SBA increases size standards for NAICS Sector 22, Utilities effective January 22, 2014

The United States Small Business Administration (SBA) has revised the size standards for 13 industries in NAICS Sector 22, Utilities. Specifically, SBA - increased receipts based size standards for three industries; - changed the basis for measuring business size from megawatt hours to number of employees for the 10 electric power generation, transmission, and distribution industries; and, - removed Footnote 1 from SBA's Table of Size Standards that applied to all of the NAICS codes in electric power generation, transmission, and distribution. Before its removal, the footnote stated that a firm is small if, including its affiliates, it is primarily engaged in the generation, transmission, and/or distribution of electric energy for sale and its total electric output for the preceding fiscal year did not exceed 4 million megawatt hours. This requirement no longer applies. SBA is retaining the current size standards for the remaining industries in Sector 22. As part of its ongoing comprehensive size standards review, SBA evaluated all size standards for industries in NAICS Sector 22 to determine whether they should be retained or revised. Approximately 400 additional firms will be small under the new size standards and eligible for SBA's loan and Federal procurement programs. You may read/download SBA's final rule at www.regulations.gov (search on "RIN 3245-AG25" [without quotes]). You may also review the originally proposed rule together with all of the comments submitted by going to www.regulations.gov. The proposed rule and the comments are included in the same docket. The revised size standards are effective January 22, 2014.