Title 30, Public Service
7 chapters · 131 sections in this title.
30 V.I.C. § 1 Public utilities subject to regulation; definition; financial interests of members of Commission
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(a) The following services provided by an individual, firm, co-partnership, public or private partnership, association, public or private corporation, autonomous governmental instrumentality or agency or other person for compensation are declared to be affected with a public inte…
30 V.I.C. § 10 Filing of rules
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Every public utility shall file with and as a part of such schedule all rules and regulations that in any manner affect the rates charged or to be charged for any service.
30 V.I.C. § 11 Publication of schedules
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A copy of so much of said schedules as the Commission shall deem necessary for the use of the public shall be printed in plain type and kept on file in every station and office of such public utility where payments are made by the consumers or users, open to the public, in such f…
30 V.I.C. § 12 Filing and publication of joint rates
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Where a schedule of joint rates or charges is, or may be, in force between two or more public utilities, such schedule shall in like manner be printed and filed with the Commission, and so much thereof as the Commission shall deem necessary for the use of the public shall be file…
30 V.I.C. § 13 Changes in rates
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No change shall thereafter be made in any schedule, including schedules of joint rates, except upon thirty days' notice to the Commission and all such changes shall be plainly indicated upon existing schedules, or by filing new schedules in lieu thereof thirty days prior to the t…
30 V.I.C. § 14 Filing of new schedules
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Copies of all new schedules shall be filed as hereinafter provided, in every station and office of such public utility where payments are made by consumers or users thirty days prior to the time the same are to take effect, unless the Commission shall prescribe a less time.
30 V.I.C. § 15 Schedules binding
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It shall be unlawful for any public utility to charge, demand, collect, or receive a greater or less compensation for any service performed by it within the Virgin Islands, or for any service in connection therewith, than is specified in such printed schedules, including schedule…
30 V.I.C. § 16 Inspection of records
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The Commission or any member thereof or any person or persons employed by the Commission for that purpose shall, upon demand, have the right to inspect the books, accounts, papers, records, and memoranda of any public utility, and to examine, under oath, any officer, agent, or em…
30 V.I.C. § 17 Subpoena of records
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(a) The Commission may require, by order or subpoena, to be served upon any public utility in the same manner that a summons is served in a civil action in the District Court of the Virgin Islands, the production within the Virgin Islands at such time and place as it may designat…
30 V.I.C. § 18 Appointment of agents
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For the purpose of making any investigation with regard to any public utility the Commission shall have power to appoint, by an order in writing, an agent whose duties shall be prescribed in such order. In the discharge of his duties such agent shall have every power whatsoever g…
30 V.I.C. § 19 Answer to inquiries
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Every public utility shall furnish to the Commission all information required by it to carry into effect the provisions of this chapter, and shall make specific answers to all specific questions submitted by the Commission. Any public utility receiving from the Commission any bla…
30 V.I.C. § 1a Virgin Islands Ratepayers’ Bill of Rights
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(a) Declaration of Findings. The Legislature finds and declares that:(1) The regulated services provided by public utilities are basic necessities that the residents of the Virgin Islands must receive in order to function in modern life, and because residents have very little cho…
30 V.I.C. § 2 Just and reasonable rates and services
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Every public utility doing business within the Virgin Islands is required to furnish service and facilities reasonably safe and adequate and in all respects just and reasonable. The charge made by any such public utility for any facility or services furnished, or rendered, or to …
30 V.I.C. § 20 Investigations of rates and services
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(a) Upon its own initiative or upon reasonable complaint made against any public utility including the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority that any of the rates, tolls, charges, or schedules, or services, or time and conditions of payment, or any joint rate or rates, schedul…
30 V.I.C. § 21 Notice to utility of complaint
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The Commission shall prior to such formal hearing notify the public utility complained of that a complaint has been made, and ten days after such notice has been given the Commission may proceed to set a time and place for a hearing and an investigation as hereinafter provided.
30 V.I.C. § 22 Notice to utility of hearing
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The Commission shall give the public utility and the complainant, if any, ten days' notice of the time and place when and where such hearing and investigation will be held and such matters considered and determined. Both the public utility and the complainant shall be entitled to…
30 V.I.C. § 23 Power of Commission to fix rates and services
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(a) If upon such investigation the rates, tolls, charges, schedules, or joint rates shall be found to be unjust, unreasonable, insufficient, or unjustly discriminatory, or to be preferential or otherwise in violation of any of the provisions of this chapter, the Commission shall …
30 V.I.C. § 24 Suspension of rates
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Whenever there is filed with the Commission any new charge, classification, or practice, the Commissioner may either upon complaint or upon its own initiative without complaint, upon reasonable notice, enter upon a hearing concerning the lawlessness thereof; and pending such hear…
30 V.I.C. § 25 Expenses of investigation
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In connection with any proceeding involving a public utility, the expenses of any investigation or proceeding of any nature by the Commission of or concerning any public utility operating in the Virgin Islands, and all expenses of any litigation, including appeals, arising from a…
30 V.I.C. § 25a Annual assessment of utilities
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(a) As used in this section:“gross operating revenues” means the gross operating revenues of a public utility derived from intraterritorial regulated operations in the last preceding calendar year except as it relates to the Virgin Islands Water and Power Authority, gross operati…
30 V.I.C. § 26 Complaints by utilities
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Any public utility may make complaint as to any matter affecting its own product or service with like effect as though made by the Commission or upon reasonable complaint as hereinbefore provided.
30 V.I.C. § 27 Power to administer oaths
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Each of the members of the Commission and every agent provided for in section 18 of this title for the purposes mentioned in this section, shall have power to administer oaths, certify to official acts, issue subpoenas, compel the attendance of witnesses and the production of boo…
30 V.I.C. § 28 Depositions
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The Commission or any party may, in any investigation, cause the depositions of witnesses residing within or without the Virgin Islands to be taken in the manner prescribed by law for like depositions in civil actions in the District Court.
30 V.I.C. § 29 Records of proceedings
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A full and complete record shall be kept of all proceedings had before the Commission or its agents on any formal investigation had, and all testimony shall be taken down by a stenographer appointed by the Commission, unless otherwise directed by the Commission.
30 V.I.C. § 3 Joint use of facilities
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Any public utility doing business in the Virgin Islands having tracks, conduits, poles, wires, switchboards, exchanges, works, or other equipment shall, for a reasonable compensation, permit the use of the same by any other public utility whenever public convenience and necessity…
30 V.I.C. § 30 Transcript as evidence
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A transcribed copy of the evidence and proceedings, or any specific part thereof, in any investigation taken by a stenographer appointed by the Commission, being certified by such stenographer to be a true and correct transcript of all the testimony in the investigation or of a p…
30 V.I.C. § 31 Compliance with Commission rate orders
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All public utilities to which an order of the Commission applies shall make such changes in their schedules on file as may be necessary to make the same conform to said order, and no change shall thereafter be made by any public utility in any such rates, tolls, or charges, or in…
30 V.I.C. § 32 Changes of Commission orders
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The Commission may, at any time, upon notice to the public utility and after opportunity to be heard as provided in section 22 of this title, rescind, alter, or amend any order fixing any rate or rates, tolls, charges, or schedules, or any other order made by the Commission, and …
30 V.I.C. § 33 Petitions for reconsideration
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Any public utility or any other person or corporation affected by any final order or decision of the Commission may, within thirty days after publication thereof, file with the Commission an application in writing requesting a reconsideration of the matters involved, and stating …
30 V.I.C. § 34 Appeals
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(a) The District Court of the Virgin Islands shall have jurisdiction to hear and determine any appeal from an order or decision of the Commission. Any public utility, or any other person or corporation affected by any final order or decision of the Commission, may, within sixty d…
30 V.I.C. § 35 Questions on appeal
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In the determination of any appeal from an order or decision of the Commission the review by the court shall be limited to questions of law, including constitutional questions; and the findings of fact by the Commission shall be conclusive unless it shall appear that such finding…
30 V.I.C. § 36 Orders to remain in effect
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All orders and decisions of the Commission shall remain in full effect, except as provided in section 33 of this title, unless and until they are suspended or rescinded by the Commission or are vacated by lawful order of the District Court of the Virgin Islands: provided, that if…
30 V.I.C. § 37 Immunity of witnesses
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No person shall be excused from testifying or from producing books, accounts, and papers in any proceeding based upon or growing out of any violation of the provisions of this chapter, on the ground or for the reason that the testimony or evidence, documentary or otherwise, requi…
30 V.I.C. § 38 Penalty for refusal to supply information
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Any officer, agent, or employee of any public utility who shall fail or refuse to fill out and return any blanks, as required by this chapter, or shall fail or refuse to answer any question therein propounded, or shall knowingly or wilfully give a false answer to any such questio…
30 V.I.C. § 39 Penalty for violations
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(a) If any public utility shall violate any provision of this chapter, or shall do any act herein prohibited, or shall fail or refuse to perform any duty enjoined upon it, or shall fail, neglect, or refuse to obey any lawful subpoena, requirement or order made by the Commission, …
30 V.I.C. § 4 Compliance with regulations
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The Commission shall have power, after hearing and notice by order in writing, to require and compel every public utility to comply with the provisions of this chapter, and with all other laws of the Virgin Islands applicable, and any ordinance or regulation relating to said publ…
30 V.I.C. § 40 Separate offenses
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That every day during which any public utility, or any officer, agent, or employee thereof, shall fail knowingly or wilfully to observe and comply with any order or direction of the Commission, or perform any duty enjoined by this chapter, shall constitute a separate and distinct…
30 V.I.C. § 41 Liberal interpretation
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The provisions of this chapter shall be interpreted and construed liberally in order to accomplish the purposes thereof, and where any specific power or authority is given the Commission by the provisions of this chapter the enumeration thereof shall not be held to exclude or imp…
30 V.I.C. § 42 Existing franchises
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Nothing in this chapter shall be construed to alter or amend the terms of any contracts or franchises governing the provisions of public utility services, issued or entered into prior to January 1, 1965.
30 V.I.C. § 43 New franchises
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When authorized by law, the Governor shall grant franchises, including rights of way, licenses, and easements, which may be exclusive, over public property, to a public utility doing business within the Virgin Islands.
30 V.I.C. § 43a Acquisition or control of public utility: approval of Commission
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(a) No person or corporation, whether or not organized under the laws of the Territory, shall sell, acquire or transfer control, either directly, or indirectly of any public utility organized and doing business in this Territory, without first securing authorization from the Comm…
30 V.I.C. § 44 Effective date
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The provisions of this chapter shall become effective July 1, 1965.
30 V.I.C. § 45 Director
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(a) The Public Services Commission shall, within the limits of legislative appropriations, employ and determine the salaries of, or contract for the services of professional, technical and operational personnel and consultants as the execution of its duties and the operation of t…
30 V.I.C. § 45a Designation of eligible telecommunications carriers
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(a) The Commission may grant requests by telecommunications carriers, including commercial mobile radio services providers licensed by the Federal Communications Commission, to be designated as “eligible telecommunications carriers” within the meaning of Section 214(e) of title 4…
30 V.I.C. § 5 Uniform accounts
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Every public utility shall keep and render to the Commission, in the manner and form prescribed by the Commission, uniform accounts of all business transacted. Every public utility engaged directly or indirectly in any other business than that of the conduct of a public utility a…
30 V.I.C. § 6 Form of accounts prescribed by Commission
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The Commission may prescribe the forms of all books, accounts, papers and records required to be kept, and every public utility is required to keep and render its books, accounts, papers, and records accurately and faithfully in the manner and form prescribed by the Commission, a…
30 V.I.C. § 7 Office in Virgin Islands
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Each public utility shall have an office within the Virgin Islands in which it shall keep all such books, accounts, papers, and records as shall be required by the Commission to be kept within the Virgin Islands. No books, accounts, papers, or records required by the commission t…
30 V.I.C. § 8 Reports to Commission
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Each public utility shall furnish to the Commission in such form and at such time as the Commission shall require, such accounts, reports, and information as shall show in itemized detail: Depreciation; salaries and wages; legal expenses; taxes and rentals; quantity and value of …
30 V.I.C. § 9 Schedule of rates
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Every public utility shall file with the Commission, within a time to be fixed by the Commission, 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…
30 V.I.C. § 9a Interest on customer deposits
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(a) Except as provided in subsection (b), every public utility which requires its customers, as a condition precedent to receiving the service offered by such public utility, to make cash deposits with such utility to secure payment of tolls and charges shall pay interest on such…