reglab/housing_qa huggingface dataset:
HI Rev Stat § 269-14.5 (2021)
2021 Hawaii Revised Statutes|Title 15. Transportation and Utilities|269. Public Utilities Commission|269-14.5 Appointment of receiver for public utilities.

  §269-14.5 Appointment of receiver for public utilities. (a) Whenever the commission finds that a regulated water utility or regulated sewer utility is failing, or that there is an imminent threat of the utility failing, to provide adequate and reasonable service to its customers, and that the failure is a serious and imminent threat to health, safety, and welfare, the commission may appoint a receiver to take any temporary action necessary to assure continued service or to bring the service up to appropriate regulatory standards. The commission may also appoint a receiver to take any temporary action necessary to assure continued service if, after notice and hearing, the commission finds that any water or sewer utility regulated under this chapter consistently fails to provide adequate and reasonable service. In carrying out its responsibilities, the receiver and any additional outside legal counsel, consultants, or staff the commission or receiver may deem necessary under the circumstances, shall have the authority to gain access to all of the utility company assets and records and to manage those assets in a manner that will restore or maintain an acceptable level of service to customers. The receiver shall be authorized to expend existing utility company revenues for labor and materials and to commit additional resources as are essential to providing an acceptable level of service. These expenditures shall be funded in accordance with generally accepted ratemaking practices. Any costs incurred by the commission, its staff, or the appointed receiver under this section shall be the responsibility of the utility in receivership or its ratepayers. Control of and responsibility for the utility shall remain with the receiver until the utility can be returned to the original owners, transferred to new owners, or liquidated as the commission determines to be in the public interest.  (b) If the commission determines that the utility's action or inaction that caused it to be placed under the control and responsibility of a receiver under this section was due to intentional misappropriation or wrongful diversion of the assets or income of the utility or to other wilful misconduct by any director, officer, or manager of the utility, it may require such director, officer, or manager to make restitution to the utility. [L 2009, c 74, §2]
HI Rev Stat § 269-15.5 (2021)
2021 Hawaii Revised Statutes|Title 15. Transportation and Utilities|269. Public Utilities Commission|269-15.5 Appeals.

  §269-15.5 Appeals. Except as otherwise provided in this chapter, an appeal from an order of the public utilities commission under this chapter shall lie, subject to chapter 602, in the manner provided for civil appeals from the circuit courts. Only a person aggrieved in a contested case proceeding provided for in this chapter may appeal from the order, if the order is final, or if preliminary, is of the nature defined by section 91-14(a). The commission may elect to be a party to all matters from which an order of the commission is appealed, and the commission may file appropriate responsive briefs or pleadings in the appeal; provided that where there was no adverse party in the case below, or in cases where there is no adverse party to the appeal, the commission shall be a party to all matters in which an order of the commission is appealed and shall file the appropriate responsive briefs or pleadings in defending all such orders. The appearance of the commission as a party in appellate proceedings in no way limits the participation of persons otherwise qualified to be parties on appeal. The appeal shall not of itself stay the operation of the order appealed from, but the appellate court may stay the order after a hearing upon a motion therefor and may impose conditions it deems proper, including but not limited to requiring a bond, requiring that accounts be kept, or requiring that other measures be taken as ordered to secure restitution of the excess charges, if any, made during the pendency of the appeal, in case the order appealed from is sustained, reversed, or modified in whole or in part. [L 1998, c 195, §1; am L 2004, c 202, §28; am L 2006, c 94, §1; am L 2010, c 109, §1; am L 2016, c 48, § §9, 14; am L 2019, c 213, §1] Cross References  Contested cases, see §269-15.51. Rules of Court  Appeals, see Hawaii Rules of Appellate Procedure; stay pending appeal, see HRAP rule 8. Case Notes  Where a hearing on a petition for a declaratory order before the public utilities commission was discretionary and not required by law, the dismissal order was not a contested case under §91-1(5); therefore, because a direct appeal to the intermediate appellate court (ICA) under §91-14(b) and this section only applied to contested cases, appellant power company was not entitled to appeal the dismissal order directly to the ICA; thus, the ICA lacked jurisdiction over appellant's appeal. 126 H. 242 (App.), 269 P.3d 777 (2012).
HI Rev Stat § 269-15.51 (2021)
2021 Hawaii Revised Statutes|Title 15. Transportation and Utilities|269. Public Utilities Commission|269-15.51 Contested cases.

  §269-15.51 Contested cases. (a) Chapter 91 shall apply to every contested case arising under this chapter except where chapter 91 conflicts with this chapter, in which case this chapter shall apply. Any other law to the contrary notwithstanding, including chapter 91, any contested case under this chapter shall be appealed from a final decision and order or a preliminary ruling that is of the nature defined by section 91-14(a) upon the record directly to the supreme court for final decision. Only a person aggrieved in a contested case proceeding provided for in this chapter may appeal from the final decision and order or preliminary ruling. For the purposes of this section, the term "person aggrieved" includes an agency that is a party to a contested case proceeding before that agency or another agency.  (b) The court shall give priority to contested case appeals of significant statewide importance over all other civil or administrative appeals or matters and shall decide these appeals as expeditiously as possible. [L 2016, c 48, § §4, 14; am L 2019, c 213, §1] Cross References  Appeals, see §269-15.5.
HI Rev Stat § 269-15.6 (2021)
2021 Hawaii Revised Statutes|Title 15. Transportation and Utilities|269. Public Utilities Commission|269-15.6 Alternative dispute resolution.

  §269-15.6 Alternative dispute resolution. The commission may require the parties in any matter before the commission to participate in nonbinding arbitration, mediation, or other alternative dispute resolution process prior to the hearing. [L 2000, c 263, §1]
HI Rev Stat § 269-16.1 (2021)
2021 Hawaii Revised Statutes|Title 15. Transportation and Utilities|269. Public Utilities Commission|269-16.1 Performance incentive and penalty mechanisms.

  §269-16.1 Performance incentive and penalty mechanisms. (a) On or before January 1, 2020, the public utilities commission shall establish performance incentives and penalty mechanisms that directly tie an electric [utility's] revenues to that utility's achievement on performance metrics and break the direct link between allowed revenues and investment levels. The performance incentives and penalty mechanisms, as may be amended by the public utilities commission from time to time, shall apply to the regulation of electric utility rates under section 269-16.  (b) In developing performance incentive and penalty mechanisms, the public utilities commission's review of electric utility performance shall consider, but not be limited to, the following:  (1) The economic incentives and cost-recovery mechanisms described in section 269-6(e);  (2) Volatility and affordability of electric rates and customer electric bills;  (3) Electric service reliability;  (4) Customer engagement and satisfaction, including customer options for managing electricity costs;  (5) Access to utility system information, including but not limited to public access to electric system planning data and aggregated customer energy use data and individual access to granular information about an individual customer's own energy use data;  (6) Rapid integration of renewable energy sources, including quality interconnection of customer-sited resources; and  (7) Timely execution of competitive procurement, third-party interconnection, and other business processes.  (c) This section shall not apply to a member-owned cooperative electric utility. [L 2018, c 5, §3; am L 2021, c 82, §2]
HI Rev Stat § 269-16.2 (2021)
2021 Hawaii Revised Statutes|Title 15. Transportation and Utilities|269. Public Utilities Commission|269-16.2 Approval of rules of a public utility. Any rules, guidelines, or other standards of a public utility which interpret federal or state laws governing nonutility generators, or which make a nonutility generator monetarily responsible for the public utility's costs and profits of doing business as a public utility, shall be approved by the public utilities commission before adoption. As used in this section, a "nonutility generator" means a person that produces electric power but is not a public utility. [L 1994, c 176, §2]

  §269-16.2 Approval of rules of a public utility. Any rules, guidelines, or other standards of a public utility which interpret federal or state laws governing nonutility generators, or which make a nonutility generator monetarily responsible for the public utility's costs and profits of doing business as a public utility, shall be approved by the public utilities commission before adoption. As used in this section, a "nonutility generator" means a person that produces electric power but is not a public utility. [L 1994, c 176, §2]
HI Rev Stat § 269-16.21 (2021)
2021 Hawaii Revised Statutes|Title 15. Transportation and Utilities|269. Public Utilities Commission|269-16.21 REPEALED.

  §269-16.21 REPEALED. L 2001, c 272, §8.
HI Rev Stat § 269-16.22 (2021)
2021 Hawaii Revised Statutes|Title 15. Transportation and Utilities|269. Public Utilities Commission|269-16.22 Power purchase agreements; cost recovery for electric utilities.

  §269-16.22 Power purchase agreements; cost recovery for electric utilities. All power purchase costs, including costs related to capacity, operations and maintenance, and other costs that are incurred by an electric utility company, arising out of power purchase agreements that have been approved by the public utilities commission and are binding obligations on the electric utility company, shall be allowed to be recovered by the utility from the customer base of the electric utility company through one or more adjustable surcharges, which shall be established by the public utilities commission. The costs shall be allowed to be recovered if incurred as a result of such agreements unless, after review by the public utilities commission, any such costs are determined by the commission to have been incurred in bad faith, out of waste, out of an abuse of discretion, or in violation of law. For purposes of this section, an "electric utility company" means a public utility as defined under section 269-1, for the production, conveyance, transmission, delivery, or furnishing of electric power. [L 2012, c 55, §2]
HI Rev Stat § 269-16.4 (2021)
2021 Hawaii Revised Statutes|Title 15. Transportation and Utilities|269. Public Utilities Commission|269-16.4 Annual fuel mix disclosure.

  §269-16.4 Annual fuel mix disclosure. (a) Beginning June 1, 2004, and every June 1 thereafter, each retail supplier of electricity shall disclose fuel mix information by generation category to its existing and new retail electricity customers for the prior calendar year.  (b) Beginning June 1, 2004, and every June 1 thereafter, each retail supplier of electricity shall state the average retail price of electricity (per kilowatt-hour) for each rate class of service for the prior calendar year. The average retail price of electricity for each rate class of service shall be determined by dividing the total electric revenues for each rate class of service by the total kilowatt-hours sold to each respective rate class.  (c) The disclosure required by this section shall be:  (1) Printed either on the customer's bill or as a bill insert; provided that this disclosure requirement shall not result in increased costs to ratepayers; and  (2) Posted and updated on the supplier's internet website, if any.  (d) As used in this section, the term "fuel mix" means the electricity sold to retail electricity customers expressed in terms of percentage contribution by generation category. The total fuel mix included in each disclosure shall total one hundred per cent. [L 2003, c 147, §2]
HI Rev Stat § 269-16.5 (2021)
2021 Hawaii Revised Statutes|Title 15. Transportation and Utilities|269. Public Utilities Commission|269-16.5 Lifeline telephone rates.

 §269-16.5 Lifeline telephone rates. (a) The public utilities commission shall implement a program to achieve lifeline telephone rates for residential telephone users.  (b) "Lifeline telephone rate" means a discounted rate for residential telephone users identified as elders with limited income and the handicapped with limited income as designated by the commission.  (c) The commission shall require every telephone public utility providing local telephone service to file a schedule of rates and charges providing a rate for lifeline telephone subscribers.  (d) Nothing in this section shall preclude the commission from changing any rate established pursuant to subsection (a) either specifically or pursuant to any general restructuring of all telephone rates, charges, and classifications. [L 1986, c 116, §3; am L 1990, c 67, §8]
HI Rev Stat § 269-16.7 (2021)
2021 Hawaii Revised Statutes|Title 15. Transportation and Utilities|269. Public Utilities Commission|269-16.7 REPEALED.

 §269-16.7 REPEALED. L 2003, c 50, §3.
HI Rev Stat § 269-16.8 (2021)
2021 Hawaii Revised Statutes|Title 15. Transportation and Utilities|269. Public Utilities Commission|269-16.8 Aggregators of telephone service requirements.

  §269-16.8 Aggregators of telephone service requirements. (a) For the purposes of this section:  "Aggregator" means every person or entity that is not a telecommunications carrier, who, in the ordinary course of its business, makes telephones available and aggregates the calls of the public or transient users of its business, including but not limited to a hotel, motel, hospital, or university, that provides operator-assisted services through access to an operator service provider.  "Operator service" means a service provided by a telecommunications company to assist a customer to complete a telephone call.  (b) The commission, by rule or order, shall adopt and enforce operating requirements for the provision of operator-assisted services by an aggregator. These requirements shall include, but not be limited to, the following:  (1) Posting and display of information in a prominent and conspicuous fashion on or near the telephone equipment owned or controlled by the aggregator which states the identity of the operator service provider, the operator service provider's complaint handling procedures, and means by which the customer may access the various operator service providers.  (2) Identification by name of the operator service provider prior to the call connection and, if not posted pursuant to subsection (b)(1), a disclosure of pertinent rates, terms, conditions, and means of access to various operator service providers and the local exchange carriers; provided that the operator service provider shall disclose this information at any time upon request by the customer.  (3) Allowing the customer access to any operator service provider operating in the relevant geographic area through the access method chosen by the provider or as deemed appropriate by the commission.  (4) Other requirements as deemed reasonable by the commission in the areas of public safety, quality of service, unjust or discriminatory pricing, or other matters in the public interest. [L 1989, c 241, §1]
HI Rev Stat § 269-16.91 (2021)
2021 Hawaii Revised Statutes|Title 15. Transportation and Utilities|269. Public Utilities Commission|269-16.91 Universal service subsidies.

  §269-16.91 Universal service subsidies. (a) For any alternative telecommunications provider authorized to provide basic local exchange service to any area of the State pursuant to section 269-16.9(h), the commission may consider the following:  (1) Transferring the subsidy, if any, of the local exchange provider's basic residential telephone service to the alternative provider; and  (2) Transferring from the local exchange carrier to the alternative provider the amounts, if any, generated by the local exchange provider's services other than basic residential telephone service and which are used to subsidize basic residential service in the area.  (b) To receive the subsidy amounts from the local exchange service provider, the alternative telecommunications provider shall be required, to the extent possible, to obtain basic residential service subsidies from both the local exchange service provider and national universal service providers. [L 1994, c 80, §2]
HI Rev Stat § 269-16.92 (2021)
2021 Hawaii Revised Statutes|Title 15. Transportation and Utilities|269. Public Utilities Commission|269-16.92 Changes in subscriber carrier selections; prior authorization required; penalties for unauthorized changes.

  §269-16.92 Changes in subscriber carrier selections; prior authorization required; penalties for unauthorized changes. (a) No telecommunications carrier shall initiate a change in a subscriber's selection or designation of a long-distance carrier without first receiving:  (1) A letter of agency or letter of authorization;  (2) An electronic authorization by use of a toll-free number;  (3) An oral authorization verified by an independent third party; or  (4) Any other prescribed authorization; provided that the letter or authorization shall be in accordance with verification procedures that are prescribed by the Federal Communications Commission or the public utilities commission. For purposes of this section, "telecommunications carrier" does not include a provider of commercial mobile radio service as defined by 47 United States Code section 332(d)(1).  (b) Upon a determination that any telecommunications carrier has engaged in conduct that is prohibited in subsection (a), the public utilities commission shall order the carrier to take corrective action as deemed necessary by the commission and may subject the telecommunications carrier to administrative penalties pursuant to section 269-28. Any proceeds from administrative penalties collected under this section shall be deposited into the public utilities commission special fund.  The commission, if consistent with the public interest, may suspend, restrict, or revoke the registration, charter, or certificate of the telecommunications carrier, thereby denying, modifying, or limiting the right of the telecommunications carrier to provide service in this State.  (c) The commission shall adopt rules, pursuant to chapter 91, necessary for the purposes of this section. The commission may notify customers of their rights under these rules. [L 1998, c 225, §1]
HI Rev Stat § 269-16.93 (2021)
2021 Hawaii Revised Statutes|Title 15. Transportation and Utilities|269. Public Utilities Commission|269-16.93 Release of domestic abuse victims from shared wireless plans.

  §269-16.93 Release of domestic abuse victims from shared wireless plans. (a) All wireless telecommunications service providers shall release, without charge, penalty, or fee, any victim of domestic abuse from a shared or family wireless service contract involving the victim's abuser; provided that the victim submits an opt-out request in writing and with evidence of domestic abuse as documented by any of the following items:  (1) Valid police report documenting an instance or series of instances of domestic abuse;  (2) Order for protection granted pursuant to chapter 586; or  (3) Signed affidavit from a licensed medical or mental health care provider, employee of a court acting within the scope of their employment, or social worker.  (b) When a victim of domestic abuse submits an opt-out request to a wireless telecommunications service provider pursuant to subsection (a), the wireless telecommunications service provider shall, within forty-eight hours from the time the opt-out request is submitted to the wireless telecommunications service provider:  (1) Transfer the billing authority and all rights to the wireless telephone number or numbers of a shared wireless plan to the person who has been granted the release pursuant to subsection (a); or  (2) Remove or release the person, who has been granted the release pursuant to subsection (a), from a shared wireless plan and assign a substitute telephone number or numbers, without charge, penalty, or fee.  (c) A cause of action shall not lie against any wireless telecommunications service provider, its officers, employees, or agents for the actions taken that are related to the transfer of the billing authority and rights to the wireless telephone number or numbers in accordance with this section.  (d) For purposes of this section:  "Domestic abuse" shall have the same meaning as in section 586-1.  "Wireless telecommunications service" shall have the same meaning as "commercial mobile radio service" as defined in title 47 Code of Federal Regulations section 20.3.  "Wireless telecommunications service provider" means a provider of wireless telecommunications service. [L 2015, c 219, §2; am L 2016, c 9, §1] Cross References  Transfer or release of domestic abuse victims from shared wireless plans, see §586-5.8.
HI Rev Stat § 269-16.95 (2021)
2021 Hawaii Revised Statutes|Title 15. Transportation and Utilities|269. Public Utilities Commission|269-16.95 Emergency telephone service; capital costs; ratemaking.

 §269-16.95 Emergency telephone service; capital costs; ratemaking. (a) A public utility providing local exchange telecommunications services may recover the capital cost and associated operating expenses of providing a statewide enhanced 911 emergency telephone service in the public switched telephone network, through:  (1) A telephone line surcharge; or  (2) Its rate case.  (b) Notwithstanding the commission's rules on ratemaking, the commission shall expedite and give highest priority to any necessary ratemaking procedures related to providing a statewide enhanced 911 emergency telephone service; provided that the commission may set forth conditions and requirements as the commission determines are in the public interest.  (c) The commission shall require every public utility providing statewide enhanced 911 emergency telephone service to maintain a separate accounting of the costs of providing an enhanced 911 emergency service and the revenues received from related surcharges until the next general rate case. The commission shall further require that every public utility imposing a surcharge shall identify such as a separate line item on all customer billing statements.  (d) This section shall not preclude the commission from changing any rate, established pursuant to this section, either specifically or pursuant to any general restructuring of all telephone rates, charges, and classifications. [L 1993, c 223, §2; am L 1997, c 94, §1] Cross References  Enhanced 911 services for mobile phones, see chapter 138.