WEST VIRGINIA LEGISLATURE
2025 REGULAR SESSION
Introduced
House Bill 2848
By Delegates Young, Pushkin, and Lewis
[Introduced February 24, 2025; referred to the Committee on Energy and Public Works]
A BILL to amend the Code of West Virginia, 1931, as amended, by adding a new section, designated §24-2-17a, relating to requiring that utility providers instigate text communications concerning utility outages.
Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
## Article 2. powers and Duties of the Public Service commission.
(a) In addition to the expectations of §24-2-17, all public, private, and investor-owned utilities shall provide text notifications to customers when there is an outage either in progress or expected. This text shall contain the following information:
(1) That the service has been interrupted; and
(2) The estimated length of time, measured in 30-minute increments, that the service will be interrupted; and
(3) The areas affected by the outage using city, county, and state lines.
(b) This expectation shall become effective on July 1, 2025.
NOTE: The purpose of this bill is to require that utility providers instigate text communications concerning utility outages.
Strike-throughs indicate language that would be stricken from a heading or the present law and underscoring indicates new language that would be added.