Tennessee § 65-1-101 - Creation — Commissioners — Qualifications — Appointments — Vacancies — Term of office.

§ 65-1-101. Creation — Commissioners — Qualifications — Appointments — Vacancies — Term of office.

There is created the Tennessee public utility commission consisting of five (5) part-time commissioners. The commissioners shall be appointed as follows: one (1) commissioner shall be appointed by the governor, one (1) commissioner shall be appointed by the speaker of the senate, one (1) commissioner shall be appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives, and two (2) commissioners shall be appointed by joint agreement among the governor, the speaker of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives. In making the appointments pursuant to this subsection (a), the governor, the speaker of the senate and the speaker of the house of representatives shall strive to ensure that the Tennessee public utility commission is composed of commissioners who are diverse in professional or educational background, ethnicity, geographic residency, perspective and experience. Each commissioner of the commission shall have at a minimum a bachelor's degree and at least three (3) years' experience in a regulated utility industry, in executive level management, or in one (1) or more of the following fields: Economics; Law; Finance; Accounting; or Engineering. The commissioners of the commission shall be state officers and, except for the staggered terms provided in subsection (h), shall serve six-year terms. The governor, the speaker of the senate, and the speaker of the house of representatives shall make appointments by April 1, prior to the expiration of the terms of office of the commissioners. The term of office of each commissioner shall commence on July 1, following such commissioner's appointment. All appointments of the commissioners shall be confirmed by joint resolution adopted by each house of the general assembly within thirty (30) days after the appointment. Any vacancy on the commission shall be filled by the original appointing authority for such position to serve the unexpired term and each appointment shall be confirmed in the same manner as the original appointment. If, however, the general assembly is not in session and a vacancy occurs, the appropriate appointing authority shall fill such vacancy by appointment and the appointee shall serve the unexpired term, unless the appointment is not confirmed within thirty (30) days after the general assembly convenes following the appointment to fill such vacancy. The terms of current commissioners appointed during 2008 and commissioners appointed during 2012 shall be staggered and shall expire as follows: The terms of the existing commissioners appointed by the speaker of the house of representatives and the speaker of the senate shall expire on June 30, 2014; The term of the existing commissioner appointed by the governor shall expire on June 30, 2017; The terms of the joint commissioners commencing on July 1, 2012, shall expire on June 30, 2018. A commissioner shall continue to serve until the commissioner's successor is appointed. Acts 1995, ch. 305, §§ 4, 5; 2002, ch. 826, § 3; T.C.A. § 65-1-201 ; Acts 2012, ch. 1070, § 1; 2017, ch. 94, §§ 45, 47. Compiler's Notes. The Tennessee Public Utility Commission, created by this section, terminates June 30, 2021. See §§ 4-29-112 , 4-29-242 . Former chapter, §§ 65-1-101 — 65-1-117 (Acts 1897, ch. 10, §§ 1-7, 27, 31; 1907, ch. 390, § 1; 1913, ch. 10, § 1; Shan. §§ 3059a5-3059a11, 3059a13-3059a21, 3059a62, 3059a68; Acts 1919, ch. 3, § 19; 1919, ch. 49, §§ 1, 3; mod. Code 1932, §§ 5380-5386, 5388-5393, 5395, 5396, 5438, 5444; impl. am. Acts 1937, ch. 33, §§ 24, 29; Acts 1947, ch. 39, § 1; impl. am. Acts 1949, ch. 38, § 1; Acts 1949, ch. 196, § 1; C. Supp. 1950, § 5383; Acts 1953, ch. 183, § 1; impl. am. Acts 1955, ch. 69, § 1; 1955, ch. 105, § 1; impl. am. Acts 1955, ch. 193, § 1; impl. am. Acts 1959, ch. 9, § 3; impl. am. Acts 1961, ch. 97, § 3; Acts 1965, ch. 308, § 2; 1976, ch. 806, § 1 (124); 1979, ch. 230, § 1; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), §§ 65-101 — 65-104, 65-106 — 65-116, 65-118, 65-119, 65-121; Acts 1982, ch. 871, § 1; 1992, ch. 871, § 1; 1993, ch. 382, § 1; 1994, ch. 913, § 1) concerning the public service commission, was repealed by Acts 1995, ch. 305, § 5, effective July 1, 1996. Former § 65-1-114 (Acts 1897, ch. 10, § 6; Shan., § 3059a19; Code 1932, § 5394; Acts 1979, ch. 230, § 1; T.C.A. (orig. ed.), § 65-117), concerning certified copies as evidence, was previously repealed by Acts 1991, ch. 273, § 35. Acts 1995, ch. 305, § 4 provided that it is the intention of the general assembly that the evaluation committee reviewing the Tennessee regulatory authority pursuant to the Tennessee governmental entity review law consider the method of selection of the directors of such authority and report its recommendations on such selection process to the general assembly with its recommendations to continue, restructure or reestablish the Tennessee regulatory authority as a part of its normal review of the entity pursuant to § 4-29-223 . Acts 1995, ch. 305, § 6 provided that any duty or responsibility assigned to the public service commission pursuant to the provisions of this title, or any other provision of law which has not been transferred to an executive branch agency by the provisions of Acts 1995, ch. 305 is transferred to the Tennessee regulatory authority. Acts 1995, ch. 305, § 7 provided that all rules of the public service commission in effect on May 26, 1995, shall remain in full force and effect as rules of the Tennessee regulatory authority and as rules of the appropriate departments until modified or repealed by the authority or appropriate department. Acts 1995, ch. 305, § 11 provided: “In order to carry out its functions, duties and responsibilities maintained under the provisions of this act, the public service commission shall retain and have the authority to exercise any and all of its powers and duties existing under Title 65 prior to enactment of this act, including, but not limited to, the power to subpoena, the power to take evidence, and the power to examine. Upon the termination of the public service commission, the Tennessee regulatory authority is expressly granted the same powers and duties as set forth above for the public service commission in order to carry out its responsibilities established by the provisions of this act.” Acts 1995, ch. 305, § 45 provided: “(a) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary, upon the effective date of this section [July 1, 1996], all remaining employees of the public service commission not transferred by Sections 44, 46, and 47 of this act charged with the responsibility of regulating and enforcing the provisions of Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 65, and any other employees of the public service commission necessary to assist in such regulating and enforcing, shall be transferred to the Tennessee regulatory authority created by this act. (b) All reports, documents, surveys, books, records, papers or other writings in the possession of the public service commission with respect to administering the provisions of Title 65, assigned to the Tennessee regulatory authority by this act, shall be transferred to and remain in the custody of the Tennessee regulatory authority. (c) All leases, contracts and all contract rights, and responsibilities in existence with the public service commission with respect to the duties transferred by this section shall be preserved and transferred to the Tennessee regulatory authority. (d) All assets, liabilities and obligations of the public service commission with respect to the duties transferred by this section shall become the assets, liabilities and obligations of the Tennessee regulatory authority. (e) Any revenues from rates, fares, charges, fines, and other moneys received pursuant to Tennessee Code Annotated, Title 65, an assigned to the Tennessee regulatory authority by this act as approved by the transition team pursuant to Section 48, shall be allocated to the Tennessee regulatory authority to implement the provisions of this act. (f) The authority shall promulgate rules and regulations pursuant to Title 4, Chapter 5, to effectuate the purposes of this act.” Acts 1995, ch. 305, § 54 provided that as sections, parts, titles, chapters and volumes of Tennessee Code Annotated are amended, repealed, revised and replaced, the Tennessee code commission is directed to change references to the public service commission to references to the Tennessee regulatory authority and/or to appropriate departments to which duties and responsibilities of the public service commission have been transferred by the provisions of Acts 1995, ch. 305. After the effective date of Acts 1995, ch. 305 (see individual sections), any reference to the public service commission shall be deemed to be a reference to the Tennessee regulatory authority or appropriate department as provided by the provisions of Acts 1995, ch. 305. Acts 1995, ch. 305, § 136 provided that for the purposes of transition, references to the public service commission may be deemed to be references to the Tennessee regulatory authority, the department of transportation, the department of safety, and the comptroller of the treasury, and references to the Tennessee regulatory authority may be deemed to be references to the public service commission, to accommodate the transition plans developed pursuant to § 65-1-301 (now § 65-1-201 ). Acts 2002, ch. 826, § 7 provided that confirmations of appointments made or begun prior to July 1, 2002, remain in full force and effect and appointments made pursuant to such confirmations shall remain valid appointments. Section 65-1-305 was transferred to § 65-1-114 in 2004. Former § 65-1-306 (Acts 1996, ch. 931, § 1), concerning waiver of competitive process for former public service commission employees, was repealed by Acts 1996, ch. 931, § 3, effective December 31, 1996. Amendments. The 2017 amendment substituted “Tennessee public utility commission” for “Tennessee regulatory authority” in the first sentence of (a); substituted “commission for “authority” and “commissioner” and “commissioners” for “director” and “directors” throughout the section. Effective Dates. Acts 2017, ch. 94, § 83. April 4, 2017. Cross-References. Assessment of railroads and utilities for tax purposes, title 67, ch. 5, part 13. Grand divisions, title 4, ch. 1, part 2. Salaries of commissioners, § 8-23-101 . Textbooks. Tennessee Jurisprudence, 5 Tenn. Juris., Carriers, §§ 49, 58; 13 Tenn. Juris., Gas Companies, § 2; 21 Tenn. Juris., Public Service Commissions, § 3. Law Reviews. Electricity — Original Jurisdiction of the Public Utility Commission, 14 Tenn. L. Rev. 639 (1937). Attorney General Opinions. Transfer of functions of commission, OAG 95-043, 1995 Tenn. AG LEXIS 42 (4/24/95). If the Tennessee regulatory authority's current directors are not reappointed, and if there are no new appointments to the director positions, the current directors will continue to hold their offices and to exercise their powers and perform their duties until their successors are duly appointed and confirmed by the general assembly; if one of the current directors refuses to continue in office, thereby creating a vacancy, the appointing authority may fill the vacancy by appointment; if the general assembly is in session when the vacancy occurs, the new appointment must be confirmed in the same manner as the original appointment; and if the general assembly is not in session when the vacancy occurs, the appointee may serve until the general assembly reconvenes and votes on confirmation of the appointment, OAG 02-060, 2002 Tenn. AG LEXIS 65 (5/7/02). Amendments by Acts 2012, ch. 1070. OAG 12-71, 2012 Tenn. AG LEXIS 71 (7/13/12).