SB102 SUB1
Senate Bill 102 History
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SB102 SUB1
COMMITTEE SUBSTITUTE
FOR
Senate Bill No. 102
(By Senators Snyder and Plymale)
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[Originating in the Committee on Government Organization;
reported March 7, 2013.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §24-2-2 of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating generally to the power of the
Public Service Commission to regulate public utilities; and
authorizing the Public Service Commission to promulgate rules
establishing requirements for capacity improvement fees.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §24-2-2 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.
§24-2-2. General power of commission to regulate public utilities.
(a) The commission is hereby given power to investigate all
rates, methods and practices of public utilities subject to the
provisions of this chapter; to require them to conform to the laws
of this state and to all rules, regulations and orders of the commission not contrary to law; and to require copies of all
reports, rates, classifications, schedules and timetables in effect
and used by the public utility or other person, to be filed with
the commission, and all other information desired by the commission
relating to the investigation and requirements, including
inventories of all property in such form and detail as the
commission may prescribe. The commission may compel obedience to
its lawful orders by mandamus or injunction or other proper
proceedings in the name of the state in any circuit court having
jurisdiction of the parties or of the subject matter, or the
Supreme Court of Appeals direct, and the proceedings shall have
priority over all pending cases. The commission may change any
intrastate rate, charge or toll which is unjust or unreasonable or
any interstate charge with respect to matters of a purely local
nature which have not been regulated by or pursuant to an act of
Congress and may prescribe a rate, charge or toll that is just and
reasonable, and change or prohibit any practice, device or method
of service in order to prevent undue discrimination or favoritism
between persons and between localities and between commodities for
a like and contemporaneous service. But in no case shall the rate,
toll or charge be more than the service is reasonably worth,
considering the cost of the service. Every order entered by the
commission shall continue in force until the expiration of the
time, if any, named by the commission in the order, or until revoked or modified by the commission, unless the order is
suspended, modified or revoked by order or decree of a court of
competent jurisdiction: Provided, That in the case of utilities
used by emergency shelter providers, the commission shall prescribe
such rates, charges or tolls that are the lowest available.
"Emergency shelter provider" means any nonprofit entity which
provides temporary emergency housing and services to the homeless
or to victims of domestic violence or other abuse.
(b) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the
contrary, rates are not discriminatory if, when considering the
debt costs associated with a future water or sewer project which
would not benefit existing customers, the commission establishes
rates which ensure that the future customers to be served by the
new project are solely responsible for the debt costs associated
with the project.
(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the
contrary, the commission shall promulgate and adopt rules that
relate to its establishment and modification of capacity
improvement fees for residential and commercial customers for
inclusion in the tariff of a private, public or municipal water or
sewer utility.
_____(1) A capacity improvement fee shall be based upon the
estimated cost of future additions or upgrades of capacity required
to serve future capacity demand by a new connection compared to the overall demand due to customer growth;
_____(2) A capacity improvement fee shall apply to developers and
owners of structures that seek to connect to water and sewer
systems;
_____(3) In establishing the capacity improvement fee, the
commission shall consider, together with other criteria it may in
its discretion consider, the expected growth in population that
will be served by the utility, the capacity requirement to serve
that population growth and the expected exhaustion date of existing
capacity;
_____(4) The commission shall consider establishing differentials
in the fee or limitations on the amount of or calculation of fees
based upon a relative cost of housing index created pursuant to the
provisions of section two-b, article one, chapter eleven of this
code, which fee differentials may not be considered discriminatory
rates within the meaning of this chapter;
_____(5) The commission shall consider an affordable housing
component with a discount capacity improvement fee schedule based
upon the new home's value compared to the most recent annual single
dwelling residential housing index created pursuant to the
provisions of section two-b, article one, chapter eleven of this
code;
_____(6) The capacity improvement fee shall include a lower fee for
a manufactured home, as defined in section two, article nine, chapter twenty-one of this code, equal to twenty-five percent of
the otherwise applicable fee for a standard residential housing
unit or a fee as set out in subdivisions (4) and/or (5) of this
subsection, whichever is less;
_____(7) The commission shall establish a method for developing fee
schedules and maximum fees for commercial developments and
residential developments with multiple units;
_____(8) The revenue from the capacity improvement fees shall be
deposited in a separate account to be used only for future capital
improvements, as determined and authorized by commission order;
_____(9) The commission may develop further criteria relating to
existing and proposed capacity improvement fees
the commission
considers necessary to effectuate the provisions of this
subsection;
_____(10) The commission shall promulgate rules in accordance with
section seven, article one, chapter twenty-four of this code to
effectuate the purposes of this subsection; and
_____(11) Nothing contained in this subsection may be construed to
invalidate any capacity improvement fees approved by the commission
prior to the effective date of the rules required to be promulgated
by this subsection.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to authorize the Public
Service Commission to require capital improvement fees that include
an affordable housing rate differential.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from
the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would
be added.