SECTION 165:35-1-5. Sale or disposal of jurisdictional facilities by utility

(a)   Except upon order of the Commission made upon application, notice and hearing, no utility shall discontinue or abandon any segment of its jurisdictional distribution system or sell, transfer, or dispose to another any portion of its jurisdictional plant or property then constituting an integrated operating system, or major fractional part thereof, unless the following criteria are satisfied:

(1)   The Commission shall determine the functional division of utility property. If the function of the property intended to be sold by a utility will remain a utility function after the sale as determined by the Commission, the Commission retains jurisdiction;

(2)   Unless otherwise ordered by the Commission, after notice and hearing, no property shall be sold which may have a detrimental impact on rates or service levels of customers, shippers or producers;

(3)   This Section shall not apply to discontinuance of service pursuant to OAC 165:35-21, nor to routine retirement or replacement of plant or equipment; and

(4)   Any portion of a utility's plant or operating system which has previously been included in the rate base of such utility will remain as part of such utility's jurisdictional plant or operating system, unless otherwise ordered by the Commission

(b)   When filing an application for the sale or transfer of ownership of a portion of its jurisdictional plant or operating system, the seller/transferor shall provide to the buyer or transferee all documents, from the previous two (2) calendar years, required by the Commission to be maintained, and customer deposit records required to be maintained pursuant to OAC 165:35-19-1.

(c)   The buyer/transferee shall be required to maintain the records set forth in this Section for a period of two (2) years from the time of the date of the sale or transfer.

(d)   Prior to approval of the sale or transfer, the seller/transferor shall be required to have all annual reports, monthly fuel filings and monthly reports current.

(e)   The application for sale or transfer shall indicate whether the utility has any outstanding fines from the Commission, whether the utility has any outstanding Public Utility fee assessment, or whether the utility has any outstanding deficiencies which have been identified by PUD or CSD.

(f)   This Subchapter shall not prohibit sale or exchange of individual items of equipment not affecting the service or area of service.

[Source: Added at 16 Ok Reg 2237, eff 7-1-99; Amended at 21 Ok Reg 2091, eff 7-1-04; Amended at 36 Ok Reg 620, eff 7-25-19]