1994 US Code
Title 15 - COMMERCE AND TRADE
CHAPTER 2C - PUBLIC UTILITY HOLDING COMPANIES
Sec. 79m - Service, sales, and construction contracts

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§79m. Service, sales, and construction contracts (a) Contracts by holding companies

After April 1, 1936, it shall be unlawful for any registered holding company, by use of the mails or any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce, or otherwise, to enter into or take any step in the performance of any service, sales, or construction contract by which such company undertakes to perform services or construction work for, or sell goods to, any associate company thereof which is a public-utility or mutual service company. This provision shall not apply to such transactions, involving special or unusual circumstances or not in the ordinary course of business, as the Commission by rules and regulations or order may conditionally or unconditionally exempt as being necessary or appropriate in the public interest or for the protection of investors or consumers.

(b) Contracts by subsidiary or mutual service companies

After April 1, 1936, it shall be unlawful for any subsidiary company of any registered holding company or for any mutual service company, by use of the mails or any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce, or otherwise, to enter into or take any step in the performance of any service, sales, or construction contract by which such company undertakes to perform services or construction work for, or sell goods to, any associate company thereof except in accordance with such terms and conditions and subject to such limitations and prohibitions as the Commission by rules and regulations or order shall prescribe as necessary or appropriate in the public interest or for the protection of investors or consumers and to insure that such contracts are performed economically and efficiently for the benefit of such associate companies at cost, fairly and equitably allocated among such companies. This provision shall not apply to such transactions as the Commission by rules and regulations or order may conditionally or unconditionally exempt as being necessary or appropriate in the public interest or for the protection of investors or consumers, if such transactions (1) are with any associate company which does not derive, directly or indirectly, any material part of its income from sources within the United States and which is not a public-utility company operating within the United States, or (2) involve special or unusual circumstances or are not in the ordinary course of business.

(c) Determination and allocation of costs; duration of contracts; regulation by rules of Commission

The rules and regulations and orders of the Commission under this section may prescribe, among other things, such terms and conditions regarding the determination of costs and the allocation thereof among specified classes of companies and for specified classes of service, sales, and construction contracts, the duration of such contracts, the making and keeping of accounts and cost-accounting procedures, the filing of annual and other periodic and special reports, the maintenance of competitive conditions, the disclosure of interests, and similar matters, as the Commission deems necessary or appropriate in the public interest or for the protection of investors or consumers.

(d) Application for approval as mutual service company and nature of business; regulation by rules of Commission

The rules and regulations and orders of the Commission under this section shall prescribe, among other things, such terms and conditions regarding the manner in which application may be made for approval as a mutual service company and the granting and continuance of such approval, the nature and enforcement of agreements for the sharing of expenses and distributing of revenues among member companies, and matters relating to such agreements, the nature and types of businesses and transactions in which mutual service companies may engage, and the manner of engaging therein, and the relations and transactions with member companies and affiliates, as the Commission deems necessary or appropriate in the public interest or for the protection of investors or consumers. The Commission shall not approve, or continue the approval of, any company as a mutual service company unless the Commission finds such company is so organized as to ownership, costs, revenues, and the sharing thereof as reasonably to insure the efficient and economical performance of service, sales, or construction contracts by such company for member companies, at cost fairly and equitably allocated among such member companies, at a reasonable saving to member companies over the cost to such companies of comparable contracts performed by independent persons. The Commission, upon its own motion or at the request of a member company or a State commission, may, after notice and opportunity for hearing, by order require a reallocation or reapportionment of costs among member companies of a mutual service company if it finds the existing allocation inequitable and may require the elimination of a service or services to a member company which does not bear its fair proportion of costs or which, by reason of its size or other circumstances, does not require such service or services. The Commission, after notice and opportunity for hearing, by order shall revoke, suspend, or modify the approval given any mutual service company if it finds that such company has persistently violated any provision of this section or any rule, regulation, or order thereunder.

(e) Contracts by affiliate in contravention of rules and regulations of Commission

It shall be unlawful for any affiliate of any public-utility company engaged in interstate commerce, or of any registered holding company or subsidiary company thereof, by use of the mails or any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce, or otherwise, to enter into or take any step in the performance of any service, sales, or construction contract, by which such affiliate undertakes to perform services or construction work for, or sell goods to, any such company of which it is an affiliate, in contravention of such rules and regulations or orders regarding reports, accounts, costs, maintenance of competitive conditions, disclosure of interest, duration of contracts, and similar matters, as the Commission deems necessary or appropriate to prevent the circumvention of the provisions of this chapter or the rules, regulations, or orders thereunder.

(f) Contracts by persons engaged in performance of service, sales and construction in contravention of rules of Commission

It shall be unlawful for any person whose principal business is the performance of service, sales, or construction contracts for public-utility or holding companies, by use of the mails or any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce, to enter into or take any step in the performance of any service, sales, or construction contract with any public-utility company, or for any such person, by use of the mails or any means or instrumentality of interstate commerce, or otherwise, to enter into or take any step in the performance of any service, sales, or construction contract with any public-utility company engaged in interstate commerce, or with any registered holding company or any subsidiary company of a registered holding company, in contravention of such rules and regulations or orders regarding reports, accounts, costs, maintenance of competitive conditions, disclosure of interest, duration of contracts, and similar matters as the Commission deems necessary or appropriate in the public interest or for the protection of investors or consumers or to prevent the circumvention of the provisions of this chapter or the rules, regulations, or orders thereunder.

(g) Investigations and recommendations by Commission

The Commission, in order to obtain information to serve as a basis for recommending further legislation, shall from time to time conduct investigations regarding the making, performance, and costs of service, sales, and construction contracts with holding companies and subsidiary companies thereof and with public-utility companies, the economies resulting therefrom, and the desirability thereof. The Commission shall report to Congress, from time to time, the results of such investigations, together with such recommendations for legislation as it deems advisable. On the basis of such investigations the Commission shall classify the different types of such contracts and the work done thereunder, and shall make recommendations from time to time regarding the standards and scope of such contracts in relation to public-utility companies of different kinds and sizes and the costs incurred thereunder and economies resulting therefrom. Such recommendations shall be made available to State commissions, public-utility companies, and to the public in such form and at such reasonable charge as the Commission may prescribe.

(Aug. 26, 1935, ch. 687, title I, §13, 49 Stat. 825.)

Transfer of Functions

For transfer of functions of Securities and Exchange Commission, with certain exceptions, to Chairman of such Commission, see Reorg. Plan No. 10 of 1950, §§1, 2, eff. May 24, 1950, 15 F.R. 3175, 64 Stat. 1265, set out under section 78d of this title.

Cross References

Mutual service company, definition of, see section 79b of this title.

Periodic and other reports, see section 79n of this title.

Section Referred to in Other Sections

This section is referred to in sections 79b, 79n of this title.