H. B. 2441
(By Delegates Linch and Fragale)
[Introduced January 10, 1996; referred to the
Committee on the Judiciary.]
A BILL to amend article two, 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
eighteen, relating to the power of the commission to
regulate public service companies and limiting the percent
of net income in dividends that a subsidiary can pay to a
parent company.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That article two, 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
eighteen, to read as follows:
ARTICLE 2. POWERS AND DUTIES OF PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION.
§24-2-18. Power of commission to regulate public service
companies.
Any public service company that is a subsidiary of a parent
holding company that also is a public service company may not:
(1) Pay a higher proportion of its net income in dividends
to the parent than the proportion of net income paid by the
parent holding company to the parent's stockholders; or
(2) Execute a transaction with an entity that is affiliated
with the parent holding company if the costs of that transaction
exceed five percent of the subsidiary's operating expenses.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to prohibit a public
service company that is a subsidiary of a parent holding company
that is also a public service company from paying a higher
proportion of its net income in dividends to the parent than the
proportion of net income paid by the parent holding company to
its stockholders and to prohibit the subsidiary from executing a
transaction with an entity that is affiliated with the parent if
the costs of that transaction exceed five percent of the
subsidiary's operating expenses.
This section is new; therefore, strike-throughs and
underscoring have been omitted.