Should Utilities Compensate Customers for Service Interruptions?

Three basic questions relating to compensation for outages are: Should the utility compensate customers for outages? If so, under what conditions should it pay? How much? Utility accountability means that when a utility performs poorly it should pay a price. The price could be a fine or other financial penalty or compensation to its customers. The vast majority of state commissions do not require compensation, while several hold utilities accountable in other ways.