(1)(a) Complaint may be
made by the commission on its own motion or by any corporation, person, chamber
of commerce, or board of trade, or by any civic, commercial, mercantile, traffic,
agricultural, or manufacturing association or organization, or by any body politic or
municipal corporation by petition or complaint in writing, setting forth any act or
thing done or omitted to be done by any public utility, including any rule, regulation,
or charge heretofore established or fixed by or for any public utility, in violation, or
claimed to be in violation, of any provision of law or of any order or rule of the
commission.
(b)No complaint shall be entertained by the commission, except upon its
own motion, as to the reasonableness of any rates or charges of any gas, electric,
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(1) (a) Complaint may be
made by the commission on its own motion or by any corporation, person, chamber
of commerce, or board of trade, or by any civic, commercial, mercantile, traffic,
agricultural, or manufacturing association or organization, or by any body politic or
municipal corporation by petition or complaint in writing, setting forth any act or
thing done or omitted to be done by any public utility, including any rule, regulation,
or charge heretofore established or fixed by or for any public utility, in violation, or
claimed to be in violation, of any provision of law or of any order or rule of the
commission.
(b) No complaint shall be entertained by the commission, except upon its
own motion, as to the reasonableness of any rates or charges of any gas, electric,
water, or telephone public utility, unless the same is signed by the mayor or the
president or chairman of the board of trustees or a majority of the council,
commission, or other legislative body of the county, city and county, city, or town, if
any, within which the alleged violation occurred, or not less than twenty-five
customers or prospective customers of such public utility.
(c) All matters upon which complaint may be founded may be joined in one
hearing, and no motion shall be entertained against a complaint for misjoinder of
causes of action or grievances or misjoinder or nonjoinder of parties. In any review
by the courts of orders or decisions of the commission, the same rule shall apply
with regard to the joinder of causes and parties.
(d) The commission is not required to dismiss any complaint because of the
absence of direct damage to the complainant.
(e) Upon the filing of any complaint, the commission shall cause a copy
thereof to be served upon the person complained of, together with an order
requiring such defendant to satisfy or answer said complaint within a time to be
fixed by the commission.
(2) (a) Notice of all applications, petitions, and orders instituting
investigations or inquiries shall be given to all persons, firms, or corporations who,
in the opinion of the commission, are interested in, or who would be affected by, the
granting or denial of any such application, petition, or other proceeding. Except for
good cause shown, any person desiring to file an objection or intervene in or
participate as a party in any such proceeding shall file his or her objection or
petition for leave to intervene or, under such rules as the commission may
prescribe, file other appropriate pleadings to become a party, within thirty days
after the date of the notice, or such lesser time as the commission may prescribe.
No final action shall be taken by the commission in any proceeding during the time
any such filing is permitted.
(b) Any public utility giving notice of a proposed gas or electric tariff shall
serve such notice upon the Colorado energy office or its successor agency. The
office shall be granted leave to intervene as a matter of right, upon a timely filing of
a petition or other pleading in accordance with this section, in adjudicatory matters
affecting gas or electric utilities; except that the office shall not be a party to any
individual complaint between a utility and an individual.
(3) Service in all applications, petitions, complaints, hearings, investigations,
and other proceedings pending before the commission may be made upon any
person upon whom a summons may be served in accordance with the provisions of
the Colorado rules of civil procedure, or may be made personally or by first-class
mail. In all cases wherein service is obtained by mail by the commission, the
certificate of the director of the commission of such mailing shall be prima facie
evidence that service has been obtained, and the time fixed in any order or notice
shall commence to run from the date of mailing as shown in such certificate. The
mailing of any notice or other paper by any other party to a proceeding shall be
evidenced by the certificate of the person mailing such notice or other paper, and
the time fixed in any such notice or other paper shall commence to run from the
date of mailing as shown in such certificate.
(4) The commission shall fix the time when and place where any hearing
required by this title or by article 4 of title 24, C.R.S., will be had upon any
application, complaint, petition, investigation, or other proceeding, and shall serve
notice thereof to the parties not less than ten days before the time set for such
hearing, unless the commission finds that public interest or necessity requires that
any such hearing be held at an earlier date. The commission shall hold a hearing
and issue a final order in complaint cases within two hundred ten days after the
filing of testimony and exhibits by the complainant. In extraordinary circumstances,
the commission may extend the time an additional ninety days following a hearing
in which such extraordinary circumstances are established. The complainant may
waive the time limits established in this section, in which case the time limits are
not binding on the commission.