The District’s utility regulator has reaffirmed an unusually hefty fine against Washington Gas Light Co. for the company’s refusal to turn over documents sought as part of a rate hike case.
The $350,000 penalty was levied by the D.C. Public Service Commission after Washington Gas failed to submit unredacted copies of its 10-year, $350 million outsourcing contract with Accenture. The $5,000-per-day fine accumulated between July 21 and Sept. 28, when the utility turned over the 600-page document.
Washington Gas argued the Accenture deal, which resulted in the loss of more than 100 unionized customer-service jobs, was of no relevance to its request for a rate increase, and it claimed it acted in good faith by turning over parts of the deal for review. The documents were sought by the union and the Office of the People’s Counsel, which represents D.C. residents in rate cases.
Nearly two months after Washington Gas asked the commission to reconsider its fine, the regulator came back with an unqualified reaffirmation. No matter the utility’s strategy or legal opinion, the commission wrote in its Thursday order, “the Commission has an express and unqualified right under [D.C. law] to review all WGL contracts.”
“This right is not subject to bargainings, strategic resistance, dispute or delay by WGL, and WGL engages in such tactics at its peril,” the order stated. “When we assess the gravity of the violation, we find that WGL engaged in deliberate, unreasonable and prolonged resistance to this important principle.”
A Washington Gas spokesman declined comment. The company had not paid the fine as of Monday. The argument over the Accenture documents, meanwhile, has delayed the rate case by months.
