§16453 State Access to Books and Records

Summary

A State commission that regulates a public utility can ask in writing for a holding company, or any affiliate of that holding company (but not the utility itself), to show books, accounts, memos, and other records no matter where they are located. The commission can only require records that it has pointed out in the commission proceeding, that it finds relate to the utility’s costs, and that it needs to do its job in that proceeding. This does not apply to a company that is a holding company only because it owns qualifying facilities under the Public Utility Regulatory Policies Act of 1978. Records the company produces must be protected to prevent unwarranted public release of trade secrets or sensitive commercial information. Nothing here overrides state laws about getting records or limits a State’s other rights to obtain records under other laws or contracts. Any U.S. district court in the State where the commission sits can enforce these requirements.