§ 62-82. Special procedure on application for certificate for generating facility; appeal from award order.
§ 62‑82. Specialprocedure on application for certificate for generating facility; appeal fromaward order.
(a) Notice ofApplication for Certificate for Generating Facility; Hearing; Briefs and OralArguments. Whenever there is filed with the Commission an application for acertificate of public convenience and necessity for the construction of afacility for the generation of electricity under G.S. 62‑110.1, theCommission shall require the applicant to publish a notice thereof once a weekfor four successive weeks in a daily newspaper of general circulation in thecounty where such facility is proposed to be constructed and thereafter theCommission upon complaint shall, or upon its own initiative may, uponreasonable notice, enter upon a hearing to determine whether such certificateshall be awarded. Any such hearing must be commenced by the Commission notlater than three months after the filing of such application, and the procedurefor rendering decisions therein shall be given priority over all other cases onthe Commission's calendar of hearings and decisions, except rate proceedingsreferred to in G.S. 62‑81. Such applications shall be heard as providedin G.S. 62‑60.1, and the Commission shall furnish a transcript ofevidence and testimony submitted by the end of the second business day afterthe taking of each day of testimony. The Commission or panel shall require thatbriefs and oral arguments in such cases be submitted within 30 days after theconclusion of the hearing, and the Commission or panel shall render itsdecision in such cases within 60 days after submission of such briefs andarguments. If the Commission or panel does not, upon its own initiative, ordera hearing and does not receive a complaint within 10 days after the last day ofpublication of the notice, the Commission or panel shall enter an orderawarding the certificate. Notwithstanding this section, applicants for acertificate for solar photovoltaic facilities of 10 kilowatts or less areexempt from the requirement to publish public notice in newspapers.
(b) Compensation forDamages Sustained by Appeal from Award of Certificate under G.S. 62‑110.1;Bond Prerequisite to Appeal. Any party or parties opposing, and appealingfrom, an order of the Commission which awards a certificate under G.S. 62‑110.1shall be obligated to recompense the party to whom the certificate is awarded,if such award is affirmed upon appeal, for the damages, if any, which suchparty sustains by reason of the delay in beginning the construction of the facilitywhich is occasioned by the appeal, such damages to be measured by the increasein the cost of such generating facility (excluding legal fees, court costs, andother expenses incurred in connection with the appeal). No appeal from anyorder of the Commission which awards any such certificate may be taken by anyparty opposing such award unless, within the time limit for filing notice ofappeal as provided for in G.S. 62‑90, such party shall have filed withthe Commission a bond with sureties approved by the Commission, or anundertaking approved by the Commission, in such amount as the Commissiondetermines will be reasonably sufficient to discharge the obligationhereinabove imposed upon such appealing party. The Commission may, when thereare two or more such appealing parties, permit them to file a joint bond orundertaking. If the award order of the Commission is affirmed on appeal, theCommission shall determine the amount, if any, of damages sustained by theparty to whom the certificate was awarded, and shall issue appropriate ordersto assure that such damages be paid and, if necessary, that the bond orundertaking be enforced. (1965, c. 287, s. 3; 1975, c. 243, s. 7; 2004‑199,s. 23.)