(a) General rule.--Every public utility shall keep such books, accounts, papers, records, and memoranda, as shall be required by the commission, in an office within this Commonwealth, and shall not remove the same, or any of them, from this Commonwealth, except upon such terms and conditions as may be prescribed by the commission.

(b) Exceptions.--This section does not apply to a public utility of another state, engaged in interstate commerce, whose accounts are kept at its principal place of business without this Commonwealth, in the manner prescribed by any Federal regulatory body. Such public utility, when required by the commission, shall furnish to the commission, within such reasonable time as it shall fix, certified copies of its books, accounts, papers, records, and memoranda relating to the business done by such public utility within this Commonwealth.