(A) If a residential customer is
delinquent, as defined in paragraph (A) of rule 4901:1-18-04 of the
Administrative Code, in paying for regulated services, the utility company may,
after at least fourteen days' notice, disconnect the customer's
service during normal utility company business hours in compliance with all of
the following conditions.
(1) No disconnections for
nonpayment shall be made after twelve-thirty p.m. on the day preceding a day on
which all services necessary for the customer to arrange and the utility
company to perform reconnection are not regularly performed.
(2) On the day of
disconnection of service, the utility company shall provide the customer with
personal notice. If the customer is not at home, the utility company shall
provide personal notice to an adult consumer. If neither the customer nor an
adult consumer is at home, the utility company shall attach written notice to
the premises in a conspicuous location prior to disconnecting
service.
(3) Third-party or
guarantor notification.
(a) Each utility company shall permit a residential customer to
designate a third party to receive notice of the pending disconnection of the
customer's service and any other delinquent payment reminder notices sent
to the customer. If the customer has a guarantor, the guarantor shall receive
notice of the pending disconnection of the guaranteed customer's service
and any other delinquent payment reminder notices sent to the guaranteed
customer, pursuant to rule 4901:1-17-03 of the Administrative Code. The utility
company shall notify the third party or the guarantor at least fourteen days
prior to disconnecting the customer's service.
(b) The utility company shall inform the third party that his/her
receipt of such notices does not constitute acceptance of any liability by the
third party for payment for service provided to the customer unless the third
party has also agreed, in writing, to be a guarantor for the
customer.
(c) In compliance with division (E) of section 4933.12 and
division (D) of section 4933.121 of the Revised Code, if the utility company
plans to disconnect the residential utility service of a customer for the
nonpayment of his/her bill, and that customer resides in an Ohio county in
which the department of job and family services has provided the utility
company with a written request for notification of residential service
disconnection prior to the disconnection, then the utility company shall
provide, during the period of the fifteenth of November to the fifteenth of
April, the appropriate county department of job and family services with a
listing, electronically if feasible, of those customers whose service will be
disconnected for nonpayment. This information will include at a minimum, the
customer's first name, middle initial, last name, service address, and
county of residence, and shall be made available to the county department of
job and family services simultaneous with the generation of any ten-day
disconnection notices being distributed to customers. The county department of
job and family services may use this information to assist customers in the
payment of delinquent utility bills in an effort to avoid disconnection of
service.
(d) Upon the request of a property owner or the agent of a
property owner, each utility company shall provide the property owner or the
agent of a property owner with at least three days' advance notice when
service to his/her property is to be disconnected either at the request of a
residential customer who is a tenant or for nonpayment.
(4) Utility company
employees or agents of the utility company who disconnect service at the
premises may or may not, at the discretion of the utility company, be
authorized to make extended payment arrangements. Utility company employees or
agents who disconnect service shall be authorized to complete one of the
following:
(a) Accept payment in lieu of disconnection.
(b) Dispatch an employee to the premises to accept
payment.
(c) Make available to the customer another means to avoid
disconnection.
(5) The disconnection
notice may be mailed separately or included on the regular monthly bill. If the
notice is included on the regular monthly bill, it shall be prominently
identified as a disconnection notice. The following information shall be
clearly displayed either on the disconnection notice or in documents
accompanying the disconnection notice:
(a) The delinquent billing account number, the total amount
required to prevent disconnection of the regulated services provided by the
utility company, and/or any security deposit owed at the time of the
notice.
(b) The earliest date when disconnection may occur.
(c) The local or toll-free number and address of the utility
company's office for customers to contact about their
account.
(d) The following statement:
"If you have a complaint in regard to
this disconnection notice that can not be resolved after you have called (name
of utility company), or for general utility company information, residential
and business customers may contact the public utilities commission of Ohio
(PUCO) for assistance at 1-800-686-7826 (toll free) from eight a.m. to five
p.m. weekdays, or at http://www.puco.ohio.gov. Hearing or speech impaired
customers may contact the PUCO via 7-1-1 (Ohio relay service).
The Ohio consumer counsel (OCC) represents
residential utility customers in matters before the PUCO. The OCC can be
contacted at 1-877-742-5622 (toll free) from eight a.m. to five p.m. weekdays,
or at http://www.pickocc.org."
(e) A statement that the customer's failure to pay the
amount on the disconnection notice at the utility company's office or to
one of its authorized agents before the date specified on the disconnection
notice may require payment of a security deposit and a charge for reconnection.
The statement shall also include the amount of the security deposit and the
reconnection charge.
(f) If applicable, a statement that the failure to pay charges
for nontariffed products or services may result in the loss of those products
and/or services.
(g) An explanation of the payment plans and options available to
a customer whose account is delinquent, as provided in this rule and rule
4901:1-18-05 of the Administrative Code, and percentage of income payment plan
(PIPP plus), pursuant to rule 4901:1-18-12 of the Administrative Code, and,
when applicable, rule 4901:1-18-09 of the Administrative Code.
(h) If disconnection of service is to occur as a result of
nonpayment, a statement that a medical certification program and forms are
available from the utility company for customers or consumers where the
disconnection of service would be especially dangerous to the health of those
persons.
(i) A statement that a listing of the utility company's
authorized payment agents is available by calling the utility company's
toll-free customer service number.
(B) No utility company shall disconnect
the service of a customer for nonpayment where the date of disconnection occurs
within the period of November first through April fifteenth, unless the utility
company completes each of the following:
(1) Makes contact with
the customer or other adult consumer at the premises ten days prior to
disconnection of service by personal contact, telephone, or hand-delivered
written notice. Utility companies may also make contact by sending the notice
by regular, U.S. mail; however, such notice must allow three calendar days for
mailing. This additional notice shall extend the date of disconnection, as
stated on the fourteen-day notice required by paragraph (A) of this rule, by
ten additional days.
(2) Informs the customer
or adult consumer that sources of federal, state, and local government aid for
payment of utility bills and for home weatherization are available at the time
the utility company delivers the notice required in paragraph (A) or (B)(1) of
this rule, and provides sufficient information to allow the customer to further
pursue available assistance.
(3) Informs the customer
of the right to enter into any of the payment plans set forth in paragraph (B)
of rule 4901:1-18-05 of the Administrative Code, or to enroll in PIPP plus. If
the customer does not respond to the notice described in paragraph (B)(1) of
this rule, or refuses to accept a payment plan or fails to make the initial
payment on a payment plan referenced in this paragraph, the utility company may
disconnect service after the ten-day notice expires.
(C) Medical certification
(1) In accordance with
the certification requirements of this rule, the utility company shall not
disconnect residential service for nonpayment for either of the following
situations:
(a) If the disconnection of service would be especially dangerous
to the health of any consumer who is a permanent resident of the
premises.
(b) When the disconnection of service would make operation of
necessary medical or life-supporting equipment impossible or
impractical.
(2) The medical condition
or the need for medical or life-supporting equipment shall be certified to the
utility company by a licensed physician, physician assistant, clinical nurse
specialist, certified nurse practitioner, certified nurse-midwife, or local
board of health physician.
(3) The utility company
shall act in accordance with the following medical certification
requirements:
(a) Upon request of any residential consumer, the utility company
shall provide a medical certification form to the customer or to any of the
health care professionals identified in paragraph (C)(2) of this rule. The
utility company shall use the medical certification form posted on the
commission's website.
(b) The certification of the medical condition or the need for
the medical or life-supporting equipment required by paragraph (C)(1) of this
rule shall be in writing and shall include the name of the person to be
certified; a statement that the person is a permanent resident of the premises
in question; the name, business address, and telephone number of the certifying
party; a statement of the need for the medical or life-supporting equipment, if
applicable; and a signed statement by the certifying party that disconnection
of service will be especially dangerous to the health of a permanent resident
of the premises.
(c) Initial certification by the certifying party may be by
telephone if written certification is forwarded to the utility company within
seven calendar days.
(d) Certification shall prohibit disconnection of service for
thirty calendar days.
(e) If a medical certificate is used to avoid disconnection, the
customer shall enter into an extended payment plan prior to the end of the
medical certification period or be subject to disconnection. The initial
payment on the plan shall not be due until the end of the certification
period.
(f) If service has been disconnected for nonpayment within
twenty-one calendar days prior to the certification of either a special danger
to the health of a qualifying resident or the need for medical or
life-supporting equipment, the utility company shall restore service to that
residence once the certifying party provides the required certification to the
utility company and the customer agrees to an extended payment
plan.
(g) If certification is provided to the utility company prior to
three-thirty p.m., the utility company shall restore the customer's
service within the same day. If the certification is received after
three-thirty p.m., the utility company shall reconnect service by the earliest
time possible on the following business day. Also, if the certification is
received after three-thirty p.m. on a day that precedes a day on which all
services necessary for the customer to arrange and the utility company to
perform reconnection are not regularly performed, the utility company shall
make an effort to restore service by the end of that day.
(h) A consumer may renew the certification two additional times
(thirty days each) by providing additional certificates to the utility company.
The total certification period may not exceed ninety days per household in any
twelve-month period.
(4) The electric utility
company shall give notice of availability of medical certification to its
residential customers by means of bill inserts or special notices at the
beginning of the winter heating period and at the beginning of the summer
cooling period. The natural gas utility company shall give notice of the
availability of medical certification to its residential customers by means of
bill inserts or special notices at the beginning of the winter heating
period.
(5) If there is an
outstanding balance for a returned check on the customer's account, the
utility company may refuse the medical certification, so long as notice has
been given to the customer in accordance with rules 4901:1-10-20 and
4901:1-13-09 of the Administrative Code. Such notice shall also advise the
customer that there is a returned check balance on the account and that the
utility company may deny the customer's use of medical certificates if
that balance is not paid.
(D) This provision is to address
circumstances where an electric, gas, or natural gas utility company cannot
gain access to disconnect service at a particular service location after
receiving a request for disconnection from the customer of record.
(1) If the utility
company is denied access to disconnect service, the utility company may
subsequently disconnect the utility service in accordance with the provisions
of paragraph (I) of rule 4901:1-18-03 of the Administrative Code.
(2) If the property in
question is a multi-unit dwelling, then the electric, gas, or natural gas
utility company shall comply with the provisions of rule 4901:1-18-08 of the
Administrative Code.
(3) The customer of
record requesting termination of service will not be financially responsible
for the utility service consumed from the date of move-out, unless the customer
of record is the individual who denied the utility company's access to
disconnect service or the customer of record continues to reside at the
premises. The utility company may require the customer to affirm in writing the
date on which the customer vacated the premises.
(E) This provision is to address circumstances where an
electric, gas, or natural gas utility company elects to leave the utility
service on at a particular service location for the utility company's
convenience after receiving a request for disconnection from the customer of
record.
(1) If the new resident
does not contact the utility company to establish service, the utility company
may subsequently disconnect the utility service in accordance with the fraud
provisions in paragraph (C) of rule 4901:1-10-20 of the Administrative Code
(electric) and paragraph (C) of rule 4901:1-13-09 of the Administrative Code
(gas and natural gas).
(2) Under the
circumstance where the new resident becomes an applicant for service and is
required to pay a deposit to establish financial responsibility, the utility
company must advise the applicant of the date that the utility service may be
disconnected for nonpayment of the deposit.
(3) Under either
circumstance where the new resident becomes a consumer of the electric, gas, or
natural gas service that was left on by the utility company, the consumer will
be financially responsible for the utility service consumed from the date of
move-in.
(F) A landlord/property owner may elect
to leave the utility service on at a particular service location for the
landlord/property owner's convenience under the provisions of a landlord
reversion agreement with the electric, gas, or natural gas
utility.
(1) The landlord/property
owner shall be given a copy of the relevant terms and conditions of the
landlord reversion agreement, including specific terms identifying when the
service will revert to the landlord/property owner's name, and any costs
of such service.
(2) Under the
circumstance where a new resident becomes an applicant for service and is
required to pay a deposit to establish financial responsibility, the utility
company must advise the applicant of the date that the utility service may be
disconnected for nonpayment of the deposit.
(3) Under the
circumstance where the new resident becomes a consumer of the electric, gas, or
natural gas service that was left on by virtue of the landlord/reversion
agreement, the consumer will be financially responsible for the utility service
consumed from the date of move-in, as indicated in the terms of the lease
agreement.
(G) Upon request of the customer, the utility company shall
provide an opportunity for review of the initial decision to disconnect the
service. The utility company shall review the circumstances surrounding the
disconnection, escalate the review to an appropriate supervisor if requested,
and inform the customer of the decision upon review as soon as possible. At the
customer's request, the utility company shall respond in
writing.
(H) The utility company when contacted by the
commission's staff shall respond to an inquiry concerning an imminent
disconnection or actual disconnection within one business day. At the request
of commission staff, the utility company shall respond in writing. Commission
staff will notify the customer of the utility company's
response.
(I) The utility company shall include in its tariff its
current standard practices and procedures for disconnection, including any
applicable collection and reconnect charges. Any utility company proposing
changes to its disconnection notice shall submit a copy to commission staff for
review.
