Senate Bill No. 171
(By Senator Snyder and McCabe)
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[Introduced January 21, 2000; referred to the Committee
on Energy, Industry and Mining.]
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A BILL to amend article three, chapter twenty-four of the code of
West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as
amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated section
nine, relating to inspection of electric service installations
prior to electric service being connected; requiring
inspections after a certain date; public service commission to
establish parameters for inspections; electric utilities to
develop and submit inspection program to commission for
approval; and exemptions from inspection.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article three, chapter twenty-four of the code of West
Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one, as amended, be
amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section nine, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 3. DUTIES AND PRIVILEGES OF PUBLIC UTILITIES SUBJECT TO
REGULATIONS OF COMMISSION.
§24-3-9. Electric service installation inspections.
(a) On and after the first day of July, two thousand two, no
electric utility subject to the provisions of this chapter may
connect electric service to a residential, commercial or industrial
electric service installation unless and until such installation
has been inspected from the point of service attachment up to and
including the service equipment and grounding, and approved
pursuant to the provisions of this section.
(b) The commission shall, by rule, establish parameters for an
electric inspection program to be adopted by an electric utility in
developing such a program. Such parameters shall include:
(1) The type and content of inspection necessary to ensure
that the electric service meets the relevant requirements of the
National Electrical Code and any requirements of the electric
utility as approved by the commission;
(2) The conditions under which an electric service
installation is subject to inspection;
(3) A requirement that the inspection shall be performed by a
certified electrical inspector who is not an employee or agent of the electric utility which would serve the installation;
(4) The type of notice to be used:
(A) By the electric utility to inform an electric customer
that an inspection under this section is required; and
(B) By the electrical inspector to inform the electric
customer and the electric utility that the installation has been
inspected and approved for service;
(5) A schedule of fees which may be charged a customer by the
electrical inspector for performing an initial inspection and any
necessary subsequent inspection should the installation fail the
initial inspection; and
(6) Any other requirements the commission deems necessary to
carry out the provisions of this section.
(c) Each electric utility regulated by the commission shall
develop and submit to the commission for approval an electric
inspection program which conforms to the parameters established
under subsection (b) of this section. The commission may require
revision of any provision of such program which does not so
conform. Any inspection program which has been approved by the
commission prior to the effective date of this section shall be
resubmitted to the commission for approval only if any provision of
such program does not conform to the parameters or any provision of this section.
(d) The provisions of this section do not apply to:
(1) Any installation which is subject to inspection under an
established inspection program of a county or municipality;
(2) Any installation in ships, water craft, railway rolling
stock, aircraft or motor vehicles;
(3) Any installation of railways for the generation,
transformation, transmission or distribution of electricity used
exclusively for operation of rolling stock, or any installation
used exclusively for railway signaling and communication purposes;
(4) Any installation underground in mines;
(5) Any installation under the control of an electric utility
for the purposes of communication or metering, or for the
generation, control, transformation, transmission and distribution
of electricity located in building spaces used by such utilities
for such purposes or located on property owned or leased by the
utility or on public highways, streets or roads, or by established
rights on private property;
(6) Any installation for communication equipment under the
control of communication utilities and providers;
(7) Any installation of high voltage service of six hundred
volts or more which is subject to the provisions of the National Electrical Safety Code; and
(8) Any other electric installation the commission may exempt
by rule or regulation.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require, after July 1,
2002, electric utilities to submit to the public service commission
for approval, a program for inspection of electric installations
based on the parameters established by the public service
commission through its rules.
This is a new section, therefore strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.