West Virginia American Water objects to PSC data request as 'unduly burdensome' - WCHS
West Virginia American Water objects to PSC data request as 'unduly burdensome' | WCHS
Kanawha County, W.Va. — Attorneys for West Virginia American Water Company said the Public Service Commission's request for information surrounding last month's gas outage is "unduly burdensome." The water company previously said it would fully cooperate with the state's investigation.
In a 26-page document, water company attorneys describe some of the PSC's data request has "...oppressive, overly broad, ambiguous, confusing, or vague."
WVAWC lists seven main reasons including requests with: "...terms that are not defined or terms that are defined in a vague, ambiguous, or unintelligible manner." they also said the term the "West side of Charleston is a large and ill-defined area."
The water company argues the PSC asked Mountaineer Gas Company for two items of data but requested 18 items of data from the water company.
Mountaineer Gas Company's senior V.P. Moses Skaff said the PSC was recently on Charleston's West Side in October and already has information from the company.
"It goes back inspection process of the mountaineer gas company's natural gas pipeline systems that is routinely done, performed and audited by the public service commission," Skaff said.
On December 6, the PSC notified American Water to send: "Customer service call logs, call center logs, complaint logs and recordings or other customer service calls documentation from Nov. 6 to Nov. 17. Both companies had until December 20 to object to any requests.
"They're being more than fair to all parties involved. They have a due process and mountaineer gas will continue to work with public service commission on any investigations or any requests," Skaff said.
A WV American Water spokesperson statement:
West Virginia American Water deserves the same treatment in the Public Service Commission’s General Investigation as is being afforded to Mountaineer Gas. While we are seeking this equal treatment from the Commission, our responses to staff discovery will be limited. West Virginia American Water remains committed to participating in a General Investigation that is thorough and seeks the truth, but in order to do so, the General Investigation must be a fair and equitable process for both utilities. West Virginia American Water and Mountaineer Gas customers deserve a fair process, and knowing all the facts is the best way to mitigate any future events for the benefit of all of our customers.
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