H. B. 4715
(By Delegates Howard and Sobonya)
[Introduced February 22, 2006; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by
adding thereto a new section, designated §24-2-11d, relating
to increasing the power of the Public Service Commission to
order the takeover of troubled utilities.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended
by adding thereto a new section, designated §24-2-11d, to read as
follows:
ARTICLE 2. POWERS AND DUTIES OF PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION.
§24-2-11d. Revocation of certificate of public convenience and
necessity; acquisition of facilities by capable
public utility.
(a) In addition to the powers conferred by section seven,
article two of this chapter, upon a finding by the Public Service
Commission that a public utility is unable or unwilling to adequately serve its customers or has been actually or effectively
abandoned by its owner or owners, or that its management is grossly
and willfully inefficient, irresponsible or unresponsive to the
needs of its customers, or is not capable of providing economical
and efficient utility service, the commission may revoke the
certificate of public convenience and necessity held by the public
utility. In the case of such revocation, the commission shall
order a capable public utility to acquire the facilities of the
revoked public utility and to provide service to the customers of
the revoked public utility. The commission shall also allow a
capable public utility that acquires the facilities of a revoked
public utility to recover all reasonable costs related to such
acquisition of facilities and upgrading of service to customers of
the revoked public utility.
(b) In making a determination to revoke a certificate of
public convenience and necessity, pursuant to subsection (a), the
commission shall consider: (1) The financial, managerial and
technical ability of the public utility considered for revocation;
(2) the financial, managerial and technical ability of the capable
public utility; (3) the expenditures that may be necessary to make
improvements to the facilities of the public utility considered for
revocation to assure compliance with all applicable statutory and
regulatory standards concerning adequacy, efficiency, safety and
reasonableness of service; and (4) any other matters which may be relevant.
(c) The price of the acquisition of the facilities of the
revoked public utility shall be determined by an agreement between
the revoked public utility and the acquiring capable public
utility, subject to a determination by the commission that the
price is reasonable. If the revoked public utility and the
acquiring capable public utility are unable to agree on an
acquisition price or the commission disapproves the acquisition
price on which the utilities have agreed, the commission shall
issue an order directing the acquiring capable public utility to
acquire the revoked public utility by following the procedure
proscribed for exercising the power of eminent domain pursuant to
article two, chapter fifty-four of this code. The fact that the
acquisition price has not been agreed to or finally determined
shall not delay the effect of any order issued by the commission
pursuant to subsection (a).
(d) As used in this section, the following words and phrases
shall have the following meanings:
(1) "Capable public utility" means a public utility which
provides the same type of utility service as the revoked public
utility and has the financial, managerial and technical ability to
comply with all applicable statutory and regulatory standards
concerning adequacy, efficiency, safety and reasonableness of
service on a long-term basis.
(2) "Revoked public utility" means a public utility which has
had its certificate of public convenience and necessity revoked by
the commission pursuant to subsection (a).
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is
to increase the power of
the Public Service Commission to order the takeover of troubled
utilities.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.
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