(a) The commission may appoint a temporary operator of a gas corporation with twenty thousand or fewer customers or water-works corporation with one thousand or fewer customers if the commission, after notice and an opportunity to be heard, makes a determination that such gas corporation or water-works corporation exhibits one or more of the following criteria:

1. (i) a failure to provide safe, adequate, or reliable service;
2. (ii) a lack of technical, financial, or managerial capacity or ability to provide the service; or
3. (iii) actual or effective abandonment of any service or portion thereof.

(b) In making a determination under this section, the commission may take into consideration:

1. (i) the financial, managerial, and technical ability of the gas corporation or water-works corporation;
2. (ii) the financial, managerial, and technical ability of persons or entities providing the same type of service;
3. (iii) expenditures necessary to make improvements to assure compliance with applicable statutory and regulatory standards; and
4. (iv) any other matter that the commission deems relevant.

(c) For the purposes of this section, a "temporary operator" shall mean any person or entity that:

1. (i) is not an affiliated interest of the gas corporation or water-works corporation;
2. (ii) agrees to operate the gas corporation or water-works corporation under the terms and conditions established by the commission; and
3. (iii) is financially, managerially, and technically capable of operating the gas corporation or water-works corporation in compliance with applicable standards.