COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 422
(By Senator Chafin)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported February 17, 2003.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section four-b, article two, chapter
twenty-four of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to broadening the
power of the public service commission to allow an emergency
rate for a municipality or a utility cooperative.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section four-b, article two, chapter twenty-four of the
code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, be amended and reenacted to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. POWERS AND DUTIES OF PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION.
§24-2-4b. Procedures for changing rates of electric and natural
gas cooperatives, local exchange services of telephone
cooperatives and municipally operated public utilities.
(a) The rates and charges of electric cooperatives, natural
gas cooperatives and municipally operated public utilities, except for municipally operated commercial solid waste facilities as
defined in section two, article fifteen, chapter twenty-two of this
code, and the rates and charges for local exchange services
provided by telephone cooperatives are not subject to the rate
approval provisions of section four or four-a of this article, but
are subject to the limited rate provisions of this section.
(b) All rates and charges set by electric cooperatives,
natural gas cooperatives and municipally operated public utilities
and all rates and charges for local exchange services set by
telephone cooperatives shall be just, reasonable, applied without
unjust discrimination or preference and based primarily on the
costs of providing these services. Such The rates and charges
shall be adopted by the electric, natural gas or telephone
cooperative's governing board and in the case of the municipally
operated public utility by municipal ordinance to be effective not
sooner than forty-five days after adoption: Provided, That notice
of intent to effect a rate change shall be specified on the monthly
billing statement of the customers of such the utility for the
month next preceding the month in which the rate change is to
become effective or the utility shall give its customers, and in
the case of a cooperative, its customers, members and stockholders,
such other reasonable notices as will allow filing of timely
objections to such the rate change. Such The rates and charges
shall be filed with the commission, together with such any
information showing the basis of such the rates and charges and
such other information as the commission considers necessary. Any change in such the rates and charges with updated information shall
be filed with the commission. If a petition, as set out in
subdivision (1), (2) or (3), subsection (c) of this section is
received and the electric cooperative, natural gas cooperative,
telephone cooperative or municipality has failed to file with the
commission such the rates and charges with such information showing
the basis of rates and charges and such other information as the
commission considers necessary, the suspension period limitation of
one hundred twenty days and the one hundred-day period limitation
for issuance of an order by a hearing examiner, as contained in
subsections (d) and (e) of this section, is tolled until the
necessary information is filed. The electric cooperative, natural
gas cooperative, telephone cooperative or municipality shall set
the date when any new rate or charge is to go into effect.
(c) The commission shall review and approve or modify such the
rates upon the filing of a petition within thirty days of the
adoption of the ordinance or resolution changing said the rates or
charges by:
(1) Any customer aggrieved by the changed rates or charges who
presents to the commission a petition signed by not less than
twenty-five percent of the customers served by such the municipally
operated public utility or twenty-five percent of the membership of
the electric, natural gas or telephone cooperative residing within
the state; or
(2) Any customer who is served by a municipally operated
public utility and who resides outside the corporate limits and who is affected by the change in said the rates or charges and who
presents to the commission a petition alleging discrimination
between customers within and without the municipal boundaries.
Said The petition shall be accompanied by evidence of
discrimination; or
(3) Any customer or group of customers who are affected by
said the change in rates who reside within the municipal boundaries
and who present a petition to the commission alleging
discrimination between said customer or group of customers and
other customers of the municipal utility. Said The petition shall
be accompanied by evidence of discrimination.
(d) (1) The filing of a petition with the commission signed by
not less than twenty-five percent of the customers served by the
municipally operated public utility or twenty-five percent of the
membership of the electric, natural gas or telephone cooperative
residing within the state under subdivision (1), subsection (c) of
this section shall suspend the adoption of the rate change
contained in the ordinance or resolution for a period of one
hundred twenty days from the date said the rates or charges would
otherwise go into effect or until an order is issued as provided
herein.
(2) Upon sufficient showing of discrimination by customers
outside the municipal boundaries or a customer or a group of
customers within the municipal boundaries under a petition filed
under subdivision (2) or (3), subsection (c) of this section, the
commission shall suspend the adoption of the rate change contained in the ordinance for a period of one hundred twenty days from the
date said the rates or charges would otherwise go into effect or
until an order is issued as provided herein.
(e) The commission shall forthwith appoint a hearing examiner
from its staff to review the grievances raised by the petitioners.
Said The hearing examiner shall conduct a public hearing and shall,
within one hundred days from the date the said rates or charges
would otherwise go into effect, unless otherwise tolled as provided
in subsection (b) of this section, issue an order approving,
disapproving or modifying, in whole or in part, the rates or
charges imposed by the electric, natural gas or telephone
cooperative or by the municipally operated public utility pursuant
to this section.
(f) Upon receipt of a petition for review of the rates under
the provisions of subsection (c) of this section, the commission
may exercise the power granted to it under the provisions of
section three of this article. The commission may determine the
method by which such the rates are reviewed and may grant and
conduct a de novo hearing on the matter if the customer, electric,
natural gas or telephone cooperative or municipality requests such
a hearing.
(g) The commission may, upon petition by a municipality or
electric, natural gas or telephone cooperative, allow an interim or
emergency rate to take effect, subject to future modification, if
it is determined that such the interim or emergency rate is
necessary to protect the municipality from financial hardship, including, but not limited to, and if that financial hardship is
attributable solely to the purchase of the utility commodity sold
or financial hardship attributable to the direct or indirect
ownership or operation of the utility. In such cases, the
commission may waive the 45-day waiting period provided for in
subsection (b) of this section and the one hundred twenty-day
suspension period provided for in subsection (d) of this section.
(h) Notwithstanding any other provision, the commission has no
authority or responsibility with regard to the regulation of rates,
income, services or contracts by municipally operated public
utilities for services which are transmitted and sold outside of
the state of West Virginia.
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(NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to increase the latitude
of the public service commission to relieve interim or emergency
financial hardships of municipalities and cooperative utilities.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.)