This chapter includes rules that explain how to conduct business with the Washington utilities and transportation commission (commission). The commission interacts both informally and formally with the public and with the businesses it regulates.

Part I of this chapter includes basic information about the commission, such as the agency's office hours, its physical address and other contact information, and general requirements for communicating with the commission.

Part II includes provisions that relate specifically to rule-making proceedings, such as how a person may submit comments that will be taken into account when the commission considers making changes to its rules.

Part III concerns adjudicative proceedings including hearings on formal complaints, general rate proceedings, applications for authority, petitions for relief, and abbreviated proceedings that may be used in some circumstances.

Part IV concerns other types of commission proceedings, including regular and special open public meetings, interpretive and policy statements, declaratory orders, penalty assessments, and informal complaints.

These rules are authorized by and supplement the Administrative Procedure Act, chapter 34.05 RCW, and the statutes that define the commission's authority and responsibilities found principally in Titles 80 and 81 RCW. The commission's procedural rules should be interpreted in conjunction with these statutes.