came in and trimmed that amount down to $150 million. So we took $100 million out of the energy efficiency requirements, mainly to get utility companies to basically lower their bills to give back to their customers.”

Baltimore notes that the new law applies to all utility companies, including the rural cooperatives, which he says they supported the legislation as well.