Colorado § 40-7-105 Violations - penalty - separate offenses - rules

Colorado Statutes

§ 40-7-105 — Violations - penalty - separate offenses - rules

Colorado·Title 40 Utilities·Art. Enforcement - Penalties

(1)Any public utility that violates or fails to comply with any provision of the state constitution or of articles 1 to 7 of this title 40 or that fails, omits, or neglects to obey, observe, or comply with any order, decision, decree, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission or any part or provision thereof, except an order for the payment of money, in a case in which a penalty has not been provided for the public utility, is subject to a penalty of not more than twenty thousand dollars per offense for each day that the offense continues. (1.5) (a) Any proposed penalty is subject to a finding by the commission of customer harm that is commensurate with the amount of the penalty levied. In determining the amount of a penalty or whether any penalty is levied, the

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(1) Any public
utility that violates or fails to comply with any provision of the state constitution or
of articles 1 to 7 of this title 40 or that fails, omits, or neglects to obey, observe, or
comply with any order, decision, decree, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of
the commission or any part or provision thereof, except an order for the payment of
money, in a case in which a penalty has not been provided for the public utility, is
subject to a penalty of not more than twenty thousand dollars per offense for each
day that the offense continues.

(1.5) (a) Any proposed penalty is subject to a finding by the commission of
customer harm that is commensurate with the amount of the penalty levied. In
determining the amount of a penalty or whether any penalty is levied, the
commission shall also consider factors including:

(I) The size of the utility;

(II) Factors influencing the violation;

(III) The utility's previous history of any similar violations;

(IV) Remedial measures; and

(V) Any other factors that may mitigate any harm to customers.

(b) The commission shall adopt rules to annually adjust the maximum per-day penalty amount set forth in subsection (1) of this section based on the annual
percentage change in the United States department of labor's bureau of labor
statistics consumer price index for the Denver-Aurora-Lakewood area for all items
paid by all urban consumers, or its successor index.

(2) Every violation of the provisions of articles 1 to 7 of this title or of any
order, decision, decree, rule, direction, demand, or requirement of the commission
or any part or portion thereof, except an order for the payment of money, by any
corporation or person is a separate and distinct offense, and, in case of a continuing
violation, each day's continuance thereof shall be deemed a separate and distinct
offense.

(3) In construing and enforcing the provisions of articles 1 to 7 of this title
relating to penalties, the act, omission, or failure of any officer, agent, or employee
of any public utility, acting within the scope of his official duties or employment, in
every case shall be deemed the act, omission, or failure of such public utility.

(4) Any penalty that the commission assesses against a utility under this
section is not recoverable as an expense payable by the utility's ratepayers.

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Legislative History

Source: L. 13: p. 505, � 61. C.L. � 2970. CSA: C. 137, � 61. CRS 53: � 115-7-5. C.R.S. 1963: � 115-7-5. L. 2023: (1) amended and (1.5) and (4) added, (SB 23-016), ch. 165, p. 747, � 20, effective August 7.