(a) There is hereby created within the State Treasury a special fund to be designated as the Delaware Public Utility Regulatory Revolving Fund which shall be used in the operations of the Commission and the Division of the Public Advocate in the performance of the various functions and duties required by law.
(b) (1) All fees, licenses, assessments and other charges, collected by the Commission pursuant to this title shall be deposited in the State Treasury to the credit of said Delaware Public Utility Regulatory Revolving Fund to be used in the operation of the Commission as authorized by the General Assembly in its annual operating budget. However, if the General Assembly is not in session, any funds requested by the Department for the performance of the various functions and duties of the Commission and the Division of the Public Advocate, and which exceed the Commission’s annual operating budget, shall be officially submitted for approval or disapproval to the Controller General of the State and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget of the State.
(2) All penalties or fines assessed and collected by the Commission shall not be deposited in said fund but shall be deposited in the General Fund of the State.
(c) All payments to the Commission under §§ 114 and 115 of this title shall be deposited in the State Treasury to the credit of the Delaware Public Utility Regulatory Revolving Fund to be used in the operations of the Commission and the Division of the Public Advocate, as authorized by the General Assembly. However, if the General Assembly is not in session, any funds requested by the Department for the performance of the various functions and duties, of the Commission and the Division of the Public Advocate, and which exceed the Commission’s or Division’s annual operating budget, shall be officially submitted for approval or disapproval to the Controller General of the State and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget of the State.
(d) Money reposing in the Delaware Public Utility Regulatory Revolving Fund shall be used by the Commission and the Division of the Public Advocate in the performance of each agency’s various functions and duties as provided by law; subject always to annual appropriations by the General Assembly for salaries and other routine operating expenses of the Commission and the Division of the Public Advocate. If the General Assembly is not in session, any funds requested by the Department for the performance of the various functions and duties of the Commission and the Division of the Public Advocate, and which exceed the Commission’s or Division’s annual operating budget, shall be officially submitted for approval or disapproval to the Controller General of the State and the Director of the Office of Management and Budget of the State.
(e) Annual appropriations from the General Fund of the State for the operation of the Commission and the Division of the Public Advocate shall be credited to the Delaware Public Utility Regulatory Revolving Fund in appropriated monthly amounts and all expenditures authorized by the General Assembly for the operation of the Commission and the Division of the Public Advocate shall be made from said revolving fund. If the General Assembly is not in session, any funds requested by the Department for the performance of the various functions and duties required of the Commission and the Division of the Public Advocate by law and which exceed their respective operating budgets shall be officially submitted for approval or disapproval to the Controller General of the State and the Direction of the Office of Management and Budget of the State.
(f) The maximum balance which shall remain in the Delaware Public Utility Regulatory Revolving Fund at the end of any fiscal year shall not exceed $750,000 in addition to the annual appropriation for the next fiscal year as authorized by the General Assembly for the operation of the Commission. Any amount in excess thereof shall be reverted to each public utility in an amount proportionate to the sum paid by that public utility in the previous calendar year pursuant to subsection (b) of this section.
59 Del. Laws, c. 397, § 1; 65 Del. Laws, c. 348, § 125; 75 Del. Laws, c. 88, § 21(12); 77 Del. Laws, c. 151, §§ 1, 10-16.