BILL REQ. #:  S-4485.4 

READ FIRST TIME 02/05/10.   

     AN ACT Relating to private infrastructure development; amending RCW 80.04.010, 80.04.110, 80.04.130, 80.04.160, 80.04.250, 80.04.500, 80.28.010, 80.28.020, 80.28.022, 80.28.030, 80.28.040, 80.28.050, 80.28.060, 80.28.070, 80.28.080, 80.28.090, 80.28.100, 80.28.110, 80.28.120, 80.28.130, 80.28.140, 80.28.160, 80.28.170, 80.28.185, 80.28.240, 80.28.270, 80.28.275, 80.28.303, 80.28.306, and 36.94.110; adding new sections to chapter 80.04 RCW; adding a new section to chapter 80.28 RCW; and creating a new section.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 1   The legislature recognizes the critical importance of infrastructure to the development of industrial, commercial, and residential properties and finds that infill development is often limited by the lack of infrastructure. The legislature further finds that in many areas, public funding to extend infrastructure is not available. It is the purpose of this act to allow private utilities to provide infrastructure needed for economic development in a manner that minimizes development sprawl.

Sec. 2   RCW 80.04.010 and 1995 c 243 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     As used in this title, unless specifically defined otherwise or unless the context indicates otherwise:
     (1) "Automatic location identification" means a system by which information about a caller's location, including the seven-digit number or ten-digit number used to place a 911 call or a different seven-digit number or ten-digit number to which a return call can be made from the public switched network, is forwarded to a public safety answering point for display.
     (2) "Automatic number identification" means a system that allows for the automatic display of the seven-digit or ten-digit number used to place a 911 call.
     (3) "Commission" means the utilities and transportation commission.
     (4) "Commissioner" means one of the members of such commission.
     (5) "Competitive telecommunications company" means a telecommunications company which has been classified as such by the commission pursuant to RCW 80.36.320.
     (6) "Competitive telecommunications service" means a service which has been classified as such by the commission pursuant to RCW 80.36.330.
     (7) "Corporation" includes a corporation, company, association or joint stock association.
     (8) "Person" includes an individual, a firm or partnership.
     (9) "Gas plant" includes all real estate, fixtures and personal property, owned, leased, controlled, used or to be used for or in connection with the transmission, distribution, sale or furnishing of natural gas, or the manufacture, transmission, distribution, sale or furnishing of other type gas, for light, heat or power.
     (10) "Gas company" includes every corporation, company, association, joint stock association, partnership and person, their lessees, trustees or receiver appointed by any court whatsoever, and every city or town, owning, controlling, operating or managing any gas plant within this state.
     (11) "Electric plant" includes all real estate, fixtures and personal property operated, owned, used or to be used for or in connection with or to facilitate the generation, transmission, distribution, sale or furnishing of electricity for light, heat, or power for hire; and any conduits, ducts or other devices, materials, apparatus or property for containing, holding or carrying conductors used or to be used for the transmission of electricity for light, heat or power.
     (12) "Electrical company" includes any corporation, company, association, joint stock association, partnership and person, their lessees, trustees or receivers appointed by any court whatsoever (other than a railroad or street railroad company generating electricity solely for railroad or street railroad purposes or for the use of its tenants and not for sale to others), and every city or town owning, operating or managing any electric plant for hire within this state. "Electrical company" does not include a company or person employing a cogeneration facility solely for the generation of electricity for its own use or the use of its tenants or for sale to an electrical company, state or local public agency, municipal corporation, or quasi municipal corporation engaged in the sale or distribution of electrical energy, but not for sale to others, unless such company or person is otherwise an electrical company.
     (13) "LATA" means a local access transport area as defined by the commission in conformance with applicable federal law.
     (14) "Private telecommunications system" means a telecommunications system controlled by a person or entity for the sole and exclusive use of such person, entity, or affiliate thereof, including the provision of private shared telecommunications services by such person or entity. "Private telecommunications system" does not include a system offered for hire, sale, or resale to the general public.
     (15) "Private shared telecommunications services" includes the provision of telecommunications and information management services and equipment within a user group located in discrete private premises in building complexes, campuses, or high-rise buildings, by a commercial shared services provider or by a user association, through privately owned customer premises equipment and associated data processing and information management services and includes the provision of connections to the facilities of a local exchange and to interexchange telecommunications companies.
     (16) "Private switch automatic location identification service" means a service that enables automatic location identification to be provided to a public safety answering point for 911 calls originating from station lines served by a private switch system.
     (17) "Radio communications service company" includes every corporation, company, association, joint stock association, partnership, and person, their lessees, trustees, or receivers appointed by any court, and every city or town making available facilities to provide radio communications service, radio paging, or cellular communications service for hire, sale, or resale.
     (18) "Telecommunications company" includes every corporation, company, association, joint stock association, partnership and person, their lessees, trustees or receivers appointed by any court whatsoever, and every city or town owning, operating or managing any facilities used to provide telecommunications for hire, sale, or resale to the general public within this state.
     (19) "Noncompetitive telecommunications service" means any service which has not been classified as competitive by the commission.
     (20) "Facilities" means lines, conduits, ducts, poles, wires, cables, cross-arms, receivers, transmitters, instruments, machines, appliances, instrumentalities and all devices, real estate, easements, apparatus, property and routes used, operated, owned or controlled by any telecommunications company to facilitate the provision of telecommunications service.
     (21) "Telecommunications" is the transmission of information by wire, radio, optical cable, electromagnetic, or other similar means. As used in this definition, "information" means knowledge or intelligence represented by any form of writing, signs, signals, pictures, sounds, or any other symbols.
     (22) "Water system" includes all real estate, easements, fixtures, personal property, dams, dikes, head gates, weirs, canals, reservoirs, flumes or other structures or appliances operated, owned, used or to be used for or in connection with or to facilitate the supply, storage, distribution, sale, furnishing, diversion, carriage, apportionment or measurement of water for power, irrigation, reclamation, manufacturing, municipal, domestic or other beneficial uses for hire.
     (23)(a) "Water company" includes every corporation, company, association, joint stock association, partnership and person, their lessees, trustees or receivers appointed by any court whatsoever, and every city or town owning, controlling, operating, or managing any water system for hire within this state((: PROVIDED, That)).
     (b) For purposes of commission jurisdiction ((it shall)), "water company" does not include any water system serving less than one hundred customers where the average annual gross revenue per customer does not exceed three hundred dollars per year, which revenue figure may be increased annually by the commission by rule adopted pursuant to chapter 34.05 RCW to reflect the rate of inflation as determined by the implicit price deflator of the United States department of commerce((: AND PROVIDED FURTHER, That such)). The measurement of customers or revenues ((shall)) under this subsection must include all portions of water companies having common ownership or control, regardless of location or corporate designation.
     (c) "Control" as used ((herein shall be)) in this subsection is defined by the commission by rule and ((shall)) does not include management by a satellite agency as defined in chapter 70.116 RCW if the satellite agency is not an owner of the water company.
     (d) "Water company" also includes, for auditing purposes only, nonmunicipal water systems which are referred to the commission pursuant to an administrative order from the department, or the city or county as provided in RCW 80.04.110. ((However,))
     (e) Water companies exempt from commission regulation ((shall be)) are subject to the provisions of chapter 19.86 RCW. A water company cannot be removed from regulation except with the approval of the commission. Water companies subject to regulation may petition the commission for removal from regulation if the number of customers falls below one hundred or the average annual revenue per customer falls below three hundred dollars. The commission is authorized to maintain continued regulation if it finds that the public interest so requires.
     (24) "Cogeneration facility" means any machinery, equipment, structure, process, or property, or any part thereof, installed or acquired for the primary purpose of the sequential generation of electrical or mechanical power and useful heat from the same primary energy source or fuel.
     (25) "Public service company" includes every gas company, electrical company, telecommunications company, wastewater company, and water company. Ownership or operation of a cogeneration facility does not, by itself, make a company or person a public service company.
     (26) "Local exchange company" means a telecommunications company providing local exchange telecommunications service.
     (27) "Department" means the department of health.
     ((The term)) (28) "Service" is used in this title in its broadest and most inclusive sense.
     (29)(a) "Wastewater company" means an individual, partnership, or corporation that installs or operates a system of sewerage as defined in RCW 36.94.010 that serves one hundred or more customers.
     (b) For purposes of commission jurisdiction, wastewater company does not include (i) municipal, county, or other publicly owned wastewater system or companies that contract with such entities for wastewater treatment services; or (ii) wastewater companies servicing customers outside of an urban growth area as defined in RCW 36.70A.030.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 3   A new section is added to chapter 80.04 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) A wastewater company shall not operate a system of sewerage for compensation without first having obtained from the commission a certificate declaring that the public convenience and necessity requires such operation.
     (2) Issuance of the certificate of public convenience and necessity must be determined on, but not limited to, the following factors:
     (a) A comprehensive business plan detailing the design, construction, operation, and maintenance of the proposed service system;
     (b) Demonstration of sufficient financial resources to properly operate and maintain the proposed system, and to replace and upgrade capital assets;
     (c) The need to develop a new stand alone system instead of connecting to an existing system;
     (d) A statement of prior experience, if any, in such field by the petitioner, set out in an affidavit or declaration.
     (3) The commission may, with or without a hearing, issue certificates, or for good cause shown refuse to issue them, or issue them for the partial exercise only of the privilege sought, and may attach to the exercise of the rights granted such terms and conditions as, in its judgment, the public convenience and necessity may require.
     (4) Any right, privilege, certificate held, owned, or obtained by a wastewater company may be sold, assigned, leased, transferred, or inherited as other property, only if authorized by the commission.
     (5) Prior to the commission approving a wastewater company to provide new service or extend existing service, the wastewater company must file and continuously maintain in effect, a bond, or equivalent surety as determined by the commission, with the commission to ensure that there are sufficient funds to properly design, construct, operate, and maintain the proposed system, and to replace and upgrade capital assets as required by federal or state law, department of health, or department of ecology order or additional connections to the system.
     (6) For purposes of issuing certificates under this chapter, the commission may adopt rules to implement this section.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 4   A new section is added to chapter 80.04 RCW to read as follows:
     The commission is authorized and empowered to adopt and issue rules and regulations establishing fees necessary to recover the actual and reasonable costs of supervising and regulating wastewater companies.

NEW SECTION.  Sec. 5   A new section is added to chapter 80.28 RCW to read as follows:
     (1) If the commission determines, after providing notice and opportunity for a hearing in the manner required for complaints under RCW 80.04.110, that a wastewater company is unfit to provide wastewater service on any wastewater system under its ownership, the commission may order the transfer of any such system or systems to a capable wastewater company.
     (2) In determining whether a wastewater company is unfit to provide wastewater service on a wastewater system, the commission may consider the company's technical and managerial expertise to operate the wastewater system, the company's financial soundness and the company's willingness and ability to make ongoing investments necessary to maintain compliance with statutory and regulatory standards for the safety, adequacy, efficiency, and reasonableness of the service provided.
     (3) Before ordering the transfer of a wastewater system owned by a wastewater company that is unfit to provide service, the commission must first determine that:
     (a) Alternatives to the transfer are impractical or not economically feasible;
     (b) The acquiring wastewater company is willing and able to acquire the wastewater system or systems, financially sound, and has the technical and managerial expertise to operate the wastewater system or systems in compliance with applicable statutory and regulatory standards; and
     (c) Rates paid by customers served by the acquiring wastewater company will not increase unreasonably because of the acquisition of the wastewater system, or because of expenditures that may be necessary to assure compliance with applicable statutory and regulatory standards for the safety, adequacy, efficiency, and reasonableness of the service provided.
     (4) The sale price for the unfit wastewater company's wastewater system or systems assets shall be determined by agreement between the unfit wastewater company and the acquiring capable wastewater company subject to a finding by the commission that the agreed price is reasonable. A price is deemed reasonable if it does not exceed the original cost of plant in service, minus accumulated depreciation, minus contributions in aid to construction. If the unfit wastewater company and the acquiring capable wastewater company are unable to agree on the sale price or the commission finds that the agreed sale price is not reasonable, the commission may institute a condemnation proceeding in superior court in the manner provided by chapter 8.04 RCW to determine the compensation to be paid by the acquiring capable wastewater company for the failed wastewater system or systems assets. The commission may prosecute the condemnation action in the name of the state of Washington, however, compensation shall be paid by, and title to the property shall vest in, the acquiring capable wastewater company.
     (5) The capable wastewater company acquiring an unfit wastewater company's system or systems shall have the same limited immunity from liability as wastewater companies assuming substandard systems as set forth in RCW 80.28.275.
     (6) The commission must provide copies of the notice required by subsection (1) of this section to the department of health and all proximate public entities providing wastewater utility service.
     (7) Any capable wastewater company approved by the commission to acquire the wastewater system or systems of an unfit wastewater company shall submit to the commission, for approval, a financial plan, including a timetable, for bringing the acquired wastewater system assets into compliance with applicable statutory and regulatory standards. The capable wastewater company shall also provide a copy of the plan to the department of health and other state or local agency as the commission may direct. The commission shall give the department of health adequate opportunity to comment on the plan and shall consider any comments submitted in deciding whether or not to approve the plan.

Sec. 6   RCW 80.04.110 and 1995 c 376 s 12 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1)(a) Complaint may be made by the commission of its own motion or by any person or corporation, chamber of commerce, board of trade, or any commercial, mercantile, agricultural or manufacturing society, or any body politic or municipal corporation, or by the public counsel section of the office of the attorney general, or its successor, by petition or complaint in writing, setting forth any act or thing done or omitted to be done by any public service corporation in violation, or claimed to be in violation, of any provision of law or of any order or rule of the commission((: PROVIDED, That)).
     (b) No complaint ((shall)) may be entertained by the commission except upon its own motion, as to the reasonableness of the schedule of the rates or charges of any gas company, electrical company, water company, wastewater company, or telecommunications company, unless the same be signed by the mayor, council or commission of the city or town in which the company complained of is engaged in business, or not less than twenty-five consumers or purchasers of such gas, electricity, water, wastewater, or telecommunications service, or at least twenty-five percent of the consumers or purchasers of the company's service((: PROVIDED, FURTHER, That)).
     (c) When two or more public service corporations, (meaning to exclude municipal and other public corporations) are engaged in competition in any locality or localities in the state, either may make complaint against the other or others that the rates, charges, rules, regulations or practices of such other or others with or in respect to which the complainant is in competition, are unreasonable, unremunerative, discriminatory, illegal, unfair or intending or tending to oppress the complainant, to stifle competition, or to create or encourage the creation of monopoly, and upon such complaint or upon complaint of the commission upon its own motion, the commission ((shall have)) has power, after notice and hearing as in other cases, to, by its order, subject to appeal as in other cases, correct the abuse complained of by establishing such uniform rates, charges, rules, regulations or practices in lieu of those complained of, to be observed by all of such competing public service corporations in the locality or localities specified as shall be found reasonable, remunerative, nondiscriminatory, legal, and fair or tending to prevent oppression or monopoly or to encourage competition, and upon any such hearing it shall be proper for the commission to take into consideration the rates, charges, rules, regulations and practices of the public service corporation or corporations complained of in any other locality or localities in the state.
     (2) All matters upon which complaint may be founded may be joined in one hearing, and no motion ((shall)) may be entertained against a complaint for misjoinder of complaints or grievances or misjoinder of parties; and in any review of the courts of orders of the commission the same rule shall apply and pertain with regard to the joinder of complaints and parties as herein provided((: PROVIDED,)). However, all grievances to be inquired into ((shall)) must be plainly set forth in the complaint. No complaint ((shall)) may be dismissed because of the absence of direct damage to the complainant.
     (3) Upon the filing of a complaint, the commission ((shall)) must cause a copy thereof to be served upon the person or corporation complained of, which shall be accompanied by a notice fixing the time when and place where a hearing will be had upon such complaint. The time fixed for such hearing ((shall)) may not be less than ten days after the date of the service of such notice and complaint, excepting as herein provided. The commission ((shall)) must enter its final order with respect to a complaint filed by any entity or person other than the commission within ten months from the date of filing of the complaint, unless the date is extended for cause. Rules of practice and procedure not otherwise provided for in this title may be prescribed by the commission. Such rules may include the requirement that a complainant use informal processes before filing a formal complaint.
     (4)(a) The commission ((shall)) must, as appropriate, audit a nonmunicipal water system upon receipt of an administrative order from the department, or the city or county in which the water system is located, finding that the water delivered by a system does not meet state board of health standards adopted under RCW 43.20.050(2)(a) or standards adopted under chapters 70.116 and 70.119A RCW, and the results of the audit ((shall)) must be provided to the requesting department, city, or county. However, the number of nonmunicipal water systems referred to the commission in any one calendar year shall not exceed twenty percent of the water companies subject to commission regulation as defined in RCW 80.04.010.
     (b) Every nonmunicipal water system referred to the commission for audit under this section shall pay to the commission an audit fee in an amount, based on the system's twelve-month audited period, equal to the fee required to be paid by regulated companies under RCW 80.24.010.
     (5) Any customer or purchaser of service from a water system or company that is subject to commission regulation may file a complaint with the commission if he or she has reason to believe that the water delivered by the system to the customer does not meet state drinking water standards under chapter 43.20 or 70.116 RCW. The commission ((shall)) must investigate such a complaint, and ((shall)) must request that the state department of health or local health department of the county in which the system is located test the water for compliance with state drinking water standards, and provide the results of such testing to the commission. The commission may decide not to investigate the complaint if it determines that the complaint has been filed in bad faith, or for the purpose of harassment of the water system or company, or for other reasons has no substantial merit. The water system or company ((shall)) may bear the expense for the testing. After the commission has received the complaint from the customer and during the pendency of the commission investigation, the water system or company ((shall)) may not take any steps to terminate service to the customer or to collect any amounts alleged to be owed to the company by the customer. The commission may issue an order or take any other action to ensure that no such steps are taken by the system or company. The customer may, at the customer's option and expense, obtain a water quality test by a licensed or otherwise qualified water testing laboratory, of the water delivered to the customer by the water system or company, and provide the results of such a test to the commission. If the commission determines that the water does not meet state drinking water standards, it ((shall)) must exercise its authority over the system or company as provided in this title, and may, where appropriate, order a refund to the customer on a pro rata basis for the substandard water delivered to the customer, and ((shall)) must order reimbursement to the customer for the cost incurred by the customer, if any, in obtaining a water quality test.

Sec. 7   RCW 80.04.130 and 2008 c 181 s 401 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Except as provided in subsection (2) of this section, whenever any public service company ((shall)) must file with the commission any schedule, classification, rule, or regulation, the effect of which is to change any rate, charge, rental, or toll theretofore charged, the commission ((shall have)) has power, either upon its own motion or upon complaint, upon notice, to enter upon a hearing concerning such proposed change and the reasonableness and justness thereof. Pending such hearing and the decision thereon, the commission may suspend the operation of such rate, charge, rental, or toll for a period not exceeding ten months from the time the same would otherwise go into effect. After a full hearing, the commission may make such order in reference thereto as would be provided in a hearing initiated after the same had become effective.
     (2)(a) The commission ((shall)) may not suspend a tariff that makes a decrease in a rate, charge, rental, or toll filed by a telecommunications company pending investigation of the fairness, justness, and reasonableness of the decrease when the filing does not contain any offsetting increase to another rate, charge, rental, or toll and the filing company agrees to not file for an increase to any rate, charge, rental, or toll to recover the revenue deficit that results from the decrease for a period of one year.
     (i) The filing company ((shall)) must file with any decrease sufficient information as the commission by rule may require to demonstrate the decreased rate, charge, rental, or toll is above the long run incremental cost of the service. A tariff decrease that results in a rate that is below long run incremental cost, or is contrary to commission rule or order, or the requirements of this chapter, ((shall)) must be rejected for filing and returned to the company.
     (ii) The commission may prescribe a different rate to be effective on the prospective date stated in its final order after its investigation, if it concludes based on the record that the originally filed and effective rate is unjust, unfair, or unreasonable.
     (b) The commission ((shall)) may not suspend a promotional tariff. For the purposes of this section, "promotional tariff" means a tariff that, for a period of up to ninety days, waives or reduces charges or conditions of service for existing or new subscribers for the purpose of retaining or increasing the number of customers who subscribe to or use a service.
     (3) The commission may suspend the initial tariff filing of any water company or wastewater company removed from and later subject to commission jurisdiction because of the number of customers or the average annual gross revenue per customer provisions of RCW 80.04.010. The commission may allow temporary rates during the suspension period. These rates ((shall)) may not exceed the rates charged when the company was last regulated. Upon a showing of good cause by the company, the commission may establish a different level of temporary rates.
     (4) At any hearing involving any change in any schedule, classification, rule, or regulation the effect of which is to increase any rate, charge, rental, or toll theretofore charged, the burden of proof to show that such increase is just and reasonable ((shall be upon)) is on the public service company.
     (5) The implementation of mandatory local measured telecommunications service is a major policy change in available telecommunications service. The commission shall not accept for filing a price list, nor shall it accept for filing or approve, prior to June 1, 2004, a tariff filed by a telecommunications company which imposes mandatory local measured service on any customer or class of customers, except that, upon finding that it is in the public interest, the commission may accept for filing a price list or it may accept for filing and approve a tariff that imposes mandatory measured service for a telecommunications company's extended area service or foreign exchange service. This subsection does not apply to land, air, or marine mobile service, or to pay telephone service, or to any service which has been traditionally offered on a measured service basis.
     (6) The implementation of Washington telephone assistance program service is a major policy change in available telecommunications service. The implementation of Washington telephone assistance program service will aid in achieving the stated goal of universal telephone service.
     (7) If a utility claims a sales or use tax exemption on the pollution control equipment for an electrical generation facility and abandons the generation facility before the pollution control equipment is fully depreciated, any tariff filing for a rate increase to recover abandonment costs for the pollution control equipment ((shall be)) is considered unjust and unreasonable for the purposes of this section.
     (8) During a state of emergency declared under RCW 43.06.010(12), the governor may waive or suspend the operation or enforcement of this section or any portion of this section or under any administrative rule, and issue any orders to facilitate the operation of state or local government or to promote and secure the safety and protection of the civilian population.

Sec. 8   RCW 80.04.160 and 1961 c 14 s 80.04.160 are each amended to read as follows:
     The commission is hereby authorized and empowered to adopt, promulgate and issue rules and regulations covering the transmission and delivery of messages and conversations, and the furnishing and supply of gas, electricity, wastewater, and water, and any and all services concerning the same, or connected therewith; and generally such rules as pertain to the comfort and convenience of the public concerning the subjects treated of in this title. Such rules and regulations ((shall)) must be promulgated and issued by the commission on its own motion, and ((shall)) must be served on the public service company affected thereby as other orders of the commission are served. Any public service company affected thereby, and deeming such rules and regulations, or any of them, improper, unjust, unreasonable, or contrary to law, may within twenty days from the date of service of such order upon it file objections thereto with the commission, specifying the particular grounds of such objections. The commission ((shall)) must, upon receipt of such objections, fix a time and place for hearing the same, and after a full hearing may make such changes or modifications thereto, if any, as the evidence may justify. The commission ((shall have)) has, and it is hereby given, power to adopt rules to govern its proceedings, and to regulate the mode and manner of all investigations and hearings((: PROVIDED,)). However, no person desiring to be present at such hearing ((shall)) may be denied permission. Actions may be instituted to review rules and regulations promulgated under this section as in the case of orders of the commission.

Sec. 9   RCW 80.04.250 and 1991 c 122 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The commission ((shall have)) has power upon complaint or upon its own motion to ascertain and determine the fair value for rate making purposes of the property of any public service company used and useful for service in this state and ((shall)) must exercise such power whenever it shall deem such valuation or determination necessary or proper under any of the provisions of this title. In determining what property is used and useful for providing electric, gas, wastewater, or water service, the commission may include the reasonable costs of construction work in progress to the extent that the commission finds that inclusion is in the public interest.
     (2) The commission ((shall have)) has the power to make revaluations of the property of any public service company from time to time.
     (3) The commission ((shall)) must, before any hearing is had, notify the complainants and the public service company concerned of the time and place of such hearing by giving at least thirty days' written notice thereof, specifying that at the time and place designated a hearing will be held for the purpose of ascertaining the value of the company's property, used and useful as aforesaid, which notice ((shall)) must be sufficient to authorize the commission to inquire into and pass upon the matters designated in this section.

Sec. 10   RCW 80.04.500 and 1985 c 450 s 13 are each amended to read as follows:
     Nothing in this title ((shall)) authorizes the commission to make or enforce any order affecting rates, tolls, rentals, contracts or charges or service rendered, or the adequacy or sufficiency of the facilities, equipment, instrumentalities or buildings, or the reasonableness of rules or regulations made, furnished, used, supplied or in force affecting any telecommunications line, gas plant, electrical plant, wastewater system, or water system owned and operated by any city or town, or to make or enforce any order relating to the safety of any telecommunications line, electrical plant or water system owned and operated by any city or town, but all other provisions enumerated herein ((shall)) apply to public utilities owned by any city or town.

Sec. 11   RCW 80.28.010 and 2008 c 299 s 35 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) All charges made, demanded or received by any gas company, electrical company, wastewater company, or water company for gas, electricity or water, or for any service rendered or to be rendered in connection therewith, shall be just, fair, reasonable and sufficient. Reasonable charges necessary to cover the cost of administering the collection of voluntary donations for the purposes of supporting the development and implementation of evergreen community management plans and ordinances under RCW 80.28.300 ((shall)) must be deemed as prudent and necessary for the operation of a utility.
     (2) Every gas company, electrical company, wastewater company, and water company ((shall)) must furnish and supply such service, instrumentalities and facilities as shall be safe, adequate and efficient, and in all respects just and reasonable.
     (3) All rules and regulations issued by any gas company, electrical company, wastewater company, or water company, affecting or pertaining to the sale or distribution of its product, ((shall)) must be just and reasonable.
     (4) Utility service for residential space heating shall not be terminated between November 15 through March 15 if the customer:
     (a) Notifies the utility of the inability to pay the bill, including a security deposit. This notice should be provided within five business days of receiving a payment overdue notice unless there are extenuating circumstances. If the customer fails to notify the utility within five business days and service is terminated, the customer can, by paying reconnection charges, if any, and fulfilling the requirements of this section, receive the protections of this chapter;
     (b) Provides self-certification of household income for the prior twelve months to a grantee of the department of ((community, trade, and economic development)) commerce, which administers federally funded energy assistance programs. The grantee ((shall)) must determine that the household income does not exceed the maximum allowed for eligibility under the state's plan for low-income energy assistance under 42 U.S.C. 8624 and ((shall)) must provide a dollar figure that is seven percent of household income. The grantee may verify information provided in the self-certification;
     (c) Has applied for home heating assistance from applicable government and private sector organizations and certifies that any assistance received will be applied to the current bill and future utility bills;
     (d) Has applied for low-income weatherization assistance to the utility or other appropriate agency if such assistance is available for the dwelling;
     (e) Agrees to a payment plan and agrees to maintain the payment plan. The plan will be designed both to pay the past due bill by the following October 15th and to pay for continued utility service. If the past due bill is not paid by the following October 15, the customer ((shall)) is not ((be)) eligible for protections under this chapter until the past due bill is paid. The plan ((shall)) may not require monthly payments in excess of seven percent of the customer's monthly income plus one-twelfth of any arrearage accrued from the date application is made and thereafter during November 15 through March 15. A customer may agree to pay a higher percentage during this period, but shall not be in default unless payment during this period is less than seven percent of monthly income plus one-twelfth of any arrearage accrued from the date application is made and thereafter. If assistance payments are received by the customer subsequent to implementation of the plan, the customer ((shall)) must contact the utility to reformulate the plan; and
     (f) Agrees to pay the moneys owed even if he or she moves.
     (5) The utility shall:
     (a) Include in any notice that an account is delinquent and that service may be subject to termination, a description of the customer's duties in this section;
     (b) Assist the customer in fulfilling the requirements under this section;
     (c) Be authorized to transfer an account to a new residence when a customer who has established a plan under this section moves from one residence to another within the same utility service area;
     (d) Be permitted to disconnect service if the customer fails to honor the payment program. Utilities may continue to disconnect service for those practices authorized by law other than for nonpayment as provided for in this subsection. Customers who qualify for payment plans under this section who default on their payment plans and are disconnected can be reconnected and maintain the protections afforded under this chapter by paying reconnection charges, if any, and by paying all amounts that would have been due and owing under the terms of the applicable payment plan, absent default, on the date on which service is reconnected; and
     (e) Advise the customer in writing at the time it disconnects service that it will restore service if the customer contacts the utility and fulfills the other requirements of this section.
     (6) A payment plan implemented under this section is consistent with RCW 80.28.080.
     (7) Every gas company and electrical company shall offer residential customers the option of a budget billing or equal payment plan. The budget billing or equal payment plan shall be offered low-income customers eligible under the state's plan for low-income energy assistance prepared in accordance with 42 U.S.C. 8624(C)(1) without limiting availability to certain months of the year, without regard to the length of time the customer has occupied the premises, and without regard to whether the customer is the tenant or owner of the premises occupied.
     (8) Every gas company, electrical company, wastewater company, and water company ((shall)) must construct and maintain such facilities in connection with the manufacture and distribution of its product, or provision of its services, as will be efficient and safe to its employees and the public.
     (9) An agreement between the customer and the utility, whether oral or written, ((shall)) does not waive the protections afforded under this chapter.
     (10) In establishing rates or charges for water service, water companies as defined in RCW 80.04.010 may consider the achievement of water conservation goals and the discouragement of wasteful water use practices.

Sec. 12   RCW 80.28.020 and 1961 c 14 s 80.28.020 are each amended to read as follows:
     Whenever the commission shall find, after a hearing had upon its own motion, or upon complaint, that the rates or charges demanded, exacted, charged or collected by any gas company, electrical company, wastewater company, or water company, for gas, electricity, sewerage, or water, or in connection therewith, or that the rules, regulations, practices or contracts affecting such rates or charges are unjust, unreasonable, unjustly discriminatory or unduly preferential, or in any wise in violation of the provisions of the law, or that such rates or charges are insufficient to yield a reasonable compensation for the service rendered, the commission ((shall)) must determine the just, reasonable, or sufficient rates, charges, regulations, practices or contracts to be thereafter observed and in force, and ((shall)) must fix the same by order.

Sec. 13   RCW 80.28.022 and 1991 c 150 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:
     In determining the rates to be charged by each wastewater company or water company subject to its jurisdiction, the commission may provide for the funding of a reserve account exclusively for the purpose of making capital improvements approved by the department of health as a part of a long-range plan, or required by the department to assure compliance with federal or state drinking water regulations, or to perform construction or maintenance required by the department of ecology to secure safety to life and property under RCW 43.21A.064(2). Expenditures from the fund ((shall be)) are subject to prior approval by the commission, and ((shall)) must be treated for rate-making purposes as customer contributions.

Sec. 14   RCW 80.28.030 and 1989 c 207 s 4 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Whenever the commission ((shall)) finds, after such hearing, that the illuminating or heating power, purity or pressure of gas, the efficiency of electric lamp supply, the voltage of the current supplied for light, heat or power, the quality of wastewater discharge, or the purity, quality, volume, and pressure of water, supplied by any gas company, electrical company, wastewater company, or water company, as the case may be, is insufficient, impure, inadequate or inefficient, it ((shall)) must order such improvement in the manufacture, distribution or supply of gas, in the manufacture, transmission or supply of electricity, in the operation of the wastewater facilities, or in the storage, distribution or supply of water, or in the methods employed by such gas company, electrical company, wastewater company, or water company, as will in its judgment be efficient, adequate, just and reasonable. Failure of a water company to comply with state board of health standards adopted under RCW 43.20.050(2)(a) or department standards adopted under chapter 70.116 RCW for purity, volume, and pressure ((shall be)) is prima facie evidence that the water supplied is insufficient, impure, inadequate, or inefficient.
     (2) In ordering improvements in the storage, distribution, or supply of water, or the operations of a wastewater facility, the commission ((shall)) must consult and coordinate with the department. In the event that a wastewater company or water company fails to comply with an order of the commission in a timely fashion, the commission may request that the department petition the court to place the company in receivership.

Sec. 15   RCW 80.28.040 and 1989 c 207 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Whenever the commission ((shall)) finds, after hearing, that any rules, regulations, measurements or the standard thereof, practices, acts or services of any such gas company, electrical company, wastewater company, or water company are unjust, unreasonable, improper, insufficient, inefficient or inadequate, or that any service which may be reasonably demanded is not furnished, the commission ((shall)) must fix the reasonable rules, regulations, measurements or the standard thereof, practices, acts or service to be thereafter furnished, imposed, observed and followed, and ((shall)) must fix the same by order or rule.
     (2) In ordering improvements to the service of any wastewater company or water company, the commission ((shall)) must consult and coordinate with the department. In the event that a wastewater company or water company fails to comply with an order of the commission within the deadline specified in the order, the commission may request that the department petition the court to place the company in receivership.

Sec. 16   RCW 80.28.050 and 1961 c 14 s 80.28.050 are each amended to read as follows:
     Every gas company, electrical company, wastewater company, and water company ((shall)) must file with the commission and ((shall)) must print and keep open to public inspection schedules in such form as the commission may prescribe, showing all rates and charges made, established or enforced, or to be charged or enforced, all forms of contract or agreement, all rules and regulations relating to rates, charges or service, used or to be used, and all general privileges and facilities granted or allowed by such gas company, electrical company, wastewater company, or water company.

Sec. 17   RCW 80.28.060 and 2008 c 181 s 402 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Unless the commission otherwise orders, no change ((shall)) may be made in any rate or charge or in any form of contract or agreement or in any rule or regulation relating to any rate, charge or service, or in any general privilege or facility which shall have been filed and published by a gas company, electrical company, wastewater company, or water company in compliance with the requirements of RCW 80.28.050 except after thirty days' notice to the commission and publication for thirty days, which notice ((shall)) must plainly state the changes proposed to be made in the schedule then in force and the time when the change will go into effect and all proposed changes ((shall)) must be shown by printing, filing and publishing new schedules, or shall be plainly indicated upon the schedules in force at the time and kept open to public inspection. Proposed changes may be suspended by the commission within thirty days or before the stated effective date of the proposed change, whichever is later. The commission, for good cause shown, may allow changes without requiring the thirty days' notice by duly filing, in such manner as it may direct, an order specifying the changes so to be made and the time when it ((shall)) takes effect. All such changes ((shall)) must be immediately indicated upon its schedules by the company affected. When any change is made in any rate or charge, form of contract or agreement, or any rule or regulation relating to any rate or charge or service, or in any general privilege or facility, the effect of which is to increase any rate or charge, then in existence, attention ((shall)) must be directed on the copy filed with the commission to such increase by some character immediately preceding or following the item in such schedule, such character to be in form as designated by the commission.
     (2) During a state of emergency declared under RCW 43.06.010(12), the governor may waive or suspend the operation or enforcement of this section or any portion of this section or under any administrative rule, and issue any orders to facilitate the operation of state or local government or to promote and secure the safety and protection of the civilian population.

Sec. 18   RCW 80.28.070 and 1961 c 14 s 80.28.070 are each amended to read as follows:
     Nothing in this chapter ((shall be taken to)) prohibits a gas company, electrical company, wastewater company, or water company from establishing a sliding scale of charges, whereby a greater charge is made per unit for a lesser than a greater quantity for gas, electricity, sewerage, or water, or any service rendered or to be rendered.

Sec. 19   RCW 80.28.080 and 1985 c 427 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1)(a) Except as provided otherwise in this subsection, no gas company, electrical company, wastewater company, or water company ((shall)) may charge, demand, collect or receive a greater or less or different compensation for any service rendered or to be rendered than the rates and charges applicable to such service as specified in its schedule filed and in effect at the time, nor ((shall)) may any such company directly or indirectly refund or remit in any manner or by any device any portion of the rates or charges so specified, or furnish its product at free or reduced rates except to its employees and their families, and its officers, attorneys, and agents; to hospitals, charitable and eleemosynary institutions and persons engaged in charitable and eleemosynary work; to indigent and destitute persons; to national homes or state homes for disabled volunteer soldiers and soldiers' and sailors' homes((: PROVIDED, That the term)).
     For the purposes of this subsection (1):
     (i) "Employees" ((as used in this paragraph shall)) includes furloughed, pensioned and superannuated employees, persons who have become disabled or infirm in the service of any such company; and ((the term))
     (ii) "Families((,))" ((as used in this paragraph, shall)) includes the families of those persons named in this proviso, the families of persons killed or dying in the service, also the families of persons killed, and the surviving spouse prior to remarriage, and the minor children during minority of persons who died while in the service of any of the companies named in this ((paragraph: PROVIDED FURTHER, That)) subsection (1).
     (b) Water companies may furnish free or at reduced rates water for the use of the state, or for any project in which the state is interested((: AND PROVIDED FURTHER, That)).
     (c) Gas companies, electrical companies, wastewater companies, and water companies may charge the defendant for treble damages awarded in lawsuits successfully litigated under RCW 80.28.240.
     (2) No gas company, electrical company, wastewater company, or water company ((shall)) may extend to any person or corporation any form of contract or agreement or any rule or regulation or any privilege or facility except such as are regularly and uniformly extended to all persons and corporations under like circumstances.

Sec. 20   RCW 80.28.090 and 1961 c 14 s 80.28.090 are each amended to read as follows:
     No gas company, electrical company, wastewater company, or water company ((shall)) may make or grant any undue or unreasonable preference or advantage to any person, corporation, or locality, or to any particular description of service in any respect whatsoever, or subject any particular person, corporation or locality or any particular description of service to any undue or unreasonable prejudice or disadvantage in any respect whatsoever.

Sec. 21   RCW 80.28.100 and 1961 c 14 s 80.28.100 are each amended to read as follows:
     No gas company, electrical company, wastewater company, or water company ((shall)) may, directly or indirectly, or by any special rate, rebate, drawback or other device or method, charge, demand, collect or receive from any person or corporation a greater or less compensation for gas, electricity, wastewater services, or water, or for any service rendered or to be rendered, or in connection therewith, except as authorized in this chapter, than it charges, demands, collects or receives from any other person or corporation for doing a like or contemporaneous service with respect thereto under the same or substantially similar circumstances or conditions.

Sec. 22   RCW 80.28.110 and 1990 c 132 s 5 are each amended to read as follows:
     Every gas company, electrical company, wastewater company, or water company, engaged in the sale and distribution of gas, electricity or water or the provision of wastewater services, ((shall)) must, upon reasonable notice, furnish to all persons and corporations who may apply therefor and be reasonably entitled thereto, suitable facilities for furnishing and furnish all available gas, electricity, wastewater services, and water as demanded, except that a water company ((shall)) may not furnish water contrary to the provisions of water system plans approved under chapter 43.20 or 70.116 RCW.

Sec. 23   RCW 80.28.120 and 1961 c 14 s 80.28.120 are each amended to read as follows:
     Every gas, water, wastewater, or electrical company owning, operating or managing a plant or system for the distribution and sale of gas, water or electricity, or the provision of wastewater services to the public for hire ((shall be)) is, and ((be)) is held to be, a public service company as to such plant or system and as to all gas, water, wastewater services, or electricity distributed or furnished therefrom, whether such gas, water, wastewater services, or electricity be sold wholesale or retail or be distributed wholly to the general public or in part as surplus gas, water or electricity to manufacturing or industrial concerns or to other public service companies or municipalities for redistribution. Nothing in this title ((shall)) may be construed to prevent any gas company, electrical company or water company from continuing to furnish its product or the use of its lines, equipment or service under any contract or contracts in force on June 7, 1911, at the rates fixed in such contract or contracts((: PROVIDED, That)). However, the commission ((shall have)) has power, in its discretion, to direct by order that such contract or contracts ((shall)) must be terminated by the company party thereto and thereupon such contract or contracts ((shall)) must be terminated by such company as and when directed by such order.

Sec. 24   RCW 80.28.130 and 1961 c 14 s 80.28.130 are each amended to read as follows:
     Whenever the commission ((shall)) finds, after hearing had upon its own motion or upon complaint, that repairs or improvements, to, or changes in, any gas plant, electrical plant, wastewater facility, or water system ought to be made, or that any additions or extensions should reasonably be made thereto, in order to promote the security or convenience of the public or employees, or in order to secure adequate service or facilities for manufacturing, distributing or supplying gas, electricity, wastewater services, or water, the commission may enter an order directing that such reasonable repairs, improvements, changes, additions or extensions of such gas plant, electrical plant, wastewater facility, or water system be made.

Sec. 25   RCW 80.28.140 and 1961 c 14 s 80.28.140 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) The commission may appoint inspectors of wastewater measuring devices and gas and water meters whose duty it ((shall be)) is when required by the commission to inspect, examine, prove and ascertain the accuracy of any and all wastewater measuring devices and gas and water meters used or intended to be used for measuring or ascertaining the flow or volume of wastewater, the quantity of gas for light, heat or power, or the quantity of water furnished for any purpose by any public service company to or for the use of any person or corporation, and when found to be or made to be correct such inspectors ((shall)) must seal all such devices or meters and each of them with some suitable device to be prescribed by the commission.
     (2) No public service company ((shall)) may thereafter furnish, set or put in use any wastewater measurement device or gas or water meter ((which shall not have)) that has not been inspected, proved and sealed by an inspector of the commission under such rules and regulations as the commission may prescribe.

Sec. 26   RCW 80.28.160 and 1961 c 14 s 80.28.160 are each amended to read as follows:
     Every gas company, electrical company, wastewater company, and water company ((shall)) must prepare and maintain such suitable premises, apparatus and facilities as may be required and approved by the commission for testing and proving the accuracy of gas, electric or water meters, or wastewater measurement devices furnished for use by it by which apparatus every meter or device may be tested.

Sec. 27   RCW 80.28.170 and 1961 c 14 s 80.28.170 are each amended to read as follows:
     If any consumer to whom a meter or measurement device has been furnished ((shall)) requests the commission in writing to inspect such meter or device, the commission ((shall)) must have the same inspected and tested, and if the same, on being so tested, ((shall be)) is found to be more than four percent if an electric meter, or more than two percent if a gas meter, or more than two percent if a wastewater measurement device or more than two percent if a water meter, defective or incorrect to the prejudice of the consumer, the expense of such inspection and test ((shall)) must be borne by the gas company, electrical company, wastewater company, or water company, and if the same, on being so tested ((shall be)) is found to be correct within the limits of error prescribed by the provisions of this section, the expense of such inspection and test ((shall)) must be borne by the consumer.

Sec. 28   RCW 80.28.185 and 1989 c 207 s 6 are each amended to read as follows:
     The commission may develop and enter into an agreement with a county to carry out the regulatory functions of this chapter with regard to water companies or wastewater companies located within the boundary of that county. The duration of the agreement, the duties to be performed, and the remuneration to be paid by the commission are subject to agreement by the commission and the county.

Sec. 29   RCW 80.28.240 and 1989 c 11 s 30 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) A utility may bring a civil action for damages against any person who commits, authorizes, solicits, aids, abets, or attempts to:
     (a) Divert, or cause to be diverted, utility services by any means whatsoever;
     (b) Make, or cause to be made, any connection or reconnection with property owned or used by the utility to provide utility service without the authorization or consent of the utility;
     (c) Prevent any utility meter or other device used in determining the charge for utility services from accurately performing its measuring function by tampering or by any other means;
     (d) Tamper with any property owned or used by the utility to provide utility services; or
     (e) Use or receive the direct benefit of all or a portion of the utility service with knowledge of, or reason to believe that, the diversion, tampering, or unauthorized connection existed at the time of the use or that the use or receipt was without the authorization or consent of the utility.
     (2) In any civil action brought under this section, the utility may recover from the defendant as damages three times the amount of actual damages, if any, plus the cost of the suit and reasonable attorney's fees, plus the costs incurred on account of the bypassing, tampering, or unauthorized reconnection, including but not limited to costs and expenses for investigation, disconnection, reconnection, service calls, and expert witnesses.
     (3) Any damages recovered under this section in excess of the actual damages sustained by the utility may be taken into account by the utilities and transportation commission or other applicable rate-making agency in establishing utility rates.
     (4) As used in this section:
     (a) "Customer" means the person in whose name a utility service is provided;
     (b) "Divert" means to change the intended course or path of electricity, gas, or water without the authorization or consent of the utility;
     (c) "Person" means any individual, partnership, firm, association, or corporation or government agency;
     (d) "Reconnection" means the commencement of utility service to a customer or other person after service has been lawfully disconnected by the utility;
     (e) "Tamper" means to rearrange, injure, alter, interfere with, or otherwise prevent from performing the normal or customary function;
     (f) "Utility" means any electrical company, gas company, wastewater company, or water company as those terms are defined in RCW 80.04.010, and includes any electrical, gas, or water system operated by any public agency; and
     (g) "Utility service" means the provision of electricity, gas, water, or any other service or commodity furnished by the utility for compensation.

Sec. 30   RCW 80.28.270 and 1991 c 101 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     The commission's jurisdiction over the rates, charges, practices, acts or services of any water company ((shall)) or wastewater company include any aspect of line extension, service installation, or service connection. If the charges for such services are not set forth by specific amount in the company's tariff filed with the commission pursuant to RCW 80.28.050, the commission ((shall)) must determine the fair, just, reasonable, and sufficient charge for such extension, installation, or connection. In any such proceeding in which there is no specified tariffed rate, the burden ((shall be)) is on the company to prove that its proposed charges are fair, just, reasonable, and sufficient.

Sec. 31   RCW 80.28.275 and 1994 c 292 s 9 are each amended to read as follows:
     A water company or a wastewater company assuming responsibility for a water or wastewater system that is not in compliance with state or federal requirements for public drinking water systems, and its agents and employees, are immune from lawsuits or causes of action, based on noncompliance with state or federal requirements for public drinking water systems, which predate the date of assuming responsibility and continue after the date of assuming responsibility, provided that the water company or wastewater company has submitted and is complying with a plan and schedule of improvements approved by the department of health. This immunity ((shall)) expires on the earlier of the date the plan of improvements is completed or four years from the date of assuming responsibility. This immunity does not apply to intentional injuries, fraud, or bad faith.

Sec. 32   RCW 80.28.303 and 1994 c 268 s 2 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) An electrical, gas, wastewater, or water company may file a conservation service tariff with the commission. The tariff ((shall)) must provide:
     (a) The terms and conditions upon which the company will offer the conservation measures and services specified in the tariff;
     (b) The period of time during which the conservation measures and services will be offered; and
     (c) The maximum amount of expenditures to be made during a specified time period by the company on conservation measures and services specified in the tariff.
     (2) The commission has the same authority with respect to a proposed conservation service tariff as it has with regard to any other schedule or classification the effect of which is to change any rate or charge, including, without limitation, the power granted by RCW 80.04.130 to conduct a hearing concerning a proposed conservation service tariff and the reasonableness and justness thereof, and pending such hearing and the decision thereon the commission may suspend the operation of the tariff for a period not exceeding ten months from the time the tariff would otherwise go into effect.
     (3) An electrical, gas, wastewater, or water company may from time to time apply to the commission for a determination that specific expenditures may under its tariff constitute bondable conservation investment. A company may request this determination by the commission in separate proceedings for this purpose or in connection with a general rate case. The commission may designate the expenditures as bondable conservation investment as defined in RCW 80.28.005(1) if it finds that such designation is in the public interest.
     (4) The commission ((shall)) must include in rate base all bondable conservation investment. The commission ((shall)) must approve rates for service by electrical, gas, wastewater, and water companies at levels sufficient to recover all of the expenditures of the bondable conservation investment included in rate base and the costs of equity and debt capital associated therewith, including, without limitation, the payment of principal, premium, if any, and interest on conservation bonds. The rates so determined may be included in general rate schedules or may be expressed in one or more separate rate schedules. The commission ((shall)) may not revalue bondable conservation investment for rate-making purposes, to determine that revenues required to recover bondable conservation investment and associated equity and debt capital costs are unjust, unreasonable, or in any way impair or reduce the value of conservation investment assets or that would impair the timing or the amount of revenues arising with respect to conservation investment assets that have been pledged to secure conservation bonds.
     (5) Nothing in this chapter precludes the commission from adopting or continuing other conservation policies and programs intended to provide incentives for and to encourage utility investment in improving the efficiency of energy or water end use. However, the policies or programs shall not impair conservation investment assets. This chapter is not intended to be an exclusive or mandatory approach to conservation programs for electrical, gas, wastewater, and water companies, and no such company is obligated to file conservation service tariffs under this chapter, to apply to the commission for a determination that conservation costs constitute bondable conservation investment within the meaning of this chapter, or to issue conservation bonds.
     (6)(a) If a customer of an electrical, gas, wastewater, or water company for whose benefit the company made expenditures for conservation measures or services ceases to be a customer of such company for one or more of the following reasons, the commission may require that the portion of such conservation expenditures that had been included in rate base but not theretofore recovered in the rates of such company be removed from the rate base of the company:
     (i) The customer ceases to be a customer of the supplier of energy, wastewater services, or water, and the customer repays to the company the portion of the conservation expenditures made for the benefit of such customer that has not theretofore been recovered in rates of the company; or
     (ii) The company sells its property used to serve such customer and the customer ceases to be a customer of the company as a result of such action.
     (b) An electrical, gas, wastewater, or water company may include in a contract for a conservation measure or service, and the commission may by rule or order require to be included in such contracts, a provision requiring that, if the customer ceases to be a customer of that supplier of energy or water or wastewater services, the customer ((shall)) must repay to the company the portion of the conservation expenditures made for the benefit of such customer that has not theretofore been recovered in rates of the company.

Sec. 33   RCW 80.28.306 and 1994 c 268 s 3 are each amended to read as follows:
     (1) Electrical, gas, wastewater, and water companies, or finance subsidiaries, may issue conservation bonds upon approval by the commission.
     (2) Electrical, gas, wastewater, and water companies, or finance subsidiaries may pledge conservation investment assets as collateral for conservation bonds by obtaining an order of the commission approving an issue of conservation bonds and providing for a security interest in conservation investment assets. A security interest in conservation investment assets is created and perfected only upon entry of an order by the commission approving a contract governing the granting of the security interest and the filing with the department of licensing of a UCC-1 financing statement, showing such pledgor as "debtor" and identifying such conservation investment assets and the bondable conservation investment associated therewith. The security interest is enforceable against the debtor and all third parties, subject to the rights of any third parties holding security interests in the conservation investment assets perfected in the manner described in this section, if value has been given by the purchasers of conservation bonds. An approved security interest in conservation investment assets is a continuously perfected security interest in all revenues and proceeds arising with respect to the associated bondable conservation investment, whether or not such revenues have accrued. Upon such approval, the priority of such security interest ((shall)) must be as set forth in the contract governing the conservation bonds. Conservation investment assets constitute property for the purposes of contracts securing conservation bonds whether or not the related revenues have accrued.
     (3) The relative priority of a security interest created under this section is not defeated or adversely affected by the commingling of revenues arising with respect to conservation investment assets with other funds of the debtor. The holders of conservation bonds ((shall)) have a perfected security interest in all cash and deposit accounts of the debtor in which revenues arising with respect to conservation investment assets pledged to such holders have been commingled with other funds, but such perfected security interest is limited to an amount not greater than the amount of such revenues received by the debtor within twelve months before (a) any default under the conservation bonds held by the holders or (b) the institution of insolvency proceedings by or against the debtor, less payments from such revenues to the holders during such twelve-month period. If an event of default occurs under an approved contract governing conservation bonds, the holders of conservation bonds or their authorized representatives, as secured parties, may foreclose or otherwise enforce the security interest in the conservation investment assets securing the conservation bonds, subject to the rights of any third parties holding prior security interests in the conservation investment assets perfected in the manner provided in this section. Upon application by the holders ((of [or])) or their representatives, without limiting their other remedies, the commission ((shall)) must order the sequestration and payment to the holders or their representatives of revenues arising with respect to the conservation investment assets pledged to such holders. Any such order ((shall)) must remain in full force and effect notwithstanding any bankruptcy, reorganization, or other insolvency proceedings with respect to the debtor. Any surplus in excess of amounts necessary to pay principal, premium, if any, interest, and expenses arising under the contract governing the conservation bonds ((shall)) must be remitted to the debtor electrical, gas, wastewater, or water company or the debtor finance subsidiary.
     (4) The granting, perfection, and enforcement of security interests in conservation investment assets to secure conservation bonds is governed by this chapter rather than by chapter ((62A.9)) 62A.9A RCW.
     (5) A transfer of conservation investment assets by an electrical, gas, wastewater, or water company to a finance subsidiary, which such parties have in the governing documentation expressly stated to be a sale or other absolute transfer, in a transaction approved in an order issued by the commission and in connection with the issuance by such finance subsidiary of conservation bonds, ((shall)) must be treated as a true sale, and not as a pledge or other financing, of such conservation investment assets. According the holders of conservation bonds a preferred right to revenues of the electrical, gas, wastewater, or water company, or the provision by such company of other credit enhancement with respect to conservation bonds, does not impair or negate the characterization of any such transfer as a true sale.
     (6) Any successor to an electrical, gas, wastewater, or water company pursuant to any bankruptcy, reorganization, or other insolvency proceeding ((shall)) must perform and satisfy all obligations of the company under an approved contract governing conservation bonds, in the same manner and to the same extent as such company before any such proceeding, including, without limitation, collecting and paying to the bondholders or their representatives revenues arising with respect to the conservation investment assets pledged to secure the conservation bonds.

Sec. 34   RCW 36.94.110 and 1967 c 72 s 11 are each amended to read as follows:
     After adoption of the sewerage and/or water general plan, all municipal corporations and private utilities within the plan area ((shall)) must abide by and adhere to the plan for the future development of their systems. A municipal corporation or private utility, including a wastewater company as defined in RCW 80.04.010, may petition for amendments to the plan. Whenever the governing authority of any county or counties or any municipal corporation deems it to be for the public interest to amend the sewerage and/or water general plan for such county or counties, notice shall be filed with the board or boards of county commissioners. Upon such notice, the board or boards ((shall)) must initiate consideration of any amendment requested relating to the plan and proceed as provided in this chapter for the adoption of an original plan.