WEST virginia legislature

2016 regular session

Committee Substitute

for

Senate Bill 522

By Senators Snyder and Unger

[Originating in the Committee on Government Organization; reported on February 10, 2016.]

A BILL to amend and reenact §24-2-2 of the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, relating generally to public service districts; and to prohibit shifting future development costs onto existing public service district customers.

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 directly, and the proceedings shall have priority over all pending cases.  The commission shall consider equity to existing rate-paying customers in all matters before the commission, including, but not limited to, projects, debt service and rates.  The commission is hereby given the power to order consolidation of any two or more publically owned public water and/or sewer utilities if the commission finds that a consolidation offers greater efficiency, economic benefit and/or increased equity to the combined customer base in those separate utilities. 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.  The commission may establish and approve connection charges, proffers and/or developer construction agreements for new water and sewer utility expansions and new connections to water and sewer utilities, upon application by the utility. 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 have immediate benefit to existing rate-paying 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. Rates likewise are not discriminatory if the commission establishes rates which ensure that future customers to be served by such a future water or sewer project are reasonable for development costs associated with that project, including limiting reasonable engineering costs.

(c) Notwithstanding any other provision of this code to the contrary, the jurisdiction of the commission over water and/or sewer utilities that are political subdivisions of the state providing a separate or combined services and having at least four thousand five hundred customers and annual combined gross revenues of $3 million or more shall be limited to those powers enumerated in subsection (b), section one of this article.

NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to prohibit increasing rates of existing public service district customers for increased services for future customers that do not immediately benefit existing customers.

Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law, and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.