Sec. 7. (a) This section does not apply if the utility elects the review described in section 8 of this chapter.

(b) In addition to the review of the continuing need for the clean coal technology system under construction prescribed in section 5 of this chapter, the commission shall at the request of the public utility maintain an ongoing review of that construction as the construction proceeds. The applicant shall submit each year during construction, or at other times as the commission and the public utility mutually agree, a progress report and any revisions in the cost estimates for the construction. The commission must hold a public hearing before it may approve or deny a proposed increase in the cost estimates for the implementation, construction, or use of clean coal technology.

(c) If the commission approves the construction and the cost of the part of the clean coal technology system under review, the approval forecloses subsequent challenges to the inclusion of that part of the clean coal technology system in the public utility's rate base on the basis of excessive cost, inadequate quality control, or inability to employ the technology.

(d) If the commission disapproves of all or part of the construction or cost of the part of the clean coal technology system under review, the commission may modify or revoke the certificate. If the public utility cancels construction of the clean coal technology system as a result of the modification or revocation of the certificate, the utility may recover over a reasonable period of time through rates, absent fraud, concealment, or gross mismanagement, the amount of its investment in the clean coal technology system along with a reasonable return on the unamortized balance to the extent the construction and the cost were approved previously by the commission.

As added by P.L.105-1989, SEC.4.