By PSC Chair Charlotte Lane
We are in the process of having all utilities file plans with the Public Service Commission on how they will notify customers about outages in service.
Utilities across the state have been given a 30-day deadline to file those plans with the Public Service Commission.
The Legislature passed a bill this year to require each utility to tell us how it will alert its customers in cases of planned or unplanned outages.
The bill was signed into law by Governor Morrisey on April 29.
They must tell us how exactly they are going to let customers know of these planned and unplanned events.
Furthermore, they must tell us what they intend to include in these messages, what content and terms they will use.
They must also estimate the duration and end of the outage.
This legislative effort dovetails precisely with an order issued by our Commission last October fourth.
In that order, we required all cable and nonmotor carrier utilities to have a process in place to notify customers about outages. We said the notifications must be made by email or text.
We also required those utilities to update their customer lists.
The new law expands on what the Commission ordered to include all utilities and requires more detailed plans.
The loss of utility services of any type is a troubling event. And this is particularly true in a mountainous and forested state like West Virginia. We have a great deal of outages caused by storms, animals, and even human error.
It is frustrating to be at the end of the utility line and to be left completely in the dark, so to speak, about when the lights are going to come back on.
This new law resulted from a severe service interruption that involved two utilities on Charleston’s West Side. Hundreds of customers for a time were without two vital utility services.
We’re trying very much in this to get ahead of those problems and be prepared in the future.
The plans should be available for review in August on our website.
