Washington Administrative Code

(1) Amendment or rescission. The commission may propose, or may act in response to a petition, to alter, amend, or rescind any order that the commission has entered. Any such petition must comply with the requirements in WAC 480-07-870 for a petition for rehearing. The commission…

(1) Definition. A compliance filing is a party's submission in response to a final order that authorizes or requires that party to implement specific terms of that order. A compliance filing may be a single submission (e.g., a revised tariff) or multiple submissions (e.g., period…

When the commission enters a final order that authorizes or requires a party to make a subsequent filing to implement general instructions in that order (e.g., the submission of tariffs other than revisions to the tariffs that initiated the proceeding), the filing initiates a new…

(1) Regular meetings. The commission will hold regular meetings to conduct business under chapter 42.30 RCW, the Open Public Meetings Act. The commission generally schedules two open meetings per month on alternate Thursdays at 9:30 a.m. in the commission's office in Olympia, Was…

(1) General provisions.(a) The working title of the secretary position authorized in RCW 80.01.030 is executive secretary.(b) The commission delegates authority to the executive secretary as set out in this section and WAC 480-07-904 and 480-07-905, pursuant to RCW 80.01.030 and …

(1) Delegation by order. Except as expressly provided in these rules, the commission will establish by order the matters it delegates to the executive secretary or other authorized commission personnel for decision.(2) Effect. A decision made on delegated authority shall take eff…

(1) Except as expressly provided elsewhere in these rules, the commission will authorize by order the executive secretary or other authorized personnel to enter ex parte orders or letters in the name of the commission in nonadjudicative matters. The commission will maintain on it…

(1) How to make an informal complaint. Any person may make an informal complaint to the commission about any business or entity the commission regulates or about the commission's operations. A person may make an informal complaint by telephone, correspondence, or email or by usin…

(1) Delegation. The commission delegates to the director of the administrative law division, or another administrative law judge the director designates, the authority to assess penalties pursuant to RCW 80.04.405, 81.04.405, 81.04.530, 19.122.150, or any other statutes that auth…

(1) Monetary penalties. Any public service company that fails to file a complete annual report with the commission and pay any required regulatory fees by May 1st of each year, or by a subsequent deadline the commission has previously established in response to a company's timely…

(1) General. Upon the petition of any person, or upon its own initiative, the commission may make and issue interpretive and policy statements to advise the public of the commission's current opinions, approaches, and likely courses of action. Interpretive and policy statements a…

(1) Petition. Any interested person may petition the commission for a declaratory order with respect to the applicability to specified circumstances of a rule, order, or statute enforceable by the commission, as provided by RCW 34.05.240.(a) Format. Petitions for declaratory orde…

The commission may convert a proceeding to a different type of proceeding on the commission's own initiative or upon application by any party or person directly affected. Any such conversion or commission refusal to convert a proceeding will comply with the requirements in RCW 34…

(1) Federal. The rules of practice and procedure of the federal agency govern in any proceeding in which the commission participates jointly with a federal agency.(2) State. The rules of the state in which the hearing is held govern in any proceeding in which the commission parti…

The legislature has declared that operating as an electric utility in the state of Washington is a business affected with the public interest and that such utilities should be regulated. The purpose of these rules is to administer and enforce chapter 80.28 RCW by establishing rul…

(1) The rules in this chapter apply to any electric utility that is subject to the jurisdiction of the commission under RCW 80.04.010 and chapter 80.28 RCW. These rules also include various requirements of the utility's customers and applicants.(2) The tariff provisions filed by …

The commission may grant an exemption from the provisions of any rule in this chapter in the same manner and consistent with the standards and according to the procedures set forth in WAC 480-07-110 (Exceptions from and modifications to the rules in this chapter; special rules).[…

(1) These rules do not relieve any electric utility from any of its duties and obligations under the laws of the state of Washington.(2) The commission retains the authority to impose additional or different requirements on any electric utility in appropriate circumstances, consi…

If any provision of this chapter or its application to any person or circumstance is held invalid, the remainder of the chapter or the application of the provision to other persons or circumstances is not affected.[Statutory Authority: RCW 80.01.040 and 80.04.160. WSR 01-11-004 (…

"Account and usage information" means customer information contained in the records a utility keeps for each customer to provide and bill for utility service including, but not limited to, the customer's name, account number, address where service is provided, customer contact in…

An electric utility must publish its rate schedules and rules and regulations governing service, and file special contracts, in accordance with chapter 480-80 WAC, Utilities general—Tariffs, price lists, and contracts.[Statutory Authority: RCW 80.01.040 and 80.04.160. WSR 01-11-0…

Each electric utility must file, as a part of its tariff, a distribution line extension rule setting forth the conditions under which it will extend its facilities to make service available to an applicant.[Statutory Authority: RCW 80.01.040 and 80.04.160. WSR 01-11-004 (Docket N…

(1) An electric utility must make available at each of its listed business offices information regarding rates, rules, and regulations needed for its customers and applicants to obtain adequate and efficient service.(2) The utility must maintain a toll-free telephone number avail…

(1) When an applicant orders service from an electric utility, the applicant will be responsible for conforming to the rules and regulations that are in effect and on file with the commission.(2) The utility may require the following information when an applicant applies for serv…

(1) Deposit criteria for current residential customers. An electric utility may collect a deposit from its own customers for residential service only if:(a) At any time during the prior twelve months, the utility has sent the customer three or more delinquency notices;(b) The uti…

(1) Deposit criteria for nonresidential customers. A utility may require an applicant for nonresidential service to demonstrate that the applicant is a satisfactory credit risk by reasonable means appropriate under the circumstances.(2) Deposit amount. Deposits required for a cus…

(1) An electric utility may refuse requests to provide service to a master meter in a building with permanent occupants when all of the following conditions exist:(a) The building or property has more than one dwelling unit;(b) The occupants control a significant part of the elec…

(1) Customer-directed. A utility may require customers to give at least three days' advance notice of customer-directed disconnection when the utility uses dispatched utility personnel to disconnect service. The utility may require up to twenty-four hours advance notice of custom…

(1) A utility must make every reasonable effort to restore a disconnected service within twenty-four hours, or within four hours for customers who the utility has remotely disconnected, or other time mutually agreeable between the customer and the company, after the customer has …

(1) If an electric utility is delayed in billing a residential customer, the utility must offer payment arrangements that are equal to the length of time the bill was delayed, unless the utility determines the customer used service prior to applying for service as outlined in WAC…

(1) During the winter months, between November 15th and March 15th, an electric utility may not discontinue residential space heating service if the customer does all of the following:(a) Notifies the utility of the inability to pay the bill and any required deposit. This notice …

(1) Customer responsibility. The customer must notify the electric utility, in writing, prior to all changes to the customer's equipment or usage that will materially affect the service to be rendered. The customer must give such notice within a reasonable time so the utility can…

(1) A utility must use reasonable security practices and procedures to safeguard all customer information within the utility's possession or control from unauthorized access or disclosure.(2) A utility may only collect and retain customer information that is reasonably necessary …

(1) An electric utility may require customers to:(a) Provide service entrance facilities at the easiest access point to the utility's distribution system; and(b) Comply with reasonable requirements to keep those facilities free from tampering or interference.(2) In order to permi…

(1) Authorized representatives of an electric utility have the right to enter a customer's property during reasonable hours to perform necessary functions such as meter reading, maintenance, repairs, testing, installation, or removal of the utility's property. Utilities must prov…

(1) When an electric utility receives a complaint from a customer or an applicant for service, the utility must acknowledge receipt of the complaint and:(a) Upon request, identify the utility's contact to the complainant;(b) Investigate the complaint promptly as required by the p…

(1) Customer bills must:(a) Be issued at intervals not to exceed two one-month billing cycles, unless the utility can show good cause for delaying the issuance of the bill. The utility must be able to show good cause if requested by the commission;(b) Show the total amount due an…

With the prior consent (as defined in subsection (2) of this section) of the customer or applicant, a utility may provide the following by electronic means, instead of in paper copy sent to the customer's mailing address:• Bills;• Notices of tariff revisions; and• Bill inserts co…

(1) An electric utility must test and report to the customer the accuracy of a meter within twenty business days after receiving an initial request from a customer. The utility must allow the customer to order one meter test free of charge during a twelve-month period. The utilit…

(1) An electric utility must provide payment agencies in locally accessible locations where applicants and customers can make payments at no charge to the applicants and customers. Payment agencies must clearly post and maintain regular business hours.(2) The utility and its paym…

Each electric utility offering service under tariff must make available for public inspection and review all tariffs governing its provision of service, as required by RCW 80.28.050. To comply with this requirement, a utility must fulfill the provisions of either subsection (1) o…

Each electric utility offering service under tariff must publish or provide electronically all proposed changes to its tariff for at least thirty days, as required by RCW 80.28.060. For any proposed tariff change that would increase recurring or per-occurrence charges or restrict…

(1) This section applies to tariff changes for other than those that are subject to WAC 480-100-194.(2) A utility that files a tariff change to increase any charge that a customer may incur without being quoted a rate or price (e.g., late payment fees, insufficient fund charges, …

(1) For adjudicated proceedings, when scheduling a hearing to take testimony from the public, the timing, location, and amount of notice to the public or to customers will be addressed in the prehearing conference order.(2) The notice must include all information contained in WAC…

(1) Within ten days of making a filing requiring posting, publication, or customer notice under WAC 480-100-194, 480-100-195, or 480-100-197, but no sooner than when the tariff is filed with the commission, a utility must file a statement with the commission's records center that…

The commission may require notice to customers of tariff changes other than those described in these rules when the commission determines that additional customer education is needed.[Statutory Authority: RCW 80.01.040 and 80.04.180. WSR 02-11-081 (Docket No. U-991301, General Or…

(1) Electric utilities in the state of Washington must use the uniform system of accounts applicable to major and nonmajor electric utilities as published by the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) in Title 18 of the Code of Federal Regulations, Part 101. Information abou…