§717g Accounts; Records; Memoranda

Summary

Natural-gas companies must keep the accounts, cost records, letters, notes, papers, books, and other documents the Commission requires to run this law. The Commission can set rules for what accounts to keep and can group companies and give each group its own accounting rules. After telling the company and holding a hearing, the Commission can decide how a particular payment or receipt must be recorded. If the Commission questions an entry, the person who made or approved it must prove it is correct, and the Commission can pause the charge or credit until it sees good proof. The Commission can inspect and examine any company’s accounts and records. Companies must give the Commission needed information, copies of maps, contracts, engineer reports, and other data, and must let Commission agents onto their property and into their records when asked within a reasonable time. Commission staff must keep examination information private unless the Commission or a court says otherwise. The books and records of anyone who controls a regulated natural-gas company, and of other companies they control, can also be examined if they relate to that gas company.