16 Usc 825

§ 824u

TITLE 16—CONSERVATION

(e) Penalties for violations occurring before notice
(1) Except as provided in paragraph (2), no person shall be subject to any civil penalty under
this section with respect to any violation occurring more than 3 years before the date on which
the person is provided notice of the proposed
penalty under section 825o–1 of this title.
(2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply in any case in
which the Commission finds that a seller that
has entered into a contract for the sale of electric energy at wholesale or transmission service
subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission
has engaged in fraudulent market manipulation
activities materially affecting the contract in
violation of section 824v of this title.
(f) ERCOT utilities
This section shall not apply to a transaction
for the purchase or sale of wholesale electric energy or transmission services within the area
described in section 824k(k)(2)(A) of this title.
(June 10, 1920, ch. 285, pt. II, § 220, as added Pub.
L. 109–58, title XII, § 1281, Aug. 8, 2005, 119 Stat.
978.)
REFERENCES IN TEXT
The Commodity Exchange Act, referred to in subsec.
(c)(2), is act Sept. 21, 1922, ch. 369, 42 Stat. 998, as
amended, which is classified generally to chapter 1 (§ 1
et seq.) of Title 7, Agriculture. For complete classification of this Act to the Code, see section 1 of Title 7 and
Tables.

§ 824u. Prohibition on filing false information
No entity (including an entity described in
section 824(f) of this title) shall willfully and
knowingly report any information relating to
the price of electricity sold at wholesale or the
availability of transmission capacity, which information the person or any other entity knew
to be false at the time of the reporting, to a Federal agency with intent to fraudulently affect
the data being compiled by the Federal agency.
(June 10, 1920, ch. 285, pt. II, § 221, as added Pub.
L. 109–58, title XII, § 1282, Aug. 8, 2005, 119 Stat.
979.)
§ 824v. Prohibition of energy market manipulation
(a) In general
It shall be unlawful for any entity (including
an entity described in section 824(f) of this title),
directly or indirectly, to use or employ, in connection with the purchase or sale of electric energy or the purchase or sale of transmission
services subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission, any manipulative or deceptive device
or contrivance (as those terms are used in section 78j(b) of title 15), in contravention of such
rules and regulations as the Commission may
prescribe as necessary or appropriate in the public interest or for the protection of electric ratepayers.
(b) No private right of action
Nothing in this section shall be construed to
create a private right of action.
(June 10, 1920, ch. 285, pt. II, § 222, as added Pub.
L. 109–58, title XII, § 1283, Aug. 8, 2005, 119 Stat.
979.)

Page 1306

§ 824w. Joint boards on economic dispatch
(a) In general
The Commission shall convene joint boards on
a regional basis pursuant to section 824h of this
title to study the issue of security constrained
economic dispatch for the various market regions. The Commission shall designate the appropriate regions to be covered by each such
joint board for purposes of this section.
(b) Membership
The Commission shall request each State to
nominate a representative for the appropriate
regional joint board, and shall designate a member of the Commission to chair and participate
as a member of each such board.
(c) Powers
The sole authority of each joint board convened under this section shall be to consider issues relevant to what constitutes ‘‘security constrained economic dispatch’’ and how such a
mode of operating an electric energy system affects or enhances the reliability and affordability of service to customers in the region concerned and to make recommendations to the
Commission regarding such issues.
(d) Report to the Congress
Within 1 year after August 8, 2005, the Commission shall issue a report and submit such report to the Congress regarding the recommendations of the joint boards under this section and
the Commission may consolidate the recommendations of more than one such regional joint
board, including any consensus recommendations for statutory or regulatory reform.
(June 10, 1920, ch. 285, pt. II, § 223, as added Pub.
L. 109–58, title XII, § 1298, Aug. 8, 2005, 119 Stat.
986.)
SUBCHAPTER III—LICENSEES AND PUBLIC
UTILITIES; PROCEDURAL AND ADMINISTRATIVE PROVISIONS
§ 825. Accounts and records
(a) Duty to keep
Every licensee and public utility shall make,
keep, and preserve for such periods, such accounts, records of cost-accounting procedures,
correspondence, memoranda, papers, books, and
other records as the Commission may by rules
and regulations prescribe as necessary or appropriate for purposes of the administration of this
chapter, including accounts, records, and memoranda of the generation, transmission, distribution, delivery, or sale of electric energy, the furnishing of services or facilities in connection
therewith, and receipts and expenditures with
respect to any of the foregoing: Provided, however, That nothing in this chapter shall relieve
any public utility from keeping any accounts,
memoranda, or records which such public utility
may be required to keep by or under authority
of the laws of any State. The Commission may
prescribe a system of accounts to be kept by licensees and public utilities and may classify
such licensees and public utilities and prescribe
a system of accounts for each class. The Commission, after notice and opportunity for hear-

Page 1307

TITLE 16—CONSERVATION

ing, may determine by order the accounts in
which particular outlays and receipts shall be
entered, charged, or credited. The burden of
proof to justify every accounting entry questioned by the Commission shall be on the person
making, authorizing, or requiring such entry,
and the Commission may suspend a charge or
credit pending submission of satisfactory proof
in support thereof.
(b) Access to and examination by the Commission
The Commission shall at all times have access
to and the right to inspect and examine all accounts, records, and memoranda of licensees and
public utilities, and it shall be the duty of such
licensees and public utilities to furnish to the
Commission, within such reasonable time as the
Commission may order, any information with
respect thereto which the Commission may by
order require, including copies of maps, contracts, reports of engineers, and other data,
records, and papers, and to grant to all agents of
the Commission free access to its property and
its accounts, records, and memoranda when requested so to do. No member, officer, or employee of the Commission shall divulge any fact
or information which may come to his knowledge during the course of examination of books
or other accounts, as hereinbefore provided, except insofar as he may be directed by the Commission or by a court.
(c) Controlling individual
The books, accounts, memoranda, and records
of any person who controls, directly or indirectly, a licensee or public utility subject to the
jurisdiction of the Commission, and of any other
company controlled by such person, insofar as
they relate to transactions with or the business
of such licensee or public utility, shall be subject to examination on the order of the Commission.
(June 10, 1920, ch. 285, pt. III, § 301, as added Aug.
26, 1935, ch. 687, title II, § 213, 49 Stat. 854.)
§ 825a. Rates of depreciation; notice to State authorities before fixing
(a) The Commission may, after hearing, require licensees and public utilities to carry a
proper and adequate depreciation account in accordance with such rules, regulations, and forms
of account as the Commission may prescribe.
The Commission may, from time to time, ascertain and determine, and by order fix, the proper
and adequate rates of depreciation of the several
classes of property of each licensee and public
utility. Each licensee and public utility shall
conform its depreciation accounts to the rates
so ascertained, determined, and fixed. The licensees and public utilities subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission shall not charge to
operating expenses any depreciation charges on
classes of property other than those prescribed
by the Commission, or charge with respect to
any class of property a percentage of depreciation other than that prescribed therefor by the
Commission. No such licensee or public utility
shall in any case include in any form under its
operating or other expenses any depreciation or
other charge or expenditure included elsewhere

§ 825c

as a depreciation charge or otherwise under its
operating or other expenses. Nothing in this section shall limit the power of a State commission
to determine in the exercise of its jurisdiction,
with respect to any public utility, the percentage rate of depreciation to be allowed, as to any
class of property of such public utility, or the
composite depreciation rate, for the purpose of
determining rates or charges.
(b) The Commission, before prescribing any
rules or requirements as to accounts, records, or
memoranda, or as to depreciation rates, shall
notify each State commission having jurisdiction with respect to any public utility involved,
and shall give reasonable opportunity to each
such commission to present its views, and shall
receive and consider such views and recommendations.
(June 10, 1920, ch. 285, pt. III, § 302, as added Aug.
26, 1935, ch. 687, title II, § 213, 49 Stat. 855.)
§ 825b. Requirements applicable to agencies of
United States
All agencies of the United States engaged in
the generation and sale of electric energy for ultimate distribution to the public shall be subject, as to all facilities used for such generation
and sale, and as to the electric energy sold by
such agency, to the provisions of sections 825
and 825a of this title, so far as may be practicable, and shall comply with the provisions of
such sections and with the rules and regulations
of the Commission thereunder to the same extent as may be required in the case of a public
utility.
(June 10, 1920, ch. 285, pt. III, § 303, as added Aug.
26, 1935, ch. 687, title II, § 213, 49 Stat. 855.)
§ 825c. Periodic and special reports; obstructing
filing reports or keeping accounts, etc.
(a) Every licensee and every public utility
shall file with the Commission such annual and
other periodic or special reports as the Commission may by rules and regulations or order prescribe as necessary or appropriate to assist the
Commission in the proper administration of this
chapter. The Commission may prescribe the
manner and form in which such reports shall be
made, and require from such persons specific answers to all questions upon which the Commission may need information. The Commission
may require that such reports shall include,
among other things, full information as to assets and liabilities, capitalization, net investment, and reduction thereof, gross receipts, interest due and paid, depreciation, and other reserves, cost of project and other facilities, cost
of maintenance and operation of the project and
other facilities, cost of renewals and replacement of the project works and other facilities,
depreciation, generation, transmission, distribution, delivery, use, and sale of electric energy.
The Commission may require any such person to
make adequate provision for currently determining such costs and other facts. Such reports
shall be made under oath unless the Commission
otherwise specifies.
(b) It shall be unlawful for any person willfully
to hinder, delay, or obstruct the making, filing,