H. B. 4328

         (By Delegate Perdue (By Request))

         [Introduced January 24, 2014; referred to the

         Committee on the Judiciary.]

A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding thereto a new section, designated §24-2-19, relating to the Public Service Commission requiring electric utilities to reimburse customers for expenses incurred resulting from outages caused by lack of appropriate line and easement maintenance.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:

    That the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, be amended by adding thereto a new section, designated §24-2-19, to read as follows:

ARTICLE 2. POWERS AND DUTIES OF PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSION.

§24-2-19. Lack of appropriate line and easement maintenance; reimbursement required.

    When the commission determines an electric outage was caused by lack of appropriate line and easement maintenance it shall require the electric utility to reimburse customers for expenses incurred resulting from the outage.

    NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require electric companies to reimburse customers for expenses incurred as a result of outages caused by lack of appropriate line and easement maintenance.

    This section is new; therefore, it has been completely underscored.