Title 39, Title 39 Utilities and Carriers

The commissioners are hereby severally authorized and empowered to administer oaths; and the commission, in all cases of every nature pending before it, is hereby authorized and empowered to summon and examine witnesses and to compel the production and examination of papers, book…

For effective administration, supervision, and regulation of public utilities, communications carriers, and common or contract carriers, the administrator, at his or her discretion, may designate examiners, investigators, hearing officers, or one or more agents of the division to…

Examiners, field investigators, hearing officers, regulatory inspectors, and other employees of the division designated by the administrator with respect to the enforcement of the provisions of chapters 12 through 14.1 inclusive of this title, shall have and exercise, throughout …

The administrator is hereby authorized to avail himself or herself of state, city, and town police departments as are, or may hereafter be, existing by law, to enforce the provisions of chapters 12 through 14.1 inclusive of this title and the rules, regulations, and orders of the…

In any investigation or hearing conducted by virtue of this title, the person designated to conduct the hearing may cause the deposition of witnesses, wherever residing, to be taken in the manner and used for the purposes prescribed by law for taking depositions in civil actions …

In any inquiry into, or examination of, any matter wherein tariffs, rates, or charges for, or the cost of, or the quality, standard, or extent of, any service or commodities are requested by the division, and in every formal hearing conducted by the division, the consumers’ counc…

(a) All hearings and orders of the commission and of the division, and the records thereof, shall be public and any person shall be permitted to record all or any portion of a hearing by way of camera, video, or tape recorder of any kind, unless a party to the hearing requests, a…

(a) To carry out the purposes of this title, the commission and the division, within the appropriation therefor, are authorized to employ such clerks, stenographers, engineers, accountants, and agents as may be required, who shall be in the classified service, and may also retain…

(a) Terms used in this title shall be construed as follows, unless another meaning is expressed or is clearly apparent from the language or context: (1) “Administrator” means the administrator of the division of public utilities and carriers. (2) “Airport” and “landing field” mea…

Whereas it is in the public interest of the state that the personal safety of its inhabitants and visitors be protected, and that property situated within the borders of the state be safeguarded, and whereas it is well known and accepted that the use, storage, transmission, or tr…

Whenever the commission or the division shall conduct an investigation or hearing upon a proposal by a public utility to increase its rates, tolls, or charges, or to issue stocks, bonds, notes, or other evidences of indebtedness, or to merge or consolidate with another company, i…

The commissioners, the attorney general, and the agents of the division, as provided in §§ 39-1-15 and 39-1-20, while engaged in the performance of their duties, may, at all reasonable times, enter any premises, buildings, cars, plant, or equipment, or other places belonging to, …

A company subject to the supervision of the commission or division that furnishes it with a sworn or affirmed report, return, or statement, that the company knows or should know contains false figures or information regarding any material matter lawfully required of it, and any c…

(a) The administrator shall aggregate the expenses of the division, including expenses incurred by the attorney general pursuant to § 39-1-19 and expenses incurred by the commission, for each upcoming fiscal year and shall apportion and assess these expenses among the state’s reg…

(a) The administrator has been charged under this title with the responsibility of promoting adequate, economical, and efficient service by motor carriers and reasonable charges therefore without unjust discriminations, undue preferences, or advantages, or unfair or destructive c…

On or before the first day of August in each year, the administrator shall certify to the state controller the amount of the assessment made pursuant to § 39-1-23 and the name and address of each company against whom the assessment is made. Each company shall pay the administrato…

Each company shall pay to the administrator the amount assessed against it or shall file with the commission its objections in writing setting out the grounds upon which it claims that the assessment is excessive, erroneous, unlawful, or invalid. The commission shall, within thir…

(a) There is hereby created a fund to be known as the public utilities reserve account, an account within the public utilities commission in the general fund. Such account, hereinafter referred to as the “fund,” shall be used for the purpose of providing the financial means for t…

(a) Each electric distribution company shall file with the commission a plan for transferring ownership of generation facilities into a separate affiliate of the electric distribution company. The transmission facilities owned by the electric distribution company also may be tran…

(a) The retail electric licensing commission shall, by January 1, 1997, submit a plan to the legislature that shall include, but not be limited to, the following: (1) A recommendation for taxing and/or assessing electric distribution companies, electric transmission companies, an…

(a) On or before January 2, 2007, each gas and electric distribution company shall submit to the commission a plan for affordable energy for low-income households, including very low-income households as defined in § 42-141-2 [repealed]. The plan shall provide for the implementat…

The commission shall authorize public housing authorities, created pursuant to chapter 25 or 26 of title 45, to participate in “business choice programs” provided the commission determines that the accounts are billed to and paid by a single housing provider; that the accounts ar…

(a) The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program Enhancement Plan (hereinafter “LIHEAP Enhancement Plan”) is hereby created to supplement the federal Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (“LIHEAP”) funding being received by customers of Rhode Island electric and gas distrib…

(a) The general assembly recognizes the importance of competitive choice in electric generation service. (b) The commission may implement a purchase of receivables program where the electric distribution company purchases the receivables of a nonregulated power producer at a disc…

(a) To promote economic development and the creation and preservation of employment opportunities within the state, each electric distribution company, except Pascoag Utility District and the Block Island Utility District, a quasi-municipal corporation, district, and subdivision …

(a) The commission may, notwithstanding the provisions of § 39-1-27.3, allow customers no longer eligible for standard-offer service to return to standard-offer service, subject to the process set forth in this section. The process shall be as follows: The commission shall hold h…

(a) An electric distribution company that purchases power at wholesale from a wholesale power supplier under an all-requirements contract shall be authorized to execute an agreement terminating, in whole or in part, such all-requirements contracts on terms that require payment of…

(a) An electric distribution company must conduct its business to conform with the standards of conduct specified in subsections (b) through (e). (b)(1) Except as provided in subsection (b)(2) and as authorized by the commission pursuant to § 39-1-27(g), the employees of the elec…

(a) Least-cost procurement shall comprise system reliability and energy efficiency and conservation procurement, as provided for in this section, and supply procurement, as provided for in § 39-1-27.8, as complementary but distinct activities that have as common purpose meeting e…

(a) The general assembly finds and declares that electricity and gas revenues shall be fully decoupled from sales pursuant to the provisions of this chapter and further finds and declares that any decoupling proposal submitted by an electric distribution company as defined in § 3…

Each electric distribution company shall submit a proposed supply procurement plan or plans to the commission not later than March 1, 2009, and each March 1 thereafter through March 1, 2018. The supply procurement plan or plans shall be consistent with the purposes of least-cost …

In any commission inquiry into, or examination of, matters that relate to or could potentially impact any programs, functions, or duties of the office of energy resources and/or the energy efficiency and resources management council, including, but not limited to, those programs,…

The commission and the division are authorized and empowered to apply for and receive and accept, in the name of the state, grants, of property, money, and services and other assistance offered or made available to them by any person, any political subdivision or entity, or any o…

The administrator shall represent the state in proceedings before agencies of the federal government on all matters affecting public utility services rendered, or to be rendered, in this state, and shall participate with other governmental and private agencies in studying integra…

(a) To implement the legislative policy set forth in § 39-1-1 and to serve as the agencies of the state in effectuating the legislative purpose, there are hereby established a public utilities commission and a division of public utilities and carriers. The commission shall serve …

Every ruling, decision, and order of a zoning board of review and of a building, gas, water, health, or electrical inspector of any municipality affecting the placing, erection, and maintenance of any plant, building, wires, conductors, fixtures, structures, equipment, or apparat…

The locations for all lines for the transmission or distribution of electric current or for the providing of audio or visual telephonic or telegraphic communication service heretofore acquired or constructed by public utilities as defined under § 39-1-2, upon, along, under, or ov…

No interest in real property of an electric distribution company, electric transmission company, gas, telephone, or water utility may be defeated or otherwise adversely affected by the use, possession, or occupancy of the real property by any person.

The owner, or owners, of real estate abutting on a private way who have by deed or by prescription existing rights of ingress and egress upon the way or other private ways, shall have the right to place, install, or construct in, on, along, under, and upon the private way or othe…

(a) Before exercising any power of condemnation, a company shall present a petition to the commission describing the land, right of way, easement, or other interest in property it proposes to acquire, and setting forth why it is necessary to acquire it by eminent domain. The comm…

(a) Any general or public law notwithstanding, the commission, when it determines that public safety so requires, or that failure to act immediately will result in irreparable injury to the public interest, or that an emergency exists in the financial affairs of a public utility …

The commission and division shall make reports due on the first day of June and the first day of December to the governor for transmittal to the general assembly, which shall contain summaries of every rate-case hearing, and/or order of the commission and division occurring in th…

All fees charged and collected by the division shall belong to the state and shall be paid into the state treasury monthly, by the administrator, accompanied by a detailed statement thereof, and become part of the general funds of the state.

A person, or his or her or dependent child, spouse, of any person, who is, or has been in the past one year, in the employ of or holding any official relation to any company subject to the supervision of the commission, or engaged in the management of the company, or owning stock…

The department of administration shall furnish the commission with suitable offices, quarters in which to hold its meetings and transact its business, and a properly appointed hearing room adequate to accommodate the public, witnesses, stenographers, and the commissioners and the…

Wherever in any general or public law the words “public utility administrator” appears, the same words shall be deemed to refer to and mean administrator of the division of public utilities and carriers. The governor is authorized to transfer or reallocate, by executive order, th…