§ 203 - Jurisdiction of certain public utilities - Vermont Statutes

§ 203. Jurisdiction of certain public utilities

The public service board and the department of public service shall have jurisdiction over the following described companies within the state, their directors, receivers, trustees, lessees or other persons or companies owning or operating such companies and of all plants, lines, exchanges and equipment of such companies used in or about the business carried on by them in this state as covered and included herein. Such jurisdiction shall be exercised by the board and the department so far as may be necessary to enable them to perform the duties and exercise the powers conferred upon them by law. The board and the department may, when they deem the public good requires, examine the plants, equipment, lines, exchanges, stations and property of the companies subject to their jurisdiction under this chapter.

(1) A company engaged in the manufacture, transmission, distribution or sale of gas or electricity directly to the public or to be used ultimately by the public for lighting, heating or power and so far as relates to their use or occupancy of the public highways;

(2) That part of the business of a company which consists of the manufacture, transmission, distribution or sale of gas, or electricity directly to the public or to be used ultimately by the public for lighting, heating or power and so far as relates to their use or occupancy of the public highways;

(3) A company other than a municipality or a water system exempted under the provisions of section 1675a of Title 10 engaged in the collecting, sale and distribution of water for domestic, industrial, business, or fire protection purposes;

(4) A company engaged in the construction and maintenance of dams and storage reservoirs whether for the purpose of prevention of damage by flood, or for the purpose of power to be developed, or for the benefit of waterpower, developed or undeveloped, so situated as to be affected by such reservoirs and dams;

(5) A person or company offering telecommunications service to the public on a common carrier basis. "Telecommunications service" means the transmission of any interactive two-way electromagnetic communications, including voice, image, data and information. Transmission of electromagnetic communications includes the use of any media such as wires, cables, television cables, microwaves, radio waves, light waves or any combination of those or similar media. Telecommunications service does not include value added nonvoice services in which computer processing applications are used to act on the form, content, code and protocol of the information to be transmitted unless those services are provided under tariff approved by the public service board;

(6) A company or that part of a company, other than a municipality, which has obtained a direct or indirect discharge permit issued by the agency of natural resources and is engaged in the collection or disposal of wastewater or domestic sewage or any combination of these activities, except companies solely involved in the hauling of septage or sludge. This subdivision shall only apply to companies which, together with any affiliates, service 750 or more household or dwelling units. (Amended 1959, No. 329 (Adj. Sess.), § 39(b), eff. March 1, 1961; 1961, No. 267, § 1, eff. Aug. 1, 1961; 1979, No. 204 (Adj. Sess.), § 22, eff. Feb. 1, 1981; 1985, No. 224 (Adj. Sess.), § 8; 1987, No. 87, § 5; 1993, No. 21, § 19, eff. May 12, 1993; 1993, No. 120 (Adj. Sess.), § 1; 2007, No. 156 (Adj. Sess.), § 2.)