Committee advances bill requiring utilities to file outage-communication plans with Public Service Commission

The Senate Government Organization Committee voted to report House Bill 3263 to the full Senate after adopting the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee's strike-and-insert amendment.

Committee counsel said the bill requires utilities to have an outage-communication plan to notify customers of planned and unexpected disruptions. The plans must include a method for providing prior notice to affected customers for planned disruptions and estimates about the expected length of the disruption. The bill requires utilities to file their outage-communication plans with the Public Service Commission, counsel said.

Lead sponsor Delegate Mike Pushkin, present in committee, told members the measure arose after a prolonged outage in the Charleston area left many customers without heat and with little communication from the utility. "Our feeling on it is if they can contact us when we owe money, they can contact us when there's an issue on their end," Pushkin said. He told the committee the affected outage lasted "several weeks" and that the bill already passed the House unanimously last year before timing ran out in the Senate.

Sammy Gray, director of government affairs for Appalachian Power, said the company worked with Delegate Pushkin on the bill language last year and is comfortable with the version before the committee. After the committee adopted the strike-and-insert and the vice chair moved to report the bill, the chair announced the motion adopted by voice vote and the bill will be reported to the full Senate.

The committee record indicates the Transportation Committee's amendment principally made stylistic changes and clarified filing requirements with the Public Service Commission.