SB 685 - Under current law, communication with a member of the Public Service Commission about a substantive matter that is part of a case pending before the Commission is only allowable when such communication is made in certain public settings or, if made privately, when a record of the private communication is included in the official case file. The act makes such requirements applicable also to substantive matters that are likely to become the subject of a pending filing or case. The act modifies the option for private communication to take place by applying the case file documentation requirements that exist in current law to only private communication that occurs "unintentionally" outside of the allowable settings. Under the act, if private communication takes place intentionally outside the allowable settings, the Commission must take protective actions to prevent any party to the pending filing or case to gain an unfair advantage.
ERIKA JAQUES