CHARLESTON – All utilities and cable companies, except motor carriers, were directed Friday by the Public Service Commission of West Virginia to have text and email messaging in place to notify customers of planned and unplanned service outages.The Commission told the companies to request updated contact information from their customers.They were directed to notify customers of outages by both text and email.The Commission told all affected utilities to file a response to this order within 60 days.The directive is the result of an investigation the Commission began on April 8 to determine how utilities and cable TV firms notify customers of outages. The Commission directed a task force to be created on May 22 to look into the situation. The task force filed its final report on July 31.The task force investigation revealed that companies have a number of different ways of contacting their customers with information concerning outages.“The Commission expects all non-MC (non-motor carrier) utilities and cable TV service providers in West Virginia to provide outage notifications as soon as possible when there is a planned or unplanned service outage,” the order said.“The Commission believes that the non-MC utilities and cable TV service providers should be able to use text message and e-mail to send outage notifications to affected customers that have provided phone and email contact information.”More information on this case can be found at www.psc.state.wv.us. Click on “Case Information” and access GO 266.
