Chapter 148
2011 -- S 0265 SUBSTITUTE A
Enacted 06/29/11
A N A C T
RELATING TO
PUBLIC UTILITIES AND CARRIERS -- DUTIES OF UTILITIES AND CARRIERS--REGULATORY
POWERS OF ADMINISTRATION
Introduced By: Senator William A. Walaska
Date Introduced: February 10, 2011
It is enacted by the
General Assembly as follows:
SECTION 1. Section 39-2-5 of the General Laws in Chapter
39-2 entitled "Duties of
Utilities and
Carriers" are hereby amended to read as follows:
(Note:
Sections 39-2-2, 39-2-3, and 39-2-4 of the General Laws in Chapter 39-2
entitled "Duties of Utilities and Carriers" are
included herein for reference only and do not
contain any amendment.)
39-2-2.
Rate discrimination. -- (a) If any public utility
or any agent or officer of a public
utility, as defined in chapter 1 of this title, shall
directly or indirectly by any device whatsoever,
or otherwise, charge, demand, collect, or receive from
any person, firm or corporation a greater or
less compensation for any service rendered or to be
rendered by it in, or affecting, or relating to
the transportation of persons or property between points
within this state, the distribution of
electricity or the production, transmission, delivery, or
furnishing of heat, or water, or the
conveyance of telegraph or telephone messages, or for any
service in connection therewith, than
that prescribed in the published schedules or tariffs then
in force or established as provided
herein, or than it charges, demands, collects, or receives
from any other person, firm, or
corporation for a like and contemporaneous service, under
substantially similar circumstances and
conditions, the public utility shall be guilty of unjust
discrimination which is hereby prohibited
and declared to be unlawful and, upon conviction thereof,
shall be fined not less than two hundred
dollars ($200) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500) for
each offense; and the agent or officer
so offending shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon
conviction thereof, shall be fined not less
than fifty dollars ($50.00) nor more than five hundred
dollars ($500) for each offense.
(b) Nothing in this
section or any other provision of the law shall be construed to
prohibit the giving by any public utility free or reduced rate
service to any elderly person as
defined by the division.
39-2-3.
Unreasonable preferences or prejudices. -- (a) If any public utility shall make
or give any undue or unreasonable preference or
advantage to any particular person, firm, or
corporation, or shall subject any particular person, firm, or
corporation to any undue or
unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage in any respect whatsoever,
the public utility shall be
guilty of a misdemeanor and, upon conviction thereof, shall
be fined not less than two hundred
dollars ($200) nor more than five hundred dollars ($500) for
each offense.
(b) Nothing in this
section or any other provision of the law shall be construed to
prohibit the giving by any public utility, free or reduced
rate service to an elderly person as
defined by the division.
39-2-4.
Acceptance of unlawful rebates or advantages. --
It shall be unlawful for any
person, firm, or corporation knowingly to solicit, accept,
or receive any rebate, concession, or
discrimination in respect to any service in, affecting, or relating
to the transportation of persons or
property, or affecting or relating to the distribution of
electricity or the production, transmission,
delivery, or furnishing of heat, or water, or the conveyance
of telephone or telegraph messages
within this state, or for any service in connection
therewith, whereby the service shall, by any
device whatsoever or otherwise, be rendered free, or at a
less rate than that named in the
published schedules and tariffs in force, as provided therein,
or whereby any service or advantage
is received other than is herein specified. Any person,
firm, or corporation violating the
provisions of this section shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and
upon conviction thereof shall be
punished by a fine of not less than fifty dollars ($50.00) nor
more than five hundred dollars
($500) for each offense.
39-2-5.
Exceptions to anti-discrimination provisions. --
The provisions of sections 39-
2-2 -- 39-2-4 shall be subject to the following
exceptions:
(1) A public utility
may issue or give free transportation or service to its employees and
their families, its officers, agents, surgeons, physicians,
and attorneys at law, and to the officers,
agents, and employees, and their families of any other
public utility.
(2) With the approval
of the division any public utility may give free transportation or
service, upon such conditions as the public utility may
impose, or grant special rates therefor to
the state, to any town or city, or to any water or fire
district, and to the officers thereof, for public
purposes, and also to any special class or classes of persons,
not otherwise referred to in this
section, in cases where the same shall seem to the division
just and reasonable, or required in the
interests of the public, and not unjustly discriminatory.
(3) With the approval
of the division any public utility operating a railroad or street
railway may furnish to the publishers of newspapers and
magazines, and to their employees,
passenger transportation in return for advertising in the
newspapers or magazines at full rates.
(4) With the approval
of the division any public utility may exchange its service for the
service of any other public utility furnishing a different
class of service.
(5) Nothing in this
section or any other provision of the law shall be construed to
prohibit the giving by any public utility, free or reduced
rate service to an elderly person as
defined by the division.
(6) Any motor carrier
of persons, as defined in chapter 13 of this title, may elect to file a
tariff providing for a rate reduction of twenty-five percent
(25%) below its one-way fare tariff
applying to any person who is sixty-five (65) years of age or
older and any person assisting and
traveling with a blind passenger who is not required to pay any
fare pursuant to the provisions of
section 39-2-13 for bus rides between the hours of ten
o'clock (10:00) a.m. and three o'clock
(3:00) p.m. of each day. In such event, the reduced fare shall be paid in part
by the passenger and
in part by the state. That part of the reduced fare
payable by the state shall be one half (1/2) of the
reduced fare adjusted upward to end in the nearest zero (0)
or five cents (.05), and that part
payable by the passenger shall be the balance of the reduced
fare. Payments by the state under
this section shall be paid monthly under procedures agreed
upon by the department of
transportation and the carrier.
(7) [Deleted by P.L.
2004, ch. 378, section 4, and by P.L. 2004, ch. 504, section 4.]
(8) Any person, firm,
or corporation or any officer, agent, servant, or employee thereof
who shall violate the provisions of subsection (7) of
this section by fraudulently obtaining a
telecommunications device shall, upon conviction, be fined not exceeding
five hundred dollars
($500) or be imprisoned for a term not exceeding one
year.
(9) (i) Nothing in this section or any
other provision of the general laws shall be
construed to prohibit the commission from taking actions to
enable the state to participate in a
federal communications commission telephone lifeline program.
The commission may set a
subscriber funded monthly residence basic exchange lifeline
telephone service credit in an
amount not to exceed the federal subscriber line access
charge or the monthly basic service
charge, whichever is less, for those persons who receive
supplemental social security income
(SSI), aid to families with dependent children (AFDC),
general public assistance (GPA), aid from
the
Act of 1964 as amended (public law 88-525 and
amendments made thereto, 7 U.S.C. section
2011 et seq.), assistance from the low-income home
energy assistance program (LIHEAP) as
administered by the department of administration, division of
planning, and effective April 1,
1993, assistance from the
department of elderly affairs. The public utilities commission
may promulgate regulations to
implement this section. The department of human services and
the department of administration,
division of planning shall certify subscriber eligibility for
the programs in accordance with public
utilities commission and federal communications commission
guidelines.
(ii) The department of
human services shall report monthly to the governor and to the
house of representatives fiscal advisor the number of
persons newly eligible for the lifeline
telephone service credit hereunder solely by virtue of their
eligibility to receive food stamp
assistance and the department of administration, division of
planning shall, also, report monthly
to the governor and to the house of representatives
fiscal advisor the number of persons newly
eligible for the lifeline telephone service credit hereunder
solely by virtue of their participation in
the low-income home energy assistance program (LIHEAP).
(10) Nothing in this
section or any other provision of the general laws shall be construed
to prohibit any public utility with the approval of the
commission, from forgiving arrearages of
any person in accordance with the provisions of
subsection 39-2-1(d).
(11) Nothing in this
section or any other provision of the law shall be construed to
prohibit any utility company from cutting, disconnecting, or
removing mains, poles, wires,
conduits, or fixtures free of charge to nonprofit housing
development corporations prior to
moving a building to be used as affordable housing for at
least a ten (10) year period.
(12) Nothing in this
section or any other provision of the general laws shall be construed
to prohibit any telecommunications provider with the
approval of the commission, from offering
any person residential customer, firm or
corporation a reduced rate, provided such rate covers all
costs. A telecommunications provider may offer a
business customer a reduced rate without
commission approval; provided that such rate covers all costs.
(13) A gas or electric
distribution company may provide discounts to low income
customers in accordance with the affordable energy plan
provisions of subsection 42-141-5(d).
Nothing contained herein shall prohibit the
continuation of any low income discounts approved
by the commission prior to January 1, 2006, and in
effect as of that date.
SECTION 2. Section 39-3-10 of the General Laws in Chapter
39-3 entitled "Regulatory
Powers of
Administration" is hereby amended to read as follows:
39-3-10.
Filing and availability of rate schedules. – (a)
Every public utility shall file
with the public utilities administrator within a time to
be fixed by the administrator, schedules
which shall be open to public inspection, showing all
rates, tolls, and charges which it has
established and which are in force at the time for any service
performed by it within the state, or
for any service in connection therewith or performed by
any public utility controlled or operated
by it. A copy of so much of the schedules as the
administrator shall deem necessary for the use of
the public shall be printed in plain type, or
typewritten, and kept on file in every station or office
of the public utility where payments are made by the
consumers or users, open to the public in
such form and place as to be readily accessible and
conveniently inspected, and as the
administrator may order. The administrator may determine and prescribe
the form in which the
schedules, required by this section to be kept open to the
public inspection, shall be prepared and
arranged, provided, that with respect to public utilities
subject to the federal Interstate Commerce
Act, 49 U.S.C. section 501 et seq.,
so-called, the form of the schedules shall be that as from time
to time prescribed by the interstate commerce
commission.
(b) Notwithstanding
the foregoing paragraph, subsection (a) herein, a public utility may
post on its website the rates, tolls and charges of any
retail telecommunications service performed
by it within the state for any business customers. The
foregoing paragraph, subsection (a) herein,
shall not apply to any service so posted, and such public
utility shall not be required to file with
the public utilities administrator or publish any
schedule or tariff for such service. Upon written
notice to the public utilities administrator, the public
utility may withdraw any schedule or tariff
previously filed with the administrator for any service so
posted.
(c) Nothing in
subsection (b) herein or in subdivision 39-2-5(12) shall derogate from the
statutory authority of the commission or of the division,
including, but not limited to, the
authority to protect ratepayers from unreasonable rates. Nor
shall anything in subsection (b)
herein or in subdivision 39-2-5(12) derogate from the common
law or statutory authority of the
attorney general, including, but not limited to, the authority
to enforce consumer protection or
unfair or deceptive trade practice statutes and regulations.
SECTION 3. This act shall take effect upon passage.
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LC01126/SUB A
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