Title 49, Public Utilities

In this title, unless the context or subject matter otherwise requires: 1. "Commission" means the public service commission. 2. "Commissioner" means one of the members of the public service commission. 3. "Public utility" includes any association, person, firm, corporation, limit…

1. A special fund is established in the state treasury and designated as the public service commission program fund. Moneys deposited in the fund may be spent by the public service commission pursuant to legislative appropriation to defray the expenses of the commission. 2. Reven…

The three persons elected public service commissioners, pursuant to the provisions of article V, section 2, of the Constitution of North Dakota, constitute and shall be known and designated as the public service commission of the state of North Dakota. They shall elect one of the…

Each commissioner before entering upon the duties of the office shall take the oath required of civil officers.

The commissioners shall keep their office at the seat of government and shall be provided with a suitable room, necessary office furniture, stationery, books, and maps, the expense thereof to be paid out of the state treasury pursuant to the appropriation for such purpose.

The annual salary of a commissioner is one hundred thirty-nine thousand two hundred fifty-six dollars through June 30, 2026, and one hundred forty-three thousand four hundred thirty-four dollars thereafter. All fees received or charged by any commissioner for any act or service r…

All questions arising in connection with the action of the commissioners shall be decided by a majority vote.

The commission in all cases may conduct its proceedings, when not otherwise particularly prescribed by law, in a manner most conducive to the proper dispatch of business and to the ends of justice. A majority of the commission shall constitute a quorum for the transaction of busi…

The commission may designate any special assistant attorney general appointed by the attorney general as commerce counsel or counsel to the commission, the director of auto transportation, the chief statistician, the chief engineer, or any other person qualified in the law or pos…

The attorney general shall be ex officio attorney for the commission and personally or through commerce counsel shall: 1. Give to the commission such counsel, advice, and assistance necessary for the proper discharge of its powers and duties. 2. Appear for, and represent, the sta…

The commission may employ stenographers, rate experts, and such other employees as may be deemed necessary in the discharge of its official duties.

All costs and expenses actually incurred by or upon the order of the attorney general incident to any litigation arising in connection with the enforcement of orders of the commission or other litigation commenced by or in charge of the attorney general shall be paid out of the g…

Except as otherwise provided, any penalty which shall be collected for violation of any provision of this title shall be paid into the state treasury for the general fund.

1. The commission shall assess each electric and gas utility a fee in proportion to the utility's respective gross operating revenues from the retail sale of gas and electric service within the state during the preceding calendar year. The total of the combined assessments may no…

The commission shall submit a report to the governor and the secretary of state in accordance with section 54-06-04.

Copies of all official documents and orders filed or deposited according to law in the office of the commission, certified by a commissioner or by the secretary or assistant secretary of the commission under its official seal to be true copies of the originals, shall be evidence …

The commission shall determine and fix all charges for furnishing copies, records, reports, and evidence. All fees charged and collected under this section, except those for transcripts of evidence which shall be paid to the person preparing such transcripts, shall be paid into t…

The general jurisdiction of the commission shall extend to and include: 1. Contract and common carriers engaged in the transportation of persons and property, excluding air carriers. 2. Telecommunications companies engaged in the furnishing of telecommunications services as provi…

1. Nothing in this chapter or in chapter 49-21 authorizes the commission to make any order affecting rates, contracts, services rendered, adequacy, or sufficiency of facilities, or the rules or regulations of any public utility owned and operated by the state or by any city, coun…

1. The commission, by rule, may establish and enforce minimum safety standards for the design, construction, and operation of gas distribution facilities and intrastate pipeline facilities used for the distribution and intrastate transportation of gas, liquefied natural gas, or h…

The commission shall have power to: 1. Investigate all methods and practices of public utilities or other persons, subject to the provisions of this title. 2. Require public utilities or other persons to conform to the laws of this state and to all rules, regulations, and orders …

When an application is filed under this title for which there is no application fee, the applicant shall pay the cost of publishing any notice issued by the commission for the application.

The commission shall supervise the rates of all public utilities. It shall have the power, after notice and hearing, to originate, establish, modify, adjust, promulgate, and enforce tariffs, rates, joint rates, and charges of all public utilities. Whenever the commission, after h…

Whenever the commission shall find, after hearing, that the rules, regulations, practices, equipment, appliances, facilities, or service of any public utility, or the methods of manufacture, distribution, transmission, storage, or supply employed by it are unjust, unreasonable, u…

Whenever upon hearing, after due notice, the commission has found that public convenience and necessity require the use by one public utility of the conduits, subways, tracks, wires, poles, pipes, or other equipment, or any part thereof, on, over, or under any street or highway a…

Whenever public convenience and necessity requires that an electric or telecommunications distribution or transmission line, pipeline, or railroad track of any public utility cross a line or track of another public utility and the public utilities have failed to agree upon the te…

The commission and its officers and employees shall have the power to enter upon any premises occupied by any public utility for the purpose of: 1. Making examinations and tests; 2. Setting out and using on said premises any weights or appliances necessary therefor; or 3. Exercis…

Any consumer or user of any product, commodity, or service of a public utility may have any appliance used in the measurement thereof tested by paying the fees fixed by the commission. The commission shall establish and fix reasonable fees to be paid for testing such appliances.

The commission shall test, request a public utility to test, or use a third party to test meters of public utilities used: 1. To measure the amount of electric current passing through such meters to consumers. 2. To measure the amount of gas passing through such meters for the us…

Tests shall be made for the purpose of determining the accuracy of the meters and shall determine whether or not the British thermal unit content of gas, either natural or artificial, distributed by public utilities, is of the standard that now or hereafter may be prescribed by t…

The commission shall make such rules as it may deem proper and necessary as to the manner in which tests of meters and heat values shall be made.

The commission shall: 1. Ascertain and fix just and reasonable standards, classifications, regulations, practices, measurements, or services to be furnished, imposed, observed, and followed by all public utilities. 2. Ascertain and fix adequate and serviceable standards for the m…

The commission shall: 1. Establish a system of accounts to be kept by a public utility subject to its jurisdiction. 2. Classify public utilities, establish a system of accounts for each class, and prescribe the manner in which such accounts shall be kept. 3. Prescribe the forms f…

Except as otherwise provided by law, a meeting of the public service commission is subject to the requirements of chapter 44-04. A meeting of the public service commission does not include a quorum of members attending a legislative committee. The public service commission is exe…

The commission, and each commissioner, and each officer or other person duly authorized by the commission, shall have the right, at any time, to inspect the accounts, books, papers, and documents of any public utility. The commission, each commissioner, any officer of the commiss…

When complaint has been made to the commission concerning any rate or charge for any product or commodity furnished or service performed by any public utility, and the commission has found, upon a hearing after notice given as required by this title, that the public utility has c…

The commission shall exercise constant diligence in informing itself of the rates, rules, and practices of common carriers engaged in: 1. The transportation of freight, express, and passengers; 2. The transportation by pipeline of crude petroleum, gas, or other petroleum products…

Whenever it shall come to the knowledge of the commission, either from its own investigation or by complaint made to it in any manner whatsoever, that the rates charged by any public utility including any common carrier on interstate business are unjust or unreasonable or that th…

Whenever discriminatory, unreasonable, or unjust, rates, rules, or practices on interstate business are not changed or adjusted so as to remove or remedy the discrimination, unreasonableness, or unjustness, within a reasonable time, the commission shall take the action necessary …

The public service commission shall have power: 1. To regulate the raising and lowering of electric supply and communication lines to permit the movement of buildings or other bulky objects; and to adopt and promulgate, after notice and hearing, reasonable rules and regulations p…

Any party requesting the raising or lowering of electric supply and communication lines shall be required to pay not more than the actual cost reasonably and necessarily incurred therefor. The commission shall, upon application, and after notice and hearing, review and determine …

The commission may not use, require the use of, or allow electric utilities to use environmental externality values in the planning, selection, or acquisition of electric resources or the setting of rates for providing electric service. Environmental externality values are numeri…

Notwithstanding any other provision of law, the commission by rule may establish or participate in a program to track, record, and verify the trading of credits for electricity generated from renewable and recycled heat sources among electric generators, utilities, and other inte…

As used in section 49-02-24, renewable electricity and recycled energy include electricity generated from facilities using the following sources: 1. Solar, using the sun as the source of energy for producing electricity. 2. Wind, using the wind as the source of energy for produci…

For purposes of qualifying for renewable electricity and recycled energy credits, electricity must be generated from a source identified in section 49-02-25.

1. The commission shall adopt rules governing the decommissioning of commercial wind energy conversion facilities. The rules must address: a. The anticipated life of the project; b. The estimated decommissioning costs in current dollars; c. The method and schedule for updating th…

1. An electric public utility may not begin construction or operation of a public utility plant or system, or of an extension of a plant or system without first obtaining from the commission a certificate that public convenience and necessity require or will require the construct…

No electric public utility henceforth shall begin in the construction or operation of a public utility plant or system or extension thereof without first obtaining from the commission a certificate that public convenience and necessity require or will require such construction an…

Sections 49-03-01 through 49-03-01.5 shall not be construed to require any such electric public utility to secure such order or certificate for an extension of its electric distribution lines within the corporate limits of any municipality within which it has lawfully commenced o…

1. If any electric public utility or electric transmission provider violates or threatens to violate any of the provisions of sections 49-03-01 through 49-03-01.5 or interferes with or threatens to interfere with the service or system of any other electric public utility or rural…