General Provisions

Wyo. Stat. Ann. tit. 37, ch. 1
in effect

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 37-1-101 Definitions.

(a) As used in chapters 1, 2, 3, 12, 17 and 18 of this title: (i) "Commission" means public service commission of Wyoming, which is created and established by this chapter; (ii) "Commissioner" means any one of the members of the Wyoming public service commission; (iii) "Municipality" when used in this chapter shall mean and include any town, village, city, county or other political subdivision of this state; (iv) "Municipal council" means and includes the city council, common council, board of aldermen, the board of selectmen, the board of trustees, the city commission or any other governing body of any political subdivision of the state; (v) "Person" means and includes individuals, associations of individuals, firms, partnerships, companies, corporations, their lessees, trustees, or receivers, appointed by any court whatsoever in the singular number, as well as the plural; (vi) "Public utility" means and includes every person that owns, operates, leases, controls or has power to operate, lease or control: (A) Repealed By Laws 2012, Ch. 84, § 104. (B) Repealed by Laws 1995, ch. 181, § 3. (C) Any plant, property or facility for the generation, transmission, distribution, sale or furnishing to or for the public of electricity for light, heat or power, including any conduits, ducts or other devices, materials, apparatus or property for containing, holding or carrying conductors used or to be used for the transmission of electricity for light, heat or power; (D) Any plant, property or facility for the manufacture, distribution, sale or furnishing to or for the public of natural or manufactured gas for lights, heat or power; (E) Any plant, property or facility for the supply, storage, distribution or furnishing to or for the public of water for manufacturing, municipal, agriculture or domestic uses, except and excluding any such plant, property or facility owned by a municipality; (F) Repealed By Laws 2012, Ch. 84, § 104. (G) Any plant, property or equipment for the transportation or conveyance to or for the public of oil or gas by pipeline, or any plant, property, or equipment, used for the purpose of transporting, selling or furnishing natural gas to any consumer or consumers within the state of Wyoming for industrial, commercial or residential use, except any such plant, property or equipment used for any of the following purposes is exempted from this and all other provisions of this chapter to the extent of such use: (I) For the transportation or sale of natural gas within or between oil and gas fields or potential oil and gas fields for residential, commercial, industrial or other use reasonably necessary in the exploration, development or operation of the field; (II) For drilling, producing, repressuring, or other oil or gas field operations; (III) For operation of natural gas processing plants; (IV) For the sale of natural gas by the producer to a consumer for use in industrial or commercial plants or establishments of any kind or nature. (H) None of the provisions of this chapter shall apply to: (I) Interstate commerce except when a regulatory field has not been preempted by the United States government; (II) To public utilities owned and operated by a municipality of the state of Wyoming or owned and operated by a joint powers entity formed pursuant to the Wyoming Joint Powers Act, W.S. 16-1-102 through 16-1-110, and comprised of two (2) or more municipalities, except as to that portion of a municipality owned and operated public utility or joint powers entity owned and operated public utility, if any, as may extend services outside the corporate limits of a municipality and except that if any municipal or joint powers utility owns an undivided interest in a facility for the production of electricity which is also partly owned by an agency subject to the jurisdiction of the public service commission, the sale of electricity in excess of the participating municipalities' or joint powers entities' need is subject to this act; (III) To farmers' mutual telephone associations having no capital stock and furnishing service to members of associations only and without tolls, except as provided in W.S. 37-2-205; (IV) To mutual water companies or associations having no capital stock and furnishing water service to members of companies or associations only, and without charges other than assessments of members to reimburse companies or associations for expenses incurred in their establishment or operation; (V) To any person who is not otherwise affiliated with a utility, that owns, leases, controls or has power to lease or control any plant, property or facility which, in a transaction approved or authorized by the commission, is leased to one (1) or more public utilities, and is to be operated by the lessee or lessees for the generation, transmission, distribution, sale or furnishing to or for the public of electricity for light, heat, power or other utility purposes; (VI) To the generation, transmission or distribution of electricity, or to the manufacture or distribution of gas, or to the furnishing or distribution of water, nor to the production, delivery or furnishing of steam or any other substance, by a producer or other person, for the sole use of a producer or other person, or for the use of tenants of a producer or other person and not for sale to others. Such exemptions shall not apply to metered or other direct sales of a utility commodity by a producer or other person to his tenants; (VII) The retail sale of compressed natural gas for use as motor vehicle fuel by a person that is not otherwise regulated under this title; (VIII) Metered and other direct sales of water by a person to his tenants when the metered or other direct sales are solely for purposes of allocating usage among tenants and includes no additional fees or charges; (IX) Metered and other direct sales of water by a person operating a water system that: (1) Has less than fifteen (15) potential service connections; (2) Is not owned, controlled or otherwise affiliated with a water utility or any other utility that provides water service; (3) Is not a centralized water supply system associated with a subdivision; and (4) Is not located within the established service territory of a water utility or the corporate limits of a municipality. (X) The retail sale of electricity for charging electric vehicles by a person that is not otherwise regulated under this title. (J) The term "public utility" shall mean and include two (2) or more public utilities rendering joint service; (K) Any person furnishing coal, water or other raw materials to an electric power company shall not by this fact alone be designated as a public utility; (M) The provisions of W.S. 37-6-101 through 37-6-106, relating to the issuance and sale of securities shall not apply to: (I) Any gas pipeline corporation making direct sales to Wyoming consumers in interstate commerce and not for resale; (II) Any cooperative electrical generation and transmission association operating in interstate commerce whose rates are not regulated by the Wyoming public service commission. (N) The provisions of W.S. 37-18-101 and 37-18-102 shall not apply to any public utility owned or operated by a municipality or any cooperative electrical generation and transmission association operating in interstate commerce whose rates are not regulated by the Wyoming public service commission.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 37-1-102 "Rate" and "service regulation" defined.

(a) The term "rate", when used in this act, shall mean and include, in the plural number, as well as in the singular, every individual or joint rate, classification, fare, toll, charge or other compensation for service rendered or to be rendered by any public utility, and every rule, regulation, practice, act, requirement or privilege in any way relating to such rate, fare, toll, charge or other compensation, and any schedule or tariff or part of a schedule or tariff thereof. (b) The term "service regulation" shall mean and include every rule, regulation, practice, act or requirement in any way relating to the service or facilities of a public utility.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 37-1-103 Assessment of interstate public utilities generally.

(a) The public service commission of Wyoming is hereby authorized and empowered to collect for the actual costs incurred by the commission for necessary and reasonable services, investigations and other actions concerning the construction, operation, maintenance, safety and environment of interstate utilities and their facilities within Wyoming. This act [section] shall not apply to motor carriers or any services, investigations or other actions authorized by the statutes for intrastate utilities. (b) The billing by the commission shall be directed to the involved interstate utility or utilities at intervals of no less than thirty (30) days as determined by the commission and shall detail and show the basis for the charges and all direct and allocated charges. Payment shall be made by the interstate public utility no later than thirty (30) days after receipt of the billing. Only those charges which are necessary and reasonable need be paid and if charges not necessary and reasonable are paid under protest, they may be recovered in a court of competent jurisdiction in any action commenced against the public service commission of Wyoming within thirty (30) days after payment under protest and any amount recovered shall be paid out of the public service commission account. (c) The funds collected shall be immediately remitted to the state treasurer for deposit in the public service commission account. The commission may immediately upon deposit expend such monies for payment of its costs incurred concerning interstate utilities, subject to the warrant of the state auditor, upon submission of properly executed vouchers authorized by the commission in the same manner as other funds are disbursed subject to other provisions of law. (d) Any interstate utility which violates or fails to comply with any provision of this act shall be subject to a penalty of not more than five thousand dollars ($5,000.00) for each and every offense.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 37-1-104 Reorganization of public utility; definition; approval.

(a) No reorganization of a public utility shall take place without prior approval by the public service commission. The commission shall not approve any proposed reorganization if the commission finds, after public notice and opportunity for public hearing, that the reorganization will adversely affect the utility's ability to serve the public. (b) For purposes of this section, "reorganization" means any transaction which, regardless of the means by which it is accomplished, results in a change in the majority ownership interest or control of a public utility, or the majority ownership interest or control of any entity which owns a majority interest in or controls a public utility. "Reorganization" as used in this section shall not include a mortgage or pledge transaction entered into to secure a bona fide borrowing by the party granting the mortgage or making the pledge.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 37-1-105 Application for reorganization; fees; reimbursement of costs and expenses to state; expenses not to be included in rates.

(a) Every applicant for approval of a reorganization by the public service commission under this act shall pay a filing fee of one hundred dollars ($100.00) for each application and ten dollars ($10.00) plus ten cents ($.10) per page for every amendment to any application. These fees shall be deposited in the general fund. In addition the applicant shall reimburse the state for the expenses of the state in reviewing and acting upon each application and defending any public service commission decision in case of legal appeal. The expenses of the state shall not be deemed to include the normal salary and benefits of the public service commissioners but shall include substantially all other actual expenses of the state in connection with the application. The public service commission may require the applicant to post a bond or make a prepayment to assure the required reimbursement. No charge for expenses in connection with any application under this act may be included in the rates charged to Wyoming customers. The reimbursements collected pursuant to this section shall be deposited in a separate account and may be expended by the public service commission following appropriations by the legislature. (b) No charge for any expenses of any reorganization shall be included in the rate base of any Wyoming public utility.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 37-1-106 Rulemaking authority.

The public service commission shall adopt rules and regulations to implement the provisions of W.S. 37-1-104 and 37-1-105.

Wyo. Stat. Ann. § 37-1-107 Department of transportation; appeals.

Any party in interest or any person or party authorized under chapters 9 through 11 of title 37 to file for an original hearing before the department of transportation may appeal to a hearing panel appointed by the transportation commission in the same manner, and to the same extent, as provided in the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act.
Source: Public.Resource.Org WY StatutesURL: https://unicourt.github.io/cic-code-wy/transforms/wy/ocwy/r78/gov.wy.code.title.37.htmlFetched: 6/28/2026