(1) Every public service company shall annually furnish to the commission a report in such form as the commission may require, and shall specifically answer all questions posed to it by the commission. The commission may prescribe a uniform system of accounts, and the manner in which the accounts must be kept. The detailed report must contain all the required statistics for the period of twelve months ending on the last day of any particular month prescribed by the commission for any public service company. The reports must be made out under oath and filed with the commission at its office in Olympia on a date the commission specifies by rule, unless additional time is granted by the commission.
(2) Any public service company that fails to file an annual report in the form and within the time required by the commission, including payment of any regulatory fee due, is subject to the following:
(a) Monetary penalties of:
(i) Two hundred fifty dollars for reports filed one to thirty days past the due date;
(ii) Five hundred dollars for reports filed thirty-one to sixty days past the due date;
(iii) One thousand dollars for reports filed sixty-one to ninety days past the due date; or
(b) Upon notice by the commission, cancellation or revocation of its operating authority and additional penalties pursuant to RCW 81.04.380 and 81.04.405.
(3) The commission may waive penalties when a public service company is able to sufficiently demonstrate that its failure to file an annual report in the form and within the time required was due to circumstances beyond its control. Requests for any such waiver must be received within fifteen days of the date a penalty is assessed.
(4) The commission may require any public service company to file monthly reports of earnings and expenses, and to file periodical or special reports, or both, concerning any matter the commission is authorized or required, by this or any other law, to inquire into or keep itself informed about, or which it is required to enforce, the periodical or special reports to be under oath whenever the commission so requires.
[ 2018 c 104 § 2; 2007 c 234 § 5; 1989 c 107 § 2; 1961 c 14 § 81.04.080. Prior: 1911 c 117 § 78, part; RRS § 10416, part.]