BEFORE THE PENNSYLVANIA PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION Leon R. Dongelewicz : C-00924012 : V. : : Oneida Water Company, Inc. : INTERIM ORDER On May 13, 1992, Leon R. Dongelewicz (hereinafter "Complainant") filed a formal complaint with the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission alleging that inadequate service is being provided by Oneida Water Comoany, Inc. (hereinafter "Respondent") in that the water pressure to his residence at Cheyney Drive, Lot D-70 in the Valley of Lakes/Eagle Rock Resort is low. Prior to the filing of the complaint, on April 7, 1992, Respondent filed a Chapter 11 Petition in Bankruptcy in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. On or about June 25, 1992, Respondent filed a "preliminary motion" asking that this Commission refrain from taking any further action upon this proceeding (hereinafter "preliminary motion") on the grounds that the Commission lacks jurisdiction during the pendency of the Bankruptcy proceeding. It also filed a "Memorandum of Law" in support of its said 1 preliminary motion. The Office of the Consumer Advocate filed its notice of intervention in this matter, and has filed its own memorandum of law and supplemental memorandum of law, urging denial of the preliminary motion. Various pre-hearing conferences were held concerning this matter, and various delays in disposing of the preliminary motion were agreed upon and ordered by the undersigned due to Respondent's continuing efforts to secure financing which would, with the Bankruptcy's Court's approval, enable it to remediate problems with its water facilities. Respondent's efforts in that regard have not been availing, however. This Order will dispose of the preliminary motion. Respondent's position is that under Section 362(a)(1) of the Bankruptcy Code (11 U.S.C. 362(a)(1), an automatic stay of all judicial proceedings against the bankruptcy petitioner is mandated, That sections states: "Except as provided in subsection (b) of this section, a petition filed under section 301 [voluntary petition]... of this title... operates as a stay, applicable to all entities, of - "(1) the commencement or continuation... of a judicial, administrative... proceeding against the debtor that was or could have been commenced before the commencement of the case under this title, or to recover a claim against the debtor that arose before the commencement of the case under this title;...." (emphasis added) 2 We find that because this instant matter concerns a complaint against a public utility for allegedly rendering less than adequate service after the filing by the said public utility of a petition of bankruptcy, that the "automatic stay of proceedings" set forth and quoted hereinabove does not apply. OCA, in its supplemental memorandum of law, has cited to us Matter of Hadden, 57 B.R. 187 (1986) where it was held that while a debtor is afforded a fresh start by the bankruptcy filing, it remains responsible for its post-bankruptcy actions. The court stated that to hold otherwise would allow the debtor to take post-bankruptcy petition actions with impunity. Therefore, the court held, the automatic stay does not afford protection from post-petition actions or proceedings which are commenced against a debtor, unless the claim could have been brought prior to the bankruptcy petition. Mr. Dongelewicz could not have brought his complaint of poor service rendered after the filing of the bankruptcy petition prior to its filing. The inadequate service about which Complainant makes reference in his complaint took place after the filing of the petition in bankruptcy. Therefore, we now enter the following ORDER: 1. That the "preliminary motion of Oneida Water Company" filed on June 25, 1992 be and is hereby DENIED. 3 2. That the matter of Leon R. Dongelewicz v. Oneida Water Company, at C-00924012 be promptly relisted for an evidentiary hearing, together with the case of Samuel Rizzo v. Oneida Water Company at C-00924186. Date /May 21, 1993/ /s/ RICHARD M. LOVENWIRTH Administrative Law Judge 4 Leon R. Dongelewicz V. Oneida Water Company C-00924012 Service of the foregoing document was made on May 21, 1993 via first-class mail upon the following parties: John J. Sellinger, Esq. Mattioni, Mattioni & Mattioni 399 Market Street, 2nd Floor Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19106 Susan Jin Davis, Esq. Christine Maloni Hoover, Esq. Office of Consumer Advocate 1425 Strawberry Square Harrisburg, Pennsylvania 17120 George Morris 626 Lake Valley Drive Valley of Lakes P. o. Box 242 Nuremberg, PA 18241 Leon R. Dongelewicz Cheyney Drive, Lot D70 P. o. Box 204 Nuremberg, PA 18241 Samuel Rizzo C-28 Lake View Drive Valley of Lakes Nuremberg, Pennsylvania 18241
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