§813 Power Entering Into Interstate Commerce; Regulation of Rates, Charges, Etc.

Summary

When power crosses state or international lines, the licensee, any subsidiary whose stock it owns or controls (directly or indirectly), and anyone who buys power from that licensee to sell or use in public service must charge fair, equal rates and give fair, nondiscriminatory service. Unfair or unequal rates or services are illegal. If the States involved do not have an authority to enforce these rules, or if the States cannot agree on what services, rates, charges, or securities should be, the commission may step in. The commission can act after a complaint by a harmed person, at the request of a State, or on its own, to regulate the interstate or foreign services, rates, and the issuing of securities. Any securities the licensee issues must be for real financing and running the business. The commission must use the same procedures used for railroad rate cases under subtitle IV of title 49, and the parties get the same rights to hearings, defenses, and review. When valuing a licensee’s property for setting rates, no project value may exceed the purchase values listed in section 807 of this title, but the licensee’s costs to build locks or other navigation aids and other capital expenses required by the United States may be included. No value may be claimed for rights granted by the commission or by this chapter.