Chapter 16. Gas Companies.

§ 34–1601. Inspector of Gas and Meters.

A suitable and impartial person, competent as a chemist, who is not a stockholder or employee in any gas works, shall be appointed by the Public Service Commission to be designated and known as Inspector of Gas and Meters, whose duties shall be to test and determine the illuminating power and purity of the gas furnished by any company, person, or persons in the District of Columbia; and to test, prove, and seal all meters that may be hereafter used by them. The Inspector shall give bond to the extent of double his annual salary, and shall take an oath or affirmation, before some officer legally qualified to administer the same, that he will faithfully, diligently, and impartially discharge the duties of his office.

§ 34–1602. Laboratory for testing gas of Washington Gas Light Company.

A laboratory shall be provided and fitted up by the Washington Gas Light Company, subject to the approval of the Public Service Commission, in the central part of the City of Washington, at a distance as near as may be, of 2,000 feet from any gasworks, and furnished with suitable apparatus for the transaction of the business of the Inspector and Assistant Inspectors of Gas and Meters, for which it is intended, and the laboratory shall be kept open on all business days between the hours of 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m.; provided, that the cost of fitting up said laboratory shall be paid for by each gas company in the District of Columbia in proportion to their sale of gas for the year 1873.

§ 34–1603. Additional laboratories for testing gas of Washington Gas Light and Georgetown Gas Light Companies.

Two additional laboratories shall be provided and fitted up by the Washington Gas Light Company, subject to the approval of the Mayor of the District of Columbia, and shall be furnished with suitable apparatus, to the satisfaction of the said Mayor, at a total cost not to exceed $1,000, for inspecting and testing the illuminating gas manufactured and distributed by the said Washington Gas Light Company and the gas meters used for measuring the gas supplied to consumers by the said Washington Gas Light Company. One of the said laboratories shall be located in the northwestern portion of the City of Washington and the other in the southeastern portion of said city, and the cost of providing and fitting up the said laboratories shall be paid for by the said Washington Gas Light Company. A laboratory shall be provided and fitted up by the Georgetown Gas Light Company, subject to the approval of the Mayor of the District of Columbia, and shall be furnished with suitable apparatus, to the satisfaction of the said Mayor at a total cost not to exceed $1,000, for inspecting and testing the illuminating gas manufactured and distributed by the said Washington Gas Light Company and the gas meters used for measuring the gas supplied to consumers by the said Georgetown Gas Light Company; provided, that the cost of providing and fitting up the said laboratory shall be paid by the said Georgetown Gas Light Company; provided further, that the Washington Gas Light Company and the Georgetown Gas Light Company shall, at the beginning of each fiscal year, in proportion to their respective receipts from sales of gas for the fiscal year immediately preceding, provide in advance, by depositing with the Collector of Taxes of the District of Columbia, a sum sufficient to pay the necessary expenses of maintaining the service of inspecting and testing illuminating gas and gas meters, herein provided for, as estimated by the Mayor of the District of Columbia, and not to exceed $500 per annum for each of the said additional laboratories.

(Mar. 3, 1893, 27 Stat. 543, ch. 199.)

Prior Codifications

1981 Ed., § 43-1102.

1973 Ed., § 43-1202.

Editor's Notes

Office of Collector of Taxes abolished: The Office of the Collector of Taxes was abolished and the functions thereof transferred to the Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia by Reorganization Plan No. 5 of 1952. All functions of the Office of the Collector of Taxes including the functions of all officers, employees and subordinate agencies were transferred to the Director, Department of General Administration by Reorganization Order No. 3, dated August 28, 1952. Reorganization Order No. 20, dated November 10, 1952, transferred the functions of the Collector of Taxes to the Finance Office. The same Order provided for the Office of the Collector of Taxes headed by a Collector in the Finance Office, and abolished the previously existing Office of the Collector of Taxes. Reorganization Order No. 20 was superseded and replaced by Organization Order No. 121, dated December 12, 1957, which provided that the Finance Office (consisting of the Office of the Finance Officer, Property Tax Division, Revenue Division, Treasury Division, Accounting Division, and Data Processing Division) would continue under the direction and control of the Director of General Administration, and that the Treasury Division would perform the function of collecting revenues of the District of Columbia and depositing the same with the Treasurer of the United States. Organization Order No. 121 was revoked by Organization Order No. 3, dated December 13, 1967, Part IVC of which prescribed the functions of the Finance Office within a newly established Department of General Administration. The executive functions of the Board of Commissioners were transferred to the Commissioner of the District of Columbia by § 401 of Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1967. Functions of the Finance Office as stated in Part IVC of Organization Order No. 3 were transferred to the Director of the Department of Finance and Revenue by Commissioner’s Order No. 69-96, dated March 7, 1969.

Change in Government

This section originated at a time when local government powers were delegated to a Board of Commissioners of the District of Columbia (see Acts Relating to the Establishment of the District of Columbia and its Various Forms of Governmental Organization in Volume 1). Section 401 of Reorganization Plan No. 3 of 1967 (see Reorganization Plans in Volume 1) transferred all of the functions of the Board of Commissioners under this section to a single Commissioner. The District of Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization Act, 87 Stat. 818, § 711 ( D.C. Code, § 1-207.11), abolished the District of Columbia Council and the Office of Commissioner of the District of Columbia. These branches of government were replaced by the Council of the District of Columbia and the Office of Mayor of the District of Columbia, respectively. Accordingly, and also pursuant to § 714(a) of such Act ( D.C. Code, § 1-207.14(a)), appropriate changes in terminology were made in this section.

§ 34–1604. Officer of company may be present at tests.

The company, person or persons furnishing the gas may, if they see fit, on each occasion of the testing of the gas by the Inspector, be represented by some officer, but such officer shall not interfere in the testing.

§ 34–1605. Daily inspections.

Daily inspections, Sundays excepted, shall be made at any time after 12:00 noon and before 12:00 midnight, in the discretion of the Inspector of Gas and Meters.

§ 34–1606. Removal of gas meters for neglect or refusal to pay amount due.

If any person or persons, supplied with gas, neglect or refuse to pay the amount due for the same, such company may stop the gas from entering the premises of such person or persons. In no case shall the officers, servants, or workmen of the company remove a meter from premises supplied by the company, unless by consent of the consumer, without first giving 48 hours notice in writing by leaving the same at the premises of the consumers; and said removal shall take place only between the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 2:00 p.m. It shall be lawful for Congress at any time hereafter to alter, amend, or repeal this section.

§ 34–1607. Annual reports to Congress.

Any association or corporation engaged in the manufacture and sale of gas for illuminating and fuel purposes in the District of Columbia, through its president or other duly authorized officer, shall make a sworn statement to Congress annually, on or before the 1st day of February in each year. Said report shall contain a detailed statement of the condition of the business of said association or corporation for the year ending December 31st next preceding, and such statement shall set forth the actual cost and also present value of the property of such association or corporation used in the conduct of its business, the amount of paid-up capital stock, the amount and character of the indebtedness of such association or corporation, the amount and cost of materials used in making gas, the amount of gas manufactured, the amount of gas sold, the average price per 1,000 cubic feet received for gas sold, the revenue from the sale of all by-products, the revenues from all other sources, the extensions and improvements made in the plant and works, the actual cost of the same, the amount expended for labor, the amount set aside for depreciation, the amount set apart for insurance and renewals, the amount paid out of earnings for betterments, the amount paid for betterments from other sources, the amount set aside and paid in interest and dividends, the surplus after paying the operating expenses and fixed charges, the statement of the operating expenses to be itemized and classified as is done by other public utility corporations, in the District of Columbia, the names of the stockholders and the amount of the stock held in such association or corporation by each of them on December 31st next preceding the date of such report.

§ 34–1608. Maximum rates for gas; additional charge for nonpayment of bills.

(a) No part of any money appropriated by any act shall be used for the payment to the Washington Gas Light Company or the Georgetown Gas Light Company for any gas furnished by said companies for use in any of the public buildings of the United States or the District of Columbia at a rate in excess of $.70 per 1,000 cubic feet.

(b) The Washington Gas Light Company shall not charge or collect for gas furnished a private consumer in any part of the District of Columbia a rate in excess of $.75 per 1,000 cubic feet of gas so furnished; provided, that if a consumer of gas other than the government or the District of Columbia shall not pay monthly any gas bill within 10 days after the same shall have been presented said gas company may charge and collect from any such consumer so failing to pay said gas bill as aforesaid $.10 additional for each 1,000 cubic feet of gas presented by said bill; and provided further, that nothing contained in this section shall be construed as limiting or taking away any of the powers vested by law in the Public Service Commission of the District of Columbia.

(c) The Georgetown Gas Light Company shall not be permitted to charge or collect more than $.85 per 1,000 cubic feet for gas for cooking, illuminating, or other purposes.