1. Except as otherwise provided in this section, a public utility that furnishes water for municipal, industrial or domestic purposes or services for the disposal of sewage, or both, and which had an annual gross operating revenue of $1,000,000 or more for at least 1 year during the immediately preceding 3 years shall, on or before March 1 of every third year, in the manner specified by the Commission, submit a plan to the Commission to provide sufficient water or services for the disposal of sewage to satisfy the demand made on its system by its customers. If a public utility furnishes both water and services for the disposal of sewage, its annual gross operating revenue for each service must be considered separately for determining whether the public utility meets the requirements of this subsection for either service.

2. A public utility may request a waiver from the requirements of subsection 1 by submitting such a request in writing to the Commission not later than 180 days before the date on which the plan is required to be submitted pursuant to subsection 1. A request for a waiver must include proof satisfactory that the public utility will not experience a significant increase in demand for its services or require the acquisition or construction of additional infrastructure to meet present or future demand during the 3-year period covered by the plan which the public utility would otherwise be required to submit pursuant to subsection 1.

3. The Commission shall, not later than 45 days after receiving a request for a waiver pursuant to subsection 2, issue an order approving or denying the request. The Commission shall not approve the request of a public utility for a waiver for consecutive 3-year periods.

4. The Commission:

(a) Shall adopt regulations to provide for the contents of and the method and schedule for preparing, submitting, reviewing and approving a plan submitted pursuant to subsection 1; and

(b) May adopt regulations relating to the submission of requests for waivers pursuant to subsection 2.

5. Not later than 180 days after a public utility has filed a plan pursuant to subsection 1, the Commission shall issue an order accepting or modifying the plan or specifying any portion of the plan it finds to be inadequate. If the Commission issues an order modifying the plan, the public utility may consent to or reject some or all of the modifications by filing with the Commission a notice to that effect. Any such notice must be filed not later than 30 days after the date of issuance of the order. If such a notice is filed, any petition for reconsideration or rehearing of the order must be filed with the Commission not later than 10 business days after the date the notice is filed.

6. If a plan submitted pursuant to subsection 1 and accepted by the Commission pursuant to subsection 5 and any regulations adopted pursuant to subsection 4 identifies a facility for acquisition or construction, the facility shall be deemed to be a prudent investment and the public utility may recover all just and reasonable costs of planning and constructing or acquiring the facility. For the purposes of this subsection, a plan shall be deemed to be accepted by the Commission only as to that portion of the plan accepted as filed or modified with the consent of the public utility pursuant to subsection 5.

7. All prudent and reasonable expenditures made by a public utility to develop a plan filed pursuant to subsection 1, including, without limitation, any environmental, engineering or other studies, must be recovered from the rates charged to the public utility’s customers.

(Added to NRS by 2007, 489; A 2009, 2476; 2013, 25; 2015, 1094)