HB 697 – AS INTRODUCED
2009 SESSION
06/01
HOUSE BILL 697
AN ACT relative to the penalty against public utilities.
This bill increases the civil penalty against public utilities for certain violations or failure to comply with orders of the public utilities commission.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
09-1032
06/01
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Nine
AN ACT relative to the penalty against public utilities.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Penalty Against Utility. Amend RSA 365:41 to read as follows:
365:41 Penalty Against Utility. Any public utility which shall violate any provisions of this title, or fails, omits or neglects to obey, observe or comply with any order, direction or requirement of the commission, shall be subject to a civil penalty, as determined by the commission, not to exceed $250,000 or 2.5 percent of the annual gross revenue that the utility received from sales in the state, whichever is [lower] greater. Such penalties shall be applied to the benefit of the utility’s ratepayers through a credit to bills, or, if the credit is of an amount determined by the commission to be insignificant on a per customer basis, to programs that benefit low income ratepayers. No portion of any fine, nor any costs associated with an administrative or court proceeding which results in a fine pursuant to this section, shall be considered by the commission in fixing any temporary, permanent, or emergency rates or charges of such utility.
2 Effective Date. This act shall take effect January 1, 2010.