Chapter 1 - General Provisions
CHAPTER 1 - General Provisions
37-1-101. Definitions.
(a) As used in chapters 1, 2, 3, 12 and 17 of this title:
(i) "Commission" means public service commission ofWyoming, which is created and established by this chapter;
(ii) "Commissioner" means any one of the members ofthe Wyoming public service commission;
(iii) "Municipality" when used in this chapter shallmean and include any town, village, city, county or other political subdivisionof this state;
(iv) "Municipal council" means and includes the citycouncil, common council, board of aldermen, the board of selectmen, the boardof trustees, the city commission or any other governing body of any politicalsubdivision of the state;
(v) "Person" means and includes individuals,associations of individuals, firms, partnerships, companies, corporations,their lessees, trustees, or receivers, appointed by any court whatsoever in thesingular number, as well as the plural;
(vi) "Public utility" means and includes every personthat owns, operates, leases, controls or has power to operate, lease orcontrol:
(A) Any plant, property or facility for the transportation orconveyance to or for the public of passengers or property for hire, excepttaxicabs operating solely in cities and towns;
(B) Repealed by Laws 1995, ch. 181, 3.
(C) Any plant, property or facility for the generation,transmission, distribution, sale or furnishing to or for the public ofelectricity for light, heat or power, including any conduits, ducts or otherdevices, materials, apparatus or property for containing, holding or carryingconductors used or to be used for the transmission of electricity for light,heat or power;
(D) Any plant, property or facility for the manufacture,distribution, sale or furnishing to or for the public of natural ormanufactured gas for lights, heat or power;
(E) Any plant, property or facility for the supply, storage,distribution or furnishing to or for the public of water for manufacturing,municipal, agriculture or domestic uses, except and excluding any such plant,property or facility owned by a municipality;
(F) Any plant, property or facility for the production,transmission, conveyance, delivery or furnishing to or for the public of steamor any other substance for heat or power;
(G) Any plant, property or equipment for the transportation orconveyance to or for the public of oil or gas by pipeline, or any plant,property, or equipment, used for the purpose of transporting, selling orfurnishing natural gas to any consumer or consumers within the state of Wyomingfor industrial, commercial or residential use, except any such plant, propertyor equipment used for any of the following purposes is exempted from this andall other provisions of this chapter to the extent of such use:
(I) For the transportation or sale of natural gas within orbetween oil and gas fields or potential oil and gas fields for residential,commercial, industrial or other use reasonably necessary in the exploration,development or operation of the field;
(II) For drilling, producing, repressuring, or other oil or gasfield operations;
(III) For operation of natural gas processing plants;
(IV) For the sale of natural gas by the producer to a consumerfor use in industrial or commercial plants or establishments of any kind ornature.
(H) None of the provisions of this chapter shall apply to:
(I) Interstate commerce except when a regulatory field has notbeen preempted by the United States government;
(II) To public utilities owned and operated by a municipality ofthe state of Wyoming, except as to that portion of a municipality owned andoperated public utility, if any, as may extend services outside the corporatelimits of a municipality and except that if any municipal utility owns anundivided interest in a facility for the production of electricity which isalso partly owned by an agency subject to the jurisdiction of the publicservice commission, the sale of electricity in excess of the participatingmunicipalities' need is subject to this act;
(III) To farmers' mutual telephone associations having no capitalstock and furnishing service to members of associations only and without tolls,except as provided in W.S. 37-2-205;
(IV) To mutual water companies or associations having no capitalstock and furnishing water service to members of companies or associationsonly, and without charges other than assessments of members to reimbursecompanies or associations for expenses incurred in their establishment oroperation;
(V) To any person who is not otherwise affiliated with autility, that owns, leases, controls or has power to lease or control anyplant, property or facility which, in a transaction approved or authorized bythe commission, is leased to one (1) or more public utilities, and is to beoperated by the lessee or lessees for the generation, transmission,distribution, sale or furnishing to or for the public of electricity for light,heat, power or other utility purposes;
(VI) To the generation, transmission or distribution ofelectricity, or to the manufacture or distribution of gas, or to the furnishingor distribution of water, nor to the production, delivery or furnishing ofsteam or any other substance, by a producer or other person, for the sole useof a producer or other person, or for the use of tenants of a producer or otherperson and not for sale to others. Such exemptions shall not apply to meteredor other direct sales of a utility commodity by a producer or other person tohis tenants.
(J) The term "public utility" shall mean and includetwo (2) or more public utilities rendering joint service;
(K) Any person furnishing coal, water or other raw materials toan electric power company shall not by this fact alone be designated as apublic utility;
(M) The provisions of W.S. 37-6-101 through 37-6-106, relatingto the issuance and sale of securities shall not apply to:
(I) Any gas pipeline corporation making direct sales to Wyomingconsumers in interstate commerce and not for resale;
(II) Any cooperative electrical generation and transmissionassociation operating in interstate commerce whose rates are not regulated bythe Wyoming public service commission.
37-1-102. "Rate" and "service regulation" defined.
(a) The term "rate", when used inthis act, shall mean and include, in the plural number, as well as in thesingular, every individual or joint rate, classification, fare, toll, charge orother compensation for service rendered or to be rendered by any publicutility, and every rule, regulation, practice, act, requirement or privilege inany way relating to such rate, fare, toll, charge or other compensation, andany schedule or tariff or part of a schedule or tariff thereof.
(b) The term "service regulation" shall mean andinclude every rule, regulation, practice, act or requirement in any wayrelating to the service or facilities of a public utility.
37-1-103. Assessment of interstate public utilities generally.
(a) The public service commission of Wyomingis hereby authorized and empowered to collect for the actual costs incurred bythe commission for necessary and reasonable services, investigations and otheractions concerning the construction, operation, maintenance, safety andenvironment of interstate utilities and their facilities within Wyoming. Thisact [section] shall not apply to motor carriers or any services, investigationsor other actions authorized by the statutes for intrastate utilities.
(b) The billing by the commission shall be directed to theinvolved interstate utility or utilities at intervals of no less than thirty(30) days as determined by the commission and shall detail and show the basisfor the charges and all direct and allocated charges. Payment shall be made bythe interstate public utility no later than thirty (30) days after receipt ofthe billing. Only those charges which are necessary and reasonable need be paidand if charges not necessary and reasonable are paid under protest, they may berecovered in a court of competent jurisdiction in any action commenced againstthe public service commission of Wyoming within thirty (30) days after paymentunder protest and any amount recovered shall be paid out of the public servicecommission account.
(c) The funds collected shall be immediately remitted to thestate treasurer for deposit in the public service commission account. Thecommission may immediately upon deposit expend such monies for payment of itscosts incurred concerning interstate utilities, subject to the warrant of thestate auditor, upon submission of properly executed vouchers authorized by thecommission in the same manner as other funds are disbursed subject to otherprovisions of law.
(d) Any interstate utility which violates or fails to complywith any provision of this act shall be subject to a penalty of not more thanfive thousand dollars ($5,000.00) for each and every offense.
37-1-104. Reorganization of public utility; definition; approval.
(a) No reorganization of a public utilityshall take place without prior approval by the public service commission. Thecommission shall not approve any proposed reorganization if the commissionfinds, after public notice and opportunity for public hearing, that thereorganization will adversely affect the utility's ability to serve the public.
(b) For purposes of this section, "reorganization"means any transaction which, regardless of the means by which it isaccomplished, results in a change in the ownership of a majority of the votingcapital stock of a public utility, or the ownership or control of any entitywhich owns or controls a majority of the voting capital stock of a publicutility. "Reorganization" as used in this section shall not includea mortgage or pledge transaction entered into to secure a bona fide borrowingby the party granting the mortgage or making the pledge.
37-1-105. Application for reorganization; fees; reimbursement of costsand expenses to state; expenses not to be included in rates.
(a) Every applicant for approval of a reorganization by thepublic service commission under this act shall pay a filing fee of one hundreddollars ($100.00) for each application and ten dollars ($10.00) plus ten cents($.10) per page for every amendment to any application. These fees shall bedeposited in the general fund. In addition the applicant shall reimburse thestate for the expenses of the state in reviewing and acting upon eachapplication and defending any public service commission decision in case oflegal appeal. The expenses of the state shall not be deemed to include thenormal salary and benefits of the public service commissioners but shallinclude substantially all other actual expenses of the state in connection withthe application. The public service commission may require the applicant topost a bond or make a prepayment to assure the required reimbursement. Nocharge for expenses in connection with any application under this act may beincluded in the rates charged to Wyoming customers. The reimbursementscollected pursuant to this section shall be deposited in a separate account andmay be expended by the public service commission following appropriations bythe legislature.
(b) No charge for any expenses of any reorganization shall beincluded in the rate base of any Wyoming public utility.
37-1-106. Rulemaking authority.
Thepublic service commission shall adopt rules and regulations to implement theprovisions of W.S. 37-1-104 and 37-1-105.
37-1-107. Department of transportation; appeals.
Anyparty in interest or any person or party authorized under chapters 9 through 11of title 37 to file for an original hearing before the department oftransportation may appeal to a hearing panel appointed by the transportationcommission in the same manner, and to the same extent, as provided in theWyoming Administrative Procedure Act.