ENGROSSED
Senate Bill No. 745
(By Senators Wooton, Ball, Bowman, Dittmar, Hunter, Kessler,
Oliverio, Ross, Schoonover, Snyder, White, Buckalew and Kimble)
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[Originating in the Committee on the Judiciary;
reported February 25, 1998.]
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A BILL to amend and reenact section two, article two, chapter
twenty-four of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine
hundred thirty-one, as amended, relating to the powers and
duties of the public service commission to regulate public
utilities; and authorizing the commission to require public
utilities to charge emergency shelter providers the lowest
rates available.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That section two, 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.
§24-2-2. 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.