(1) A utility may bring a civil action for damages against any person who commits, authorizes, solicits, aids, abets, or attempts to:

Terms Used In Washington Code 80.28.240

  • Commission: means the utilities and transportation commission. See Washington Code 80.04.010
  • Damages: Money paid by defendants to successful plaintiffs in civil cases to compensate the plaintiffs for their injuries.
  • Defendant: In a civil suit, the person complained against; in a criminal case, the person accused of the crime.
  • Gas company: includes every corporation, company, association, joint stock association, partnership and person, their lessees, trustees or receiver appointed by any court whatsoever, and every city or town, owning, controlling, operating or managing any gas plant within this state. See Washington Code 80.04.010
  • Partnership: A voluntary contract between two or more persons to pool some or all of their assets into a business, with the agreement that there will be a proportional sharing of profits and losses.
  • Person: includes an individual, a firm or partnership. See Washington Code 80.04.010
  • System of sewerage: means collection, treatment, and disposal facilities and services for sewerage, or storm or surface water runoff. See Washington Code 80.04.010
  • Wastewater company: means a corporation, company, association, joint stock association, partnership and person, their lessees, trustees, or receivers that owns or proposes to develop and own a system of sewerage that is designed for a peak flow of twenty-seven thousand to one hundred thousand gallons per day if treatment is by a large on-site sewerage system, or to serve one hundred or more customers. See Washington Code 80.04.010
  • Water company: includes every corporation, company, association, joint stock association, partnership and person, their lessees, trustees or receivers appointed by any court whatsoever, and every city or town owning, controlling, operating, or managing any water system for hire within this state. See Washington Code 80.04.010
  • Water system: includes all real estate, easements, fixtures, personal property, dams, dikes, head gates, weirs, canals, reservoirs, flumes or other structures or appliances operated, owned, used or to be used for or in connection with or to facilitate the supply, storage, distribution, sale, furnishing, diversion, carriage, apportionment or measurement of water for power, irrigation, reclamation, manufacturing, municipal, domestic or other beneficial uses for hire. See Washington Code 80.04.010
(a) Divert, or cause to be diverted, utility services by any means whatsoever;
(b) Make, or cause to be made, any connection or reconnection with property owned or used by the utility to provide utility service without the authorization or consent of the utility;
(c) Prevent any utility meter or other device used in determining the charge for utility services from accurately performing its measuring function by tampering or by any other means;
(d) Tamper with any property owned or used by the utility to provide utility services; or
(e) Use or receive the direct benefit of all or a portion of the utility service with knowledge of, or reason to believe that, the diversion, tampering, or unauthorized connection existed at the time of the use or that the use or receipt was without the authorization or consent of the utility.
(2) In any civil action brought under this section, the utility may recover from the defendant as damages three times the amount of actual damages, if any, plus the cost of the suit and reasonable attorney’s fees, plus the costs incurred on account of the bypassing, tampering, or unauthorized reconnection, including but not limited to costs and expenses for investigation, disconnection, reconnection, service calls, and expert witnesses.
(3) Any damages recovered under this section in excess of the actual damages sustained by the utility may be taken into account by the utilities and transportation commission or other applicable rate-making agency in establishing utility rates.
(4) As used in this section:
(a) “Customer” means the person in whose name a utility service is provided;
(b) “Divert” means to change the intended course or path of electricity, gas, or water without the authorization or consent of the utility;
(c) “Person” means any individual, partnership, firm, association, or corporation or government agency;
(d) “Reconnection” means the commencement of utility service to a customer or other person after service has been lawfully disconnected by the utility;
(e) “Tamper” means to rearrange, injure, alter, interfere with, or otherwise prevent from performing the normal or customary function;
(f) “Utility” means any electrical company, gas company, wastewater company, or water company as those terms are defined in RCW 80.04.010, and includes any electrical, gas, system of sewerage, or water system operated by any public agency; and
(g) “Utility service” means the provision of electricity, gas, water, wastewater company services, or any other service or commodity furnished by the utility for compensation.

NOTES:

Findings—Purpose—Limitation of chapter—Effective date—2011 c 214: See notes following RCW 80.04.010.
Severability—1989 c 11: See note following RCW 9A.56.220.
  Previous section
Next section  
 Chapter 80.28 Contents