Introduced Version
Senate Bill 566 History
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Key: Green = existing Code. Red = new code to be enacted
Senate Bill No. 566
(By Senator Snyder)
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[Introduced March 19, 2013; referred to the Committee on
Government Organization; and then to the Committee on the
Judiciary .]
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A BILL to amend and reenact §24-2-4b of the Code of West Virginia,
1931, as amended, relating to permitting Class III cities and
Class IV towns and villages to opt into rate regulation by the
Public Service Commission; setting forth the procedure;
establishing that an enacted municipal rate is presumed to be
lawful; setting forth a rate review procedure; setting forth
a procedure to determine allegations of rate discrimination;
lengthening certain time periods; and permitting those Class
III cities and Class IV towns and villages who have opted into
regulation by the Public Service Commission to opt out only by
order of the commission.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That §24-2-4b 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.
§24-2-4b. 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, Class III cities and Class IV towns or villages who have
opted into commission regulation of the municipal utility's rates
and charges pursuant to subsection (j) of this section, 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. 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 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, other
reasonable notices as will allow filing of timely objections to the
rate change. The rates and charges shall be filed with the
commission, together with any information showing the basis of the
rates and charges and other information as the commission considers
necessary. Any change in 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 the rates and charges with information
showing the basis of rates and charges and other information as the
commission considers necessary, the suspension period limitation of
one hundred twenty fifty days and the one hundred-day hundred
thirty-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) An enacted municipal rate ordinance shall be presumed to
be valid and lawful. The commission shall review and approve or
modify the rates or refer an ordinance for further review under
subdivision (4) of this subsection, upon the filing of a petition
within thirty days of the adoption of the ordinance or resolution
changing 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 the municipally
operated public utility or twenty-five percent of the membership of
the electric, natural gas or telephone cooperative residing within
the state;
(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 the rates or charges and who presents
to the commission a petition alleging discrimination between
customers within and without the municipal boundaries. The
petition shall be accompanied by evidence of discrimination; or
(3) Any customer or group of customers who are affected by the
change in rates who reside within the municipal boundaries and who
present a petition to the commission alleging discrimination between customer or group of customers and other customers of the
municipal utility. The petition shall be accompanied by evidence
of discrimination; or
__________(4) Upon receipt of an allegation of discrimination made
pursuant to subdivision (2) or (3) of this subsection, the
commission shall review the filing and any information filed by the
municipal utility pursuant to subsection (b) of this section. If,
after review to be completed no later than thirty days from receipt
of the protest, the commission finds the protest and filings by the
utility present a question of law or fact that supports, or may
support, a claim of discrimination, the commission shall find a
sufficient prima facie showing of discrimination and shall refer
the ordinance for further proceeding pursuant to subsection (e) of
this section.
(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 fifty days from the date 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 the rates or charges would otherwise go into effect or until
an order is issued as provided herein issue a finding within one
hundred fifty days of the date the rates have taken effect unless
otherwise tolled pursuant to subsection (b) of this section.
(e) The commission shall forthwith appoint a hearing examiner
from its staff to review the grievances raised by the petitioners
and found to constitute a prima facie case of discrimination. The
hearing examiner shall conduct a public hearing and shall, within
one hundred thirty days from the date the rates or charges are
effective or 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, and a subsequent
finding of a prima facie case of discrimination, if alleged, 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 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 a hearing.
(g) If the commission finds an enacted municipal rate
ordinance to be unlawful or invalid, it shall order the
modification of the subject rates and/or charges, and shall further
order a refund of any improperly assessed and collected rates or
charges.
__________(g) (h) 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 refund or future
modification, if it is determined that the interim or emergency
rate is necessary to protect the municipality from financial
hardship attributable to the purchase of the utility commodity
sold, or the commission determines that a temporary or interim rate
increase is necessary for the utility to avoid financial distress.
In such cases, the commission may waive the forty-five day waiting
period provided for in subsection (b) of this section and the one
hundred twenty-day fifty-day suspension period provided for in
subsection (d) of this section.
(h) (i) 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.
(j) Class III cities and Class IV towns or villages may opt
into commission regulation of the municipal utility's rates and
charges by filing with the executive secretary of the commission,
a resolution enacted by the governing body requesting regulation by
the commission. Once a Class III or Class IV governing body files
the resolution, the commission shall notify all utility customers
of the filing entity of the requested regulation through
publication of a Class I legal advertisement in compliance with
article three, chapter fifty-nine of this code. Upon receipt by
the executive secretary of an affidavit of publication of this
notice, the municipal utility may file, and the commission shall
process, rate requests from the municipal utility subject to
section four-a of this article rather than the provisions of this
section. A Class III city or Class IV town or village opting into
rate regulation under this subsection may subsequently petition the
commission to opt out of rate regulation, and may do so by order of
the commission.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to permit Class III cities and Class IV towns and villages to opt into rate regulation by the
Public Service Commission. The bill sets forth the procedure to be
used. The bill establishes that an enacted municipal rate is
presumed to be lawful. The bill sets forth a rate review
procedure. The bill sets forth a procedure to use to determine
allegations of rate discrimination. The bill lengthens certain
time periods. The bill permits those Class III cities and Class IV
towns and villages who have opted into regulation by the Public
Service Commission to opt out only by order of the commission.
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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