§ 79 — Adequate service; just and reasonable charges; unjust discrimination and unreasonable preference

§ 79. Adequate service; just and reasonable charges; unjust\ndiscrimination and unreasonable preference. 1. Every steam corporation\nshall furnish and provide such service, instrumentalities and facilities\nas shall be safe and adequate and in all respects just and reasonable.\nAll charges made or demanded by any such corporation for such service\nrendered or to be rendered shall be just and reasonable and not more\nthan allowed by order of the commission. Every unjust or unreasonable\ncharge made or demanded for such service, or in connection therewith or\nin excess of that allowed by law or by the commission is prohibited.\n 2. No such corporation shall directly or indirectly by any special\nrate, rebate, drawback or other device or method, charge, demand,\ncollect or receive from any person or corporation a greater or less\ncompensation for such service rendered or to be rendered or in\nconnection therewith, except as authorized in this chapter, than it\ncharges, demands, collects or receives from any other person or\ncorporation for doing a like and contemporaneous service with respect\nthereto under the same or substantially similar circumstances or\nconditions.\n 3. No such corporation shall make or grant any undue or unreasonable\npreference or advantage to any person, corporation or locality, or to\nany particular description of service in any respect whatsoever, or\nsubject any particular person, corporation or locality or any particular\ndescription of service to any undue or unreasonable prejudice or\ndisadvantage in any respect whatsoever.\n 4. Nothing in this chapter shall be taken to prohibit any such\ncorporation from establishing a sliding scale for a fixed period for the\nautomatic adjustment of charges for such service or any service rendered\nor to be rendered and the dividends to be paid to stockholders of such\ncorporation, provided that the sliding scale shall first have been filed\nwith and approved by the commission; but nothing in this subdivision\nshall operate to prevent the commission after the expiration of such\nfixed period from fixing proper, just and reasonable rates and charges\nto be made for services as authorized in this article.\n 5. (a) Every steam corporation furnishing service may initiate a civil\naction to collect a civil penalty against a user of non-residential\nservice in accordance with this subdivision. Upon a showing in such\naction that a user of non-residential service has knowingly accepted or\nreceived the use and benefit of such service which has been prevented\nfrom being properly registered by a meter provided therefor, the\ncorporation may be granted a civil penalty, in addition to the value of\nthe unpaid service, in an amount which the court in its discretion shall\ndeem to be just and reasonable, which in no event shall be more than\nthree times the retail value of the steam service accepted or received.\nIn any action under this subdivision, proof that a meter has been\nintentionally prevented from properly registering steam service shall be\nprima facie proof that the user of non-residential service who accepts\nor receives the use and benefit of such service has done so with\nknowledge of the condition so existing, if the steam corporation shall\nfirst present evidence that such person took possession of the\nbenefitted premises and used the service prior to the creation of the\ncondition.\n (b) For the purposes of this subdivision, a user of non-residential\nservice shall be a person benefitting from such service who is in\npossession of the premises to which the service is delivered.\n (c) Any civil penalty recovered pursuant to this section in excess of\nthe actual damages sustained by the corporation shall be taken into\naccount by the public service commission in establishing future steam\nrates.\n