Current through Register Vol. XLI, No. 13, March 29, 2024
10.1.
Declaration of public policy.
In the public interest and pursuant to the powers vested in
it, the Commission declares that any utility in designing and implementing any
promotional practice or practices shall consider what impact, if any, such
promotional practice or practices will have upon the conservation of energy,
and the utility shall not implement any practice or practices which shall have
an adverse affect upon conservation, or which cannot be justified from a
ratepayer benefit/utility cost standpoint.
10.2. Prohibited promotional practices.
A public utility or its affiliate shall not, without first
obtaining the approval of the Commission, engage, directly or indirectly, in
any of the following promotional practices:
10.2.1. The financing of land or the
construction of any building when same is not owned or otherwise possessed by
the utility or its affiliate;
10.2.2. The furnishing of consideration to
any person for work done or to be done on property not owned or otherwise
possessed by the utility or its affiliate; except for studies to determine
comparative capital or operating costs and expenses or to show the desirability
or feasibility of selecting one form of energy over another;
10.2.3. The acquisition from any person of
any tangible or intangible property or service for a consideration in excess of
the value thereof, or the furnishing to any person of any tangible or
intangible property or service for a consideration of less than the value
thereof;
10.2.4. The furnishing of
consideration to any person for the sale, installation or use of appliances or
equipment;
10.2.5. Other than the
normal service extensions, the provision of free, or at less than cost or
value, wiring, appliances or equipment to any person; provided that a utility,
engaged in an appliance merchandising sales program, shall not be precluded
from conducting legitimate closeouts of appliances, clearance sales, or sales
of damaged or returned appliances;
10.2.6. The provision of free, or at less
than cost or value, installation, operation, repair, modification or
maintenance of appliances, equipment, or piping for any person;
10.2.7. The granting of a trade-in allowance
on the purchase of any appliance or equipment in excess of the value of the
trade-in; or the granting of a trade-in allowance for such appliance or
equipment when such allowance varies by the type of energy consumed in the
trade-in;
10.2.8. The financing of
the acquisition of any appliance or equipment at a rate of interest or on terms
significantly more favorable than those generally applicable to sales by
nonutility dealers in such appliances or equipment;
10.2.9. The furnishing of consideration to
any person for any advertising or publicity purpose of such person; except for
payments not exceeding one-half (½) of the reasonable cost or value for
joint advertising or publicity with a dealer in appliances or equipment for the
sale or other provision of same;
10.2.10. The guaranteeing of the maximum cost
of gas service;
10.3.
Notwithstanding any provision in Rule 10.2., a utility may:
10.3.1. Engage in a program which offers
discounts or financing to employees of the utility for purchase of appliances.
However the plan must only be available to employees, retirees and their
spouses. The plan must not require the employee to take energy from the
utility. The plan must be a reasonable employee benefit. The plan must be
approved by the utility's management or be in a valid union contract. The plan
must be filed with the Commission in accordance with these rules.
10.3.2. Provide repairs and service to
appliances or equipment of customers of a public utility in an emergency or to
restore service or to prevent hazardous conditions or service
interruptions.
10.4. No
direct or indirect expenditures may be included in a utility's cost of service
for ratemaking purposes for political advertising. Any expenditures for
political advertising are expressly disallowed for ratemaking purposes. For the
purposes of Rule 10.4., "political advertising" means any advertising or
related activity for the purpose of influencing public opinion with respect to
legislative, administrative, or electoral matters, or with respect to any
controversial issue of public importance.
10.5. Filing of Present Promotional Practices
10.5.1. Each public utility shall file with
the Commission, on or before January 1, 1997, a schedule setting forth each of
the promotional practices being engaged in by the utility or subsidiaries which
operate in West Virginia as of that date.
10.5.2. The practices shall become effective
thirty days after filing, subject to a suspension or prohibitory order of the
Commission on its own motion or upon motion or complaint of an aggrieved
person.
10.5.3. The schedule shall
set forth:
10.5.3.a. The name, number, or
letter designation of each promotional practice;
10.5.3.b. the class of persons to which the
promotional practice is being offered or granted;
10.5.3.c. whether the promotional practice is
being uniformly offered or granted to the persons within the class;
10.5.3d. a description of the promotional
practice which includes a statement of the terms and conditions governing it;
10.5.3.e. a description of the
advertising or publicity employed with respect to the promotional
practice;
10.5.3.f. if the
promotional practice is offered or granted in whole or in part, by an affiliate
or other person, the identity of the affiliate or person and the nature of that
party's participation; and
10.5.3.g. other information relevant to a
complete understanding of the promotional practice.
10.5.4. A utility or its subsidiaries which
operate in West Virginia may not continue to engage in any promotional practice
after January 1, 1997 unless a schedule regarding promotional practices has
been filed with the Commission.
10.6. Filing of Proposed Practices
10.6.1. A public utility or its subsidiaries
operating in West Virginia may not offer or grant any additional promotional
practice or vary any existing promotional practice, directly or indirectly, or
in concert with others, or by any means whatsoever, until a schedule showing
the addition or variation, in the form prescribed in Rule 10.5.3. above has
been on file with the Commission for a period of at least 30 days.
10.6.2. The Commission may issue an order
approving a new promotional practice to become effective before the expiration
of the 30-day period.
10.6.3. If a
new promotional practice is not suspended or prohibited by order of the
Commission during the 30-day period, the utility may engage in the practice
subject to a suspension or prohibitory order of the Commission on its own
motion or on the complaint of an aggrieved person.
10.6.4. Notwithstanding any of the provisions
of this rule, the Commission may authorize an otherwise prohibited promotional
practice if the Commission finds that the promotional practice is in the public
interest.
10.6.5. A public utility
or its subsidiary operating in West Virginia requesting authorization under
Rule 10.6.4. shall provide information or data to show that:
10.6.5.a. The promotional practice will
result in the conversation of energy;
10.6.5.b. The promotional practice is needed
in order to foster conservation; and
10.6.5.c. The direct and indirect costs
associated with the promotional practice are reasonable, are not unduly
burdensome to the applicant's ratepayers, and are not likely to impact
detrimentally on the overall energy costs to consumers in its service
territory.
10.6.6. A
public utility's or its subsidiary operating in West Virginia proposed
promotional practice filing under Rule 10.6.4. shall include:
10.6.6.a. A complete description of the
proposed promotional practice;
10.6.6.b. An analysis of the costs associated
with the practice; and
10.6.6.c. An
analysis of the conservation effect of the practice.
10.7. Annual Report -- Each public
utility shall file with the Commission, concurrently with the annual report
required by law, a report of the promotional practices offered or granted by
the public utility and its subsidiaries operating in West Virginia during the
period covered by the annual report. The report shall show in reasonable detail
the amounts expended with respect to each promotional practice offered or
granted.
10.8. Prohibition of
discrimination for promotional practices.
10.8.1. A public utility or its subsidiaries
operating in West Virginia may not, directly or indirectly, in any manner or by
any device whatsoever, offer or grant to a person any form of promotional
practice except such as is uniformly and contemporaneously extended to all
persons in the same reasonably defined class.
10.8.2. A public utility or its subsidiary
operating in West Virginia may not, in granting a promotional practice, make
any undue preference or advantage to a person or subject a person to any undue
prejudice or disadvantage.
10.8.3.
A public utility or its subsidiary operating in West Virginia may not establish
or maintain any unreasonable difference in offering or granting promotional
practices either as between localities or as between classes to whom
promotional practices are offered or granted.
10.8.4. A public utility or its subsidiary
operating in West Virginia may not classify the persons to whom its promotional
practices are offered or granted except to the extent permitted by the law of
this State.
10.8.5. Notwithstanding
the other provisions of Rule 10.8., a public utility or its subsidiary
operating in West Virginia may offer an experimental program of limited
duration which may not be extended to all customers of the class or to all
areas of the service territory. The purpose of the temporary program must be
limited to gathering data to determine if the plan should be extended to be
offered in a non-discriminatory manner to all relevant customers.