16 U.S.C. § 825 : US Code - Section 825: Accounts and records

Search 16 U.S.C. § 825 : US Code - Section 825: Accounts and records

(a) Duty to keep
Every licensee and public utility shall make, keep, and preserve
for such periods, such accounts, records of cost-accounting
procedures, correspondence, memoranda, papers, books, and other
records as the Commission may by rules and regulations prescribe as
necessary or appropriate for purposes of the administration of this
chapter, including accounts, records, and memoranda of the
generation, transmission, distribution, delivery, or sale of
electric energy, the furnishing of services or facilities in
connection therewith, and receipts and expenditures with respect to
any of the foregoing: Provided, however, That nothing in this
chapter shall relieve any public utility from keeping any accounts,
memoranda, or records which such public utility may be required to
keep by or under authority of the laws of any State. The Commission
may prescribe a system of accounts to be kept by licensees and
public utilities and may classify such licensees and public
utilities and prescribe a system of accounts for each class. The
Commission, after notice and opportunity for hearing, may determine
by order the accounts in which particular outlays and receipts
shall be entered, charged, or credited. The burden of proof to
justify every accounting entry questioned by the Commission shall
be on the person making, authorizing, or requiring such entry, and
the Commission may suspend a charge or credit pending submission of
satisfactory proof in support thereof.
(b) Access to and examination by the Commission
The Commission shall at all times have access to and the right to
inspect and examine all accounts, records, and memoranda of
licensees and public utilities, and it shall be the duty of such
licensees and public utilities to furnish to the Commission, within
such reasonable time as the Commission may order, any information
with respect thereto which the Commission may by order require,
including copies of maps, contracts, reports of engineers, and
other data, records, and papers, and to grant to all agents of the
Commission free access to its property and its accounts, records,
and memoranda when requested so to do. No member, officer, or
employee of the Commission shall divulge any fact or information
which may come to his knowledge during the course of examination of
books or other accounts, as hereinbefore provided, except insofar
as he may be directed by the Commission or by a court.
(c) Controlling individual
The books, accounts, memoranda, and records of any person who
controls, directly or indirectly, a licensee or public utility
subject to the jurisdiction of the Commission, and of any other
company controlled by such person, insofar as they relate to
transactions with or the business of such licensee or public
utility, shall be subject to examination on the order of the
Commission.