Section 46-4-28. Suspension, revocation, alteration, or amendment of certificates by commission

   (a) At any time after notice and opportunity to be heard, and for reasonable cause, the commission may suspend, revoke, alter, or amend any certificate issued under this article if it appears that the holder of the certificate has willfully violated or refused to observe any of the lawful and reasonable orders, rules, or regulations prescribed by the commission or any other law of this state regulating these pipeline or distribution systems, or if in the opinion of the commission the holder of the certificate is not furnishing adequate service, or if the continuance of the certificate in its original form is incompatible with the public interest.

(a.1) Any certificate issued under this article shall be revoked or amended by the commission upon application to the commission by a person to provide natural gas service to a specified end-use customer, property owner, or developer who has requested natural gas service if the holder of the certificate has failed to begin construction or operation of any pipeline, or distribution system, or any extension thereof, in substantially all of the territory covered by such certificate. Once a person has filed such an application, the portion of the certificate of the territory for which the applicant is seeking to provide natural gas service to a specified end-use customer, property owner, or developer shall be deemed revoked or amended. The commission shall determine whether the applicant shall be entitled to a certificate for the territory that has been excluded from the certificate by revocation or amendment, whether such territory should be re-issued to the person who held the certificate at the time of the application, or whether such territory shall be deemed uncertificated. The commission shall make such determination within 90 days of the application and shall consider, in addition to the factors set forth in subsection (a) of Code Section 46-4-25, whether the applicant can offer service in a timely manner, and such other factors the commission deems in the public interest. The commission in determining whether to reissue a certificate to the person who held the certificate at the time of the application shall consider the length of time the certificate was held without service being provided. The newly certificated area shall be designed by the commission to serve the customers, property owners, or developers in question while ensuring a boundary with safety and public welfare as the focus.

(b) If and when the commission undertakes to revoke or modify any certificate on the ground that conditions are such as not to justify the number of certificates which have been granted within the territory involved, preference shall be given to certificates in order of the time of their issuance, so that those which have been issued later in time shall, other things being equal, be canceled rather than those issued earlier in time.

Ga. L. 1956, p. 104, § 9; Ga. L. 2007, p. 676, § 1/HB 587.