H. B. 2439
(By Delegates Staton and Amores)
[Introduced February 16, 2005; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend and reenact §24-2-4a of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to the Public Service Commission's
procedure for changing rates; and, clarifying that the Public
Service Commission may permit rates to become effective prior
to the end of a suspension period.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §24-2-4a of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended,
be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. POWERS AND DUTIES OF PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION.
§24-2-4a. Procedure for changing rates after June 30, 1981.
After the thirtieth day of June, one thousand nine hundred
eighty-one, no public utility subject to this chapter except those
utilities subject to the provisions of sections four-b and section
four-d of this article, shall change, suspend or annul any rate,
joint rate, charge, rental or classification except after thirty days' notice to the commission and the public, which notice shall
plainly state the changes proposed to be made in the schedule then
in force and the time when the changed rates or charges shall go
into effect; but the commission may enter an order suspending the
proposed rate as hereinafter provided. The proposed changes shall
be shown by printing new schedules, or shall be plainly indicated
upon the schedules in force at the time, and kept open to public
inspection:
Provided, That, the commission may, in its discretion,
and for good cause shown, allow changes upon less time than the
notice herein specified, or may modify the requirements of this
section in respect to publishing, posting and filing of tariffs,
either by particular instructions or by general order.
Whenever there shall be filed with the commission any schedule
stating a change in the rates or charges, or joint rates or
charges, or stating a new individual or joint rate or charge or
joint classification or any new individual or joint regulation or
practice affecting any rate or charge, the commission may either
upon complaint or upon its own initiative without complaint enter
upon a hearing concerning the propriety of such rate, charge,
classification, regulation or practice; and, if the commission so
orders, it may proceed without answer or other form of pleading by
the interested parties, but upon reasonable notice and, pending
such hearing and the decisions thereon, the commission, upon filing
with such schedule and delivering to the public utility affected thereby a statement in writing of its reasons for such suspension,
may suspend the operation of such schedule and defer the use of
such rate, charge, classification, regulation or practice, but not
for a longer period than two hundred seventy days beyond the time
when such rate, charge, classification, regulation or practice
would otherwise go into effect; and after full hearing, whether
completed before or after the rate, charge, classification,
regulation or practice goes into effect, the commission may make
such order in reference to such rate, charge, classification,
regulation or practice as would be proper in a proceeding initiated
after the rate, charge, classification, regulation or practice had
become effective:
Provided, That in the case of a public utility
having two thousand five hundred customers or less and which is not
principally owned by any other public utility corporation or public
utility holding corporation, the commission may suspend the
operation of such schedule and defer the use of such rate, charge,
classification, regulation or practice, but not for a longer period
than one hundred twenty days beyond the time when such rate,
charge, classification, regulation or practice would otherwise go
into effect; and in the case of a public utility having more than
two thousand five hundred customers, but not more than five
thousand customers, and which is not principally owned by any other
public utility corporation or public utility holding corporation,
the commission may suspend the operation of such schedule and defer the use of such rate, charge, classification, regulation or
practice, but not for a longer period than one hundred fifty days
beyond the time when such rate, charge, classification, regulation
or practice would otherwise go into effect; and in the case of a
public utility having more than five thousand customers, but not
more than seven thousand five hundred customers, and which is not
principally owned by any other public utility corporation or public
utility holding corporation, the commission may suspend the
operation of such schedule and defer the use of such rate, charge,
classification, regulation or practice, but not for a longer period
than one hundred eighty days beyond the time when such rate,
charge, classification, regulation or practice would otherwise go
into effect; and after full hearing, whether completed before or
after the rate, charge, classification, regulation or practice goes
into effect, the commission may make such order in reference to
such rate, charge, classification, regulation or practice as would
be proper in a proceeding initiated after the rate, charge,
classification, regulation or practice had become effective:
Provided, however, That
nothing contained herein in any way
prohibits the commission from authorizing rates to become effective
prior to the end of the periods of suspension and: Provided
further, That if any such hearing and decision thereon is not
concluded within the periods of suspension, as above stated, such
rate, charge, classification, regulation or practice shall go into effect at the end of such period not subject to refund: And
Provided further, That if any such rate, charge, classification,
regulation or practice goes into effect because of the failure of
the commission to reach a decision, the same shall not preclude the
commission from rendering a decision with respect thereto which
would disapprove, reduce or modify any such proposed rate, charge,
classification, regulation or practice, in whole or in part, but
any such disapproval, reduction or modification shall not be deemed
to require a refund to the customers of such utility as to any
rate, charge, classification, regulation or practice so
disapproved, reduced or modified. The fact of any rate, charge,
classification, regulation or practice going into effect by reason
of the commission's failure to act thereon shall not affect the
commission's power and authority to subsequently act with respect
to any such application or change in any rate, charge,
classification, regulation or practice. Any rate, charge,
classification, regulation or practice which shall be approved,
disapproved, modified or changed, in whole or in part, by decision
of the commission shall remain in effect as so approved,
disapproved, modified or changed during the period or pendency of
any subsequent hearing thereon or appeal therefrom. Orders of the
commission affecting rates, charges, classifications, regulations
or practices which have gone into effect automatically at the end
of the suspension period are prospective in effect only.
At any hearing involving a rate sought to be increased or
involving the change of any rate, charge, classification,
regulation or practice, the burden of proof to show the justness
and reasonableness of the increased rate or proposed increased
rate, or the proposed change of rate, charge, classification,
regulation or practice shall be upon the public utility making
application for such change. The commission shall, whenever
practicable and within budgetary constraints, conduct one or more
public hearings within the area served by the public utility making
application for such increase or change, for the purpose of
obtaining comments and evidence on the matter from local
ratepayers.
Each public utility subject to the provisions of this section
shall be required to establish, in a written report which shall be
incorporated into each general rate case application, that it has
thoroughly investigated and considered the emerging and
state-of-the-art concepts in the utility management, rate design
and conservation as reported by the commission under subsection
(c), section one, article one of this chapter, as alternatives to,
or in mitigation of, any rate increase. The utility report shall
contain as to each concept considered the reasons for adoption or
rejection of each. When, in any case pending before the commission
all evidence shall have been taken and the hearing completed, the
commission shall render a decision in such case. The failure of the commission to render a decision with respect to any such
proposed change in any such rate, charge, classification,
regulation or practice within the various time periods specified in
this section after the application therefor shall constitute
neglect of duty on the part of the commission and each member.
thereof
Where more than twenty members of the public are affected by
a proposed change in rates, it shall be a sufficient notice to the
public within the meaning of this section if such notice is
published as a Class II legal advertisement in compliance with the
provisions of article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code, and
the publication area for such publication shall be the community
where the majority of the resident members of the public affected
by such change reside or, in case of nonresidents, have their
principal place of business within this State.
The commission may order rates into effect subject to refund,
plus interest in the discretion of the commission, in cases in
which the commission determines that a temporary or interim rate
increase is necessary for the utility to avoid financial distress,
or, in which the costs upon which these rates are based are subject
to modification by the commission or another regulatory commission
and to refund to the public utility. In such case the commission
may require such public utility to enter into a bond in an amount
deemed by the commission to be reasonable and conditioned upon the refund to the persons or parties entitled thereto of the amount of
the excess if such rates so put into effect are subsequently
determined to be higher than those finally fixed for such utility.
No utility may make application for a general rate increase
while another general rate application is pending before the
commission and not finally acted upon, except pursuant to the
provisions of the next preceding paragraph of this section. The
provisions of this paragraph shall not be construed so as to
prohibit any such rate application from being made while a previous
application which has been finally acted upon by the commission is
pending before or upon appeal to the West Virginia Supreme Court of
Appeals.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to clarify that the Public
Service Commission may permit rates to become effective prior to
the end of a suspension period.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.
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