Sec. 16-8. Examination of witnesses and documents. Hearing examiners.
Management audits. (a) The Department of Public Utility Control may, in its discretion,
delegate its powers, in specific cases, to one or more of its commissioners or to a hearing
examiner to ascertain the facts and report thereon to the department. The department,
or any commissioner thereof, in the performance of its duties or in connection with
any hearing, or at the request of any person, corporation, company, town, borough or
association, may summon and examine, under oath, such witnesses, and may direct the
production of, and examine or cause to be produced and examined, such books, records,
vouchers, memoranda, documents, letters, contracts or other papers in relation to the
affairs of any public service company as it may find advisable, and shall have the same
powers in reference thereto as are vested in magistrates taking depositions. If any witness
objects to testifying or to producing any book or paper on the ground that such testimony,
book or paper may tend to incriminate him, and the department directs such witness to
testify or to produce such book or paper, and he complies, or if he is compelled so to
do by order of court, he shall not be prosecuted for any matter concerning which he has
so testified. The fees of witnesses summoned by the department to appear before it under
the provisions of this section, and the fees for summoning witnesses shall be the same
as in the Superior Court. All such fees, together with any other expenses authorized by
statute, the method of payment of which is not otherwise provided, shall, when taxed
by the department, be paid by the state, through the business office of the department,
in the same manner as court expenses. The department may designate in specific cases
a hearing examiner who may be a member of its technical staff or a member of the
Connecticut Bar engaged for that purpose under a contract approved by the Secretary
of the Office of Policy and Management to hold a hearing and make report thereon to
the department. A hearing examiner so designated shall have the same powers as the
department, or any commissioner thereof, to conduct a hearing, except that only a commissioner of the department shall have the power to grant immunity from prosecution
to any witness who objects to testifying or to producing any book or paper on the ground
that such testimony, book or paper may tend to incriminate him.
(b) (1) In the performance of its duties the Department of Public Utility Control
may establish management audit teams as a regular and continuing component of its
staff. The management audit teams shall be composed of personnel with a professional
background in accounting, engineering or any other training as the department may
deem necessary to assure a competent and thorough review and audit. The department
shall promptly establish such procedures as it deems necessary or desirable to provide
for management audits to be performed on a regular or irregular schedule on all or any
portion of the operating procedures and any other internal workings of any public service
company, including the relationship between any public service company and a related
holding company or subsidiary, consistent with the provisions of section 16-8c, provided
no such audit shall be performed on a community antenna television company, except
with regard to any noncable communications services which the company may provide,
or when (A) such an audit is necessary for the department to perform its regulatory
functions under the Communications Act of 1934, 47 USC 151, et seq., as amended
from time to time, other federal law or state law, (B) the cost of such an audit is warranted
by a reasonably foreseeable financial, safety or service benefit to subscribers of the
company which is the subject of such an audit, and (C) such an audit is restricted to
examination of the operating procedures that affect operations within the state.
(2) In any case where the department determines that an audit is necessary or desirable, it may (A) order the audit to be performed by one of its management audit teams,
(B) require the affected company to perform the audit utilizing the company's own
internal management audit staff as supervised by designated members of the department's staff or (C) require that the audit be performed under the supervision of designated
members of the department's staff by an independent management consulting firm selected by the department, in consultation with the affected company. If the affected
company has more than seventy-five thousand customers, such independent management consulting firm shall be of nationally-recognized stature. All reasonable and proper
expenses of the audits, including, but not limited to, the costs associated with the audit
firm's testimony at a public hearing or other proceeding, shall be borne by the affected
companies and shall be paid by such companies at such times and in such manner as
the department directs.
(3) For purposes of this section, a complete audit shall consist of (A) a diagnostic
review of all functions of the audited company, which shall include, but not be limited to,
documentation of the operations of the company, assessment of the company's system of
internal controls, and identification of any areas of the company which may require
subsequent audits, and (B) the performance of subsequent focused audits identified in
the diagnostic review and determined necessary by the department. All audits performed
pursuant to this section shall be performed in accordance with generally accepted management audit standards. The department shall adopt regulations in accordance with
the provisions of chapter 54 setting forth such generally accepted management audit
standards. Each audit of a community antenna television company shall be consistent
with the provisions of the Communications Act of 1934, 47 USC 151, et seq., as amended
from time to time, and of any other applicable federal law. The department shall certify
whether a portion of an audit conforms to the provisions of this section and constitutes
a portion of a complete audit.
(4) A complete audit of each portion of each gas, electric or electric distribution
company having more than seventy-five thousand customers shall begin no less frequently than every six years, so that a complete audit of such a company's operations
shall be performed every six years. Such an audit of each such company having more
than seventy-five thousand customers shall be updated as required by the department.
(5) The results of an audit performed pursuant to this section shall be filed with the
department and shall be open to public inspection. Upon completion and review of the
audit, if the person or firm performing or supervising the audit determines that any of
the operating procedures or any other internal workings of the affected public service
company are inefficient, improvident, unreasonable, negligent or in abuse of discretion,
the department may, after notice and opportunity for a hearing, order the affected public
service company to adopt such new or altered practices and procedures as the department
shall find necessary to promote efficient and adequate service to meet the public convenience and necessity. The department shall annually submit a report of audits performed
pursuant to this section to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly having
cognizance of matters relating to public utilities which report shall include the status of
audits begun but not yet completed and a summary of the results of audits completed.
(6) All reasonable and proper costs and expenses, as determined by the department,
of complying with any order of the department pursuant to this subsection shall be
recognized by the department for all purposes as proper business expenses of the affected
company.
(7) After notice and hearing, the department may modify the scope and schedule
of a management audit of a telephone company which is subject to an alternative form
of regulation so that such audit is consistent with that alternative form of regulation.
(c) Nothing in this section shall be deemed to interfere or conflict with any powers
of the department or its staff provided elsewhere in the general statutes, including, but
not limited to, the provisions of this section and sections 16-7, 16-28 and 16-32, to
conduct an audit, investigation or review of the books, records, plant and equipment of
any regulated public service company.
(1949 Rev., S. 5398; P.A. 73-355, S. 2; P.A. 75-486, S. 6, 69; P.A. 77-614, S. 19, 162, 587, 610; P.A. 78-303, S. 85,
136; P.A. 80-168; 80-482, S. 4, 40, 45, 345, 348; P.A. 81-348, S. 1; P.A. 82-472, S. 50, 183; P.A. 85-509, S. 2, 11; 85-552, S. 4, 8; P.A. 90-221, S. 2, 15; P.A. 94-229, S. 1; P.A. 97-23; P.A. 98-28, S. 83, 117; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 98-1, S. 5, 121.)
History: P.A. 73-355 specified that hearing examiners may be staff member or member of Connecticut bar; P.A. 75-486 replaced public utilities commission with public utilities control authority, allowed authority to act at request of person,
corporation, company, town, borough or association and added Subsec. (b) re audits; P.A. 77-614 and P.A. 78-303 replaced
commissioner of finance and control with secretary of the office of policy and management and, effective January 1, 1979,
replaced public utilities control authority with division of public utility control within the department of business regulation;
P.A. 80-168 replaced "member(s)" with "commissioner(s)", and "secretary" with "business office", allowed delegation
of powers to hearing examiners and replaced provision whereby hearing examiner had power only to administer oaths
with provision granting examiners same powers as division except power to grant immunity from prosecution; P.A. 80-482 made division an independent department with public utilities control authority as its head; P.A. 81-348 reduced
number of consulting firms required to be included in list provided to company by department in Subsec. (b), from five
to three; P.A. 82-472 made technical corrections; P.A. 85-509 divided Subsec. (b) into Subsecs. (b) and (c) and, in Subsec.
(b), prohibited management audits of community antenna television companies except with regard to noncable communications services; P.A. 85-552 amended Subsec. (b) to require department, instead of affected company, to select consulting
firm for management audit, to require consulting firm to be of nationally-recognized stature if affected company has more
than seventy-five thousand customers and to require periodic audits only of gas, electric and telephone companies having
more than seventy-five thousand customers; P.A. 90-221 in Subsec. (b) added provision that the affected companies shall
pay all reasonable and proper costs of an audit, including the costs of the audit firm's testimony at a public hearing and a
provision that such costs shall be paid as directed by the department; P.A. 94-229 amended Subsec. (b) by adding Subdiv.
designations, adding provision re relationship between public service company and related holding company or subsidiary
in Subdiv. (1), adding Subparas. (A) to (C) re audits of community antenna television companies in Subdiv. (1), changing
subdivision designations to subparagraph designations in Subdiv. (2), deleting provision re audits of gas, electric or telephone companies having more than seventy-five thousand customers from Subdiv. (2), adding Subdiv. (3) re complete
audits, adding Subdiv. (4) re audits of gas, electric and telephone companies having more than seventy-five thousand
customers, changing "any such audits" to "an audit performed pursuant to this section" in Subdiv. (5), adding provision
re report of audits in Subdiv. (5), and adding Subdiv. (7) re audits of telephone companies subject to an alternative form
of regulation; P.A. 97-23 amended Subdiv. (4) of Subsec. (b) to delete references to telephone companies and delete
provision requiring department to schedule complete audits; P.A. 98-28 amended Subsec. (b) by adding electric distribution
companies in Subdiv. (4), effective July 1, 1998; June Sp. Sess. P.A. 98-1 made a technical change to Subdiv. (5) of Subsec.
(b), effective June 24, 1998.
See Sec. 52-260 re witness fees.
Cited. 148 C. 692. (Diss. op.) Cited. 162 C. 51.
Cited. 44 CS 21, 23.
Subsec. (a):
Cited. 210 C. 349, 352.
Sec. 16-8a. Protection of employee of public service company, contractor or
Nuclear Regulatory Commission from retaliation. Procedures. Regulations. (a) No
public service company, as defined in section 16-1, holding company, as defined in
section 16-47, or Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensee operating a nuclear power
generating facility in this state, or person, firm, corporation, contractor or subcontractor
directly or indirectly providing goods or services to such public service company, holding company or licensee, may take or threaten to take any retaliatory action against
an employee for the employee's disclosure of (1) any matter involving the substantial
misfeasance, malfeasance or nonfeasance in the management of such public service
company, holding company or licensee, or (2) information pursuant to section 31-51m.
Any employee found to have knowingly made a false disclosure shall be subject to
disciplinary action by the employee's employer, up to and including dismissal.
(b) Any employee of such a public service company, holding company or licensee,
or of any person, firm, corporation, contractor or subcontractor directly or indirectly
providing goods or services to such a public service company, holding company or
licensee, having knowledge of any of the following may transmit all facts and information in the employee's possession to the Department of Public Utility Control: (1) Any
matter involving substantial misfeasance, malfeasance or nonfeasance in the management of such public service company, holding company or licensee; or (2) any matter
involving retaliatory action or the threat of retaliatory action taken against an employee
who has reported the misfeasance, malfeasance or nonfeasance, in the management of
such public service company, holding company or licensee. With regard to any matter
described in subdivision (1) of this subsection, the department shall investigate such
matter in accordance with the provisions of section 16-8 and shall not disclose the identity of such employee without the employee's consent unless it determines that such
disclosure is unavoidable during the course of the investigation. With regard to any
matter described in subdivision (2) of this subsection, the matter shall be handled in
accordance with the procedures set forth in subsections (c) and (d) of this section.
(c) (1) Not more than thirty business days after receipt of a written complaint, in
a form prescribed by the department, by an employee alleging the employee's employer
has retaliated against an employee in violation of subsection (a) of this section, the
department shall make a preliminary finding in accordance with this subsection.
(2) Not more than five business days after receiving a written complaint, in a form
prescribed by the department, the department shall notify the employer by certified mail.
Such notification shall include a description of the nature of the charges and the substance
of any relevant supporting evidence. The employer may submit a written response and
both the employer and the employee may present rebuttal statements in the form of
affidavits from witnesses and supporting documents and may meet with the department
informally to respond verbally about the nature of the employee's charges. The department shall consider in making its preliminary finding as provided in subdivision (3) of
this subsection any such written and verbal responses, including affidavits and supporting documents, received by the department not more than twenty business days after
the employer receives such notice. Any such response received after twenty business
days shall be considered by the department only upon a showing of good cause and at
the discretion of the department. The department shall make its preliminary finding as
provided in subdivision (3) of this subsection based on information described in this
subdivision, without a public hearing.
(3) Unless the department finds by clear and convincing evidence that the adverse
employment action was taken for a reason unconnected with the employee's report of
substantial misfeasance, malfeasance or nonfeasance, there shall be a rebuttable presumption that an employee was retaliated against in violation of subsection (a) of this
section if the department finds that: (A) The employee had reported substantial misfeasance, malfeasance or nonfeasance in the management of the public service company,
holding company or licensee; (B) the employee was subsequently discharged, suspended, demoted or otherwise penalized by having the employee's status of employment
changed by the employee's employer; and (C) the subsequent discharge, suspension,
demotion or other penalty followed the employee's report closely in time.
(4) If such findings are made, the department shall issue an order requiring the
employer to immediately return the employee to the employee's previous position of
employment or an equivalent position pending the completion of the department's full
investigatory proceeding pursuant to subsection (d) of this section.
(d) Not later than thirty days after making a preliminary finding in accordance with
the provisions of subsection (c) of this section, the department shall initiate a full investigatory proceeding in accordance with the provisions of section 16-8, at which time the
employer shall have the opportunity to rebut the presumption. The department may issue
orders or impose civil penalties in a manner that conforms with the notice and hearing
provisions in section 16-41 against a public service company, holding company or licensee or a person, firm, corporation, contractor or subcontractor directly or indirectly
providing goods or services to such public service company, holding company or licensee, in order to enforce the provisions of this section.
(e) If an employee or former employee of such a public service company, holding
company or licensee, or of a person, firm, corporation, contractor or subcontractor directly or indirectly providing goods or services to such a public service company, holding
company or licensee, having knowledge of any matter involving the substantial misfeasance, malfeasance or nonfeasance in the management of such public service company,
holding company or licensee, enters into an agreement with the employee's employer
that contains a provision directly or indirectly discouraging the employee from presenting a written complaint or testimony concerning such misfeasance, malfeasance or
nonfeasance in any legislative, administrative or judicial proceeding, such provision
shall be void as against public policy.
(f) The Department of Public Utility Control shall adopt regulations, in accordance
with chapter 54, to carry out the provisions of this section. Such regulations shall include
the following: (1) The procedures by which a complaint may be brought pursuant to
subsection (a) of this section; (2) the time period in which such a complaint may be
brought; (3) the time period by which the department shall render a decision pursuant
to subsection (d) of this section; (4) the form on which written complaints shall be
submitted to the department by an employee pursuant to subsection (c) of this section;
and (5) the requirement that a notice be posted in the workplace informing all employees
of any public service company, holding company and licensee and of any person, firm,
corporation, contractor or subcontractor directly or indirectly providing goods or services to a company or licensee, as defined in subsection (b) of this section, of their rights
under this section, including the right to be reinstated in accordance with subsection (c)
of this section.
(P.A. 85-245, S. 1; P.A. 89-88; P.A. 91-247, S. 1; P.A. 96-22, S. 1, 2; P.A. 97-60, S. 1, 2; P.A. 99-46, S. 1, 2.)
History: P.A. 89-88 included provisions re employees of a holding company, a Nuclear Regulatory Commission licensee, a contractor or a subcontractor and added new Subsec. (c) re department orders to enforce provisions of section;
P.A. 91-247 added provision in Subsec. (a) authorizing persons having knowledge of "the discharge, discipline or penalizing
of a person reporting the misfeasance, or nonfeasance of the company" to report the same to the department, in Subsec.
(c) authorized the department to issue cease and desist orders and added a new Subsec. (d) requiring the department to
adopt regulations to provide employees with information re rights relating to complaints against a company; P.A. 96-22
imposed January 1, 1997, deadline for the department to adopt regulations as provided for in Subsec. (d), effective April
29, 1996; P.A. 97-60 inserted new Subsec. (a) prohibiting retaliation against employees, relettered former Subsec. (a) as
Subsec. (b) and restructured the language, deleted former Subsecs. (b) and (c), inserted new Subsec. (c) creating procedures
for preliminary findings of retaliation and establishing presumptions, inserted new Subsec. (d) describing procedures for
full investigatory proceedings, inserted new Subsec. (e) rendering certain agreements as void, and relettered former Subsec.
(d) as Subsec. (f) and restructured language, effective May 27, 1997; P.A. 99-46 amended Subsec. (c) by deleting provisions
re complaints pending on May 27, 1997, and requiring department to make finding based on sworn affidavits and verified
documents without a public hearing in Subdiv. (1), by rewording language re notice to employer and preliminary findings
in Subdiv. (2), authorizing employee to present rebuttal statements and respond verbally and changing to twenty the number
of days a party can respond to department, by adding provision re adverse employment action taken for reason unconnected
to misfeasance and changing Subpara. (c) criteria in Subdiv. (3), and by adding provision re pending completion of department's full investigatory proceeding in Subdiv. (4), amended Subsec. (d) by adding "Not later than thirty days", and making
technical changes, effective May 27, 1999.
See Sec. 16-8d re recovery of costs or expenses associated with any action brought under section 16-8a.
To the extent that section creates some right of action by a whistleblower, it is a right against a power company and
not against Department of Public Utility Control or the state; section does not require a hearing when department investigates
an employee's whistleblower complaint against a nuclear power company and finds no merit to the complaint. 48 CS 188.