Section 37-2-205 - Certificate of convenience and necessity; hearings(a) Except as provided in this subsection, no public utility shall begin construction or complete the purchase of a line or plant, or of any extension of a line or material addition to a plant, without having first obtained from the commission a certificate that the present or future public convenience and necessity require or will require such construction or purchase. This act shall not be construed to require any public utility operating outside of a city or town to secure a certificate for an extension into an area within which it has lawfully commenced operation, or for an extension into territory contiguous to its line or plant for which no certificate is in force and is not served by a public utility of like character or for any extension within or to territory already served by it, necessary in the ordinary course of its business. If any public utility, in constructing or extending its line or plant interferes or is about to interfere with the operation of the line or plant of any other public utility already authorized or constructed, the commission on complaint of the public utility claiming to be injuriously affected, may after hearing make such order and prescribe the terms and conditions for the location of the lines or plants affected, as to it are just and reasonable. The power companies may, without the certificate, increase capacity of existing plants. For purposes of this subsection, "material addition" shall not include an addition to a plant that is necessary to serve load growth, provided that the capital investment in the addition shall not exceed one percent (1%) of the total capital investment in the plant on which return is earned, that is assigned or allocated to Wyoming customers, based on the public utility's most recent rate case determination.(b) No public utility shall henceforth exercise any right or privilege or obtain a franchise or permit to exercise such right or privilege from a municipality or county, without having first obtained from the commission a certificate that public convenience and necessity require the exercise of such right and privilege; provided, that when the commission shall find, after hearing, that a public utility has heretofore begun actual construction work and is prosecuting such work in good faith, uninterruptedly and with reasonable diligence in proportion to the magnitude of the undertaking, under any franchise or permit heretofore granted but not heretofore actually exercised, such public utility may proceed to the completion of such work, and may, after such completion exercise such right or privilege; and provided, further, that this section shall not be construed to validate any right or privilege now invalid or hereafter becoming invalid under any law of this state, nor impair any vested right in any franchise or permit heretofore granted.(c) Before any certificate may issue, under this section, a certified copy of its articles of incorporation or charter, if the applicant be a corporation, shall be filed in the office of the commission. The commission shall have power, after hearing involving the financial ability and good faith of the applicant and the necessity of additional service in the community, to issue said certificate, as prayed for, or to refuse to issue the same, or to issue to it for the construction of a portion only of the contemplated line, plant, or system, or of a portion only, of the contemplated line, plant, system or extension thereof, or for the partial exercise only of said right or privilege, and may attach to the exercise of the rights granted by said certificate such terms and conditions as in its judgment the public convenience and necessity may require.(d) Upon its own motion, or on complaint of any person the commission shall have power to investigate and determine whether the competitive rates, charges and service existing between any public utilities are fair, just and reasonable, after hearing thereon to determine, fix and order such rates, charges, regulations and remedies as will establish reasonable and just rates, between said competing public utilities, and between said public utilities and their customers and patrons.(e) Where a certificate for the construction and operation of a high voltage electric transmission line of 230 KV or greater is required, the public service commission shall publish notice of application in a newspaper of general circulation in each county where the line will be constructed. The public service commission shall give actual notice of hearing on the application by registered mail at the applicant's expense to each landowner who may be affected. The notice of hearing shall be given at least thirty (30) days before the hearing is held and shall contain a summary of the pertinent facts about the application.(f) In the case of a certificate for the construction of a high voltage electric transmission line of 230 KV or greater, the issuance of the certificate shall be conditioned so that no construction of the line is authorized until all right-of-way for the line has been acquired.(g) Any electric utility which provided service to any part of the annexed area prior to annexation and which does not receive a franchise from the annexing municipality to serve the annexed area shall receive just compensation from the public or private utility franchised to serve the annexed area. If the affected utilities cannot agree on just compensation within thirty (30) days after the franchise has been issued and become final after any challenge thereto, the affected utilities shall submit the matter to arbitration before the public service commission pursuant to W.S. 37-2-113. Upon conclusion of the arbitration proceedings and payment of the compensation determined to be just, ownership of the facilities shall be transferred to the acquiring utility.(h) Notwithstanding subsection (f) of this section, the commission may authorize the construction of segments of a transmission line before right-of-way is acquired for an entire transmission line provided that:(i) The public utility has satisfied all requirements for the issuance of a certificate except subsection (f) of this section;(ii) The public utility has obtained all required right-of-way within the authorized segment;(iii) Authorization to construct the transmission line within the authorized segment shall not exceed ten (10) miles from the advancing end of an authorized segment, provided that the commission may waive the ten (10) mile limitation if the transmission line segment is:(A) Located entirely between substations or switching stations;(B) Located between a substation or switching station and the state line; or(C) Located entirely within state or federal land.(iv) Notice has been provided to all private property owners along the entire length of the proposed transmission line;(v) The commission provides an opportunity for private property owners who are adversely affected by the location of the segment an opportunity to be heard before the authorization of a segment concerning the location of the segment or the impact of any future extension of the transmission line.(j) Unless otherwise determined by the commission, issuance of a certificate of convenience and necessity shall not confer the right to recover a specific amount of the costs of the construction or purchase in rates charged to Wyoming customers. Actual costs of the construction or purchase may be considered by the commission in a separate rate case determination.Amended by Laws 2019 , ch. 6, § 2, eff. 7/1/2019.