§16453 — Title 42 The Public Health and Welfare | U.S. Code

Summary

A State commission that oversees a public-utility company can write and ask a holding company or its affiliates (but not the utility itself) to give up books, accounts, notes, and other records. The commission must have listed the records in its case, decided they relate to the utility’s costs, and shown they are needed to do the commission’s job in that case. The rule does not apply to a company that is a holding company only because it owns qualifying facilities under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.). Records turned over can be protected by rules to keep trade secrets or sensitive business information private. State law about getting records still applies, and a U.S. district court in that State can enforce the requirement.

Title 42, §16453

The Public Health and Welfare — Source: USLM XML via OLRC

(a)Upon the written request of a State commission having jurisdiction to regulate a public-utility company in a holding company system, the holding company or any associate company or affiliate thereof, other than such public-utility company, wherever located, shall produce for inspection books, accounts, memoranda, and other records that—

(1)have been identified in reasonable detail in a proceeding before the State commission;

(2)the State commission determines are relevant to costs incurred by such public-utility company; and

(3)are necessary for the effective discharge of the responsibilities of the State commission with respect to such proceeding.

(b)Subsection (a) does not apply to any person that is a holding company solely by reason of ownership of one or more qualifying facilities under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978 (16 U.S.C. 2601 et seq.).

(c)The production of books, accounts, memoranda, and other records under subsection (a) shall be subject to such terms and conditions as may be necessary and appropriate to safeguard against unwarranted disclosure to the public of any trade secrets or sensitive commercial information.

(d)Nothing in this section shall preempt applicable State law concerning the provision of books, accounts, memoranda, and other records, or in any way limit the rights of any State to obtain books, accounts, memoranda, and other records under any other Federal law, contract, or otherwise.

(e)Any United States district court located in the State in which the State commission referred to in subsection (a) is located shall have jurisdiction to enforce compliance with this section.

Notes & Related Subsidiaries

Editorial Notes

References in Text

The Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978, referred to in subsec. (b), is Pub. L. 95–617, Nov. 9, 1978, 92 Stat. 3117. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see

Short Title

note set out under section 2601 of Title 16, Conservation, and Tables.

§16453 State access to books and records