(A) Each utility company may require an
applicant for residential service to satisfactorily establish financial
responsibility. If the applicant has previously been a customer of that utility
company, the utility company may require the residential applicant to establish
financial responsibility pursuant to paragraph (C) of rule 4901:1-17-04 of the
Administrative Code. Each utility company may use a credit check, pursuant to
paragraph (A)(2) of this rule, as the first criterion by which an applicant may
establish financial responsibility. If the results of the credit check, at the
time of the application do not establish financial responsibility for the
applicant or the applicant refuses to provide his/her social security number,
each utility company shall then advise the applicant of each of the remaining
criteria available under this rule to establish financial responsibility. If
the utility company requires an applicant to provide additional information to
establish financial responsibility, such as identification or written
documentation, then the utility company shall confirm with the applicant when
it receives the requested information. An applicant's financial
responsibility will be deemed established if the applicant meets any one of the
following criteria:
(1) The applicant is the
owner of the premises to be served or of other real estate within the territory
served by the utility company and has demonstrated financial responsibility
under either of the following conditions:
(a) With respect to that property, if the applicant owns only the
premises to be served.
(b) With respect to any other real estate within the service
territory served by the utility company, if the applicant owns multiple
properties.
(2) The applicant
demonstrates that he/she is a satisfactory credit risk by means that may be
quickly and inexpensively checked by the utility company. Under this provision,
the utility company may request the applicant's social security number in
order to obtain credit information and to establish identity. The utility
company may not refuse to provide service if the applicant elects not to
provide his/her social security number. If the applicant declines the utility
company's request for a social security number, the utility company shall
inform the applicant of all other options for establishing
creditworthiness.
(3) The applicant
demonstrates that he/she has had the same class and a similar type of utility
service within a period of twenty-four consecutive months preceding the date of
application, unless utility company records indicate that the applicant's
service was disconnected for nonpayment during the last twelve consecutive
months of service, or the applicant had received two consecutive bills with
past due balances during that twelve-month period and provided further that the
financial responsibility of the applicant is not otherwise
impaired.
When an applicant requests a copy of his/her
payment history to satisfy paragraph (A)(3) of this rule, each utility company
shall provide a customer, at his/her request, written information reflecting
the customer's payment history. The utility company shall provide this
information within five business days of this request.
(4) The applicant makes a cash deposit to
secure payment of bills for the utility company's service as prescribed in
rule 4901:1-17-05 of the Administrative Code. Utility companies are prohibited
from requiring percentage of income payment plan customers to pay a security
deposit.
(5) The applicant
furnishes a creditworthy guarantor to secure payment of bills in an amount
sufficient for a sixty-day supply for the service requested. If a third party
agrees to be a guarantor for a utility customer, he or she shall meet the
criteria as defined in paragraph (A) of this rule or otherwise be creditworthy.
The guarantor and/or the utility company shall also comply with the
following:
(a) The guarantor shall be a customer of the utility
company.
(b) The guarantor shall sign the written guarantor agreement
provided by the commission in appendix A to this rule, which will also be
posted on the commission's website. The utility company shall provide the
guarantor with a copy of the signed agreement upon request and shall keep the
original on file during the term of the guaranty.
(c) The utility company shall send to the guarantor a copy of all
disconnection notices sent to the guaranteed customer.
(d) The utility company shall send a notice to the guarantor when
the guaranteed customer requests a transfer of service to a new location. The
transfer of service notice shall display all of the following
information:
(i) The name of the
guaranteed customer.
(ii) The address of the
current guaranteed customer's service location.
(iii) A statement that
the transfer of service to the new location may affect the guarantor's
liability.
(iv) A statement that, if
the guarantor does not want to continue the guaranty at the new service
location, the guarantor must provide thirty days' written notice to the
utility company to end the guaranty.
(e) Under the circumstances where a guarantor's utility
service is subject to disconnection, the utility company shall, within ten
calendar days, advise the customer who provided the guarantor that the
guarantor's responsibility to the customer's account will end by a
specific date (thirty days from the date of the notice to the guaranteed
customer). The utility company shall also advise the customer that, prior to
the specific end date stated in the notice, he/she must reestablish credit
through one of the alternate means set forth in paragraph (A) of this rule, or
be subject to disconnection according to the applicable disconnection rules in
Chapter 4901:1-15 of the Administrative Code (waterworks and/or sewage
disposal) and Chapter 4901:1-18 of the Administrative Code (electric, gas, and
natural gas).
(f) The guarantor shall not be on the PIPP plus, graduate PIPP
plus, or have PIPP arrearages. If a guarantor enrolls in these programs, the
customer no longer qualifies to be a guarantor and the previously guaranteed
customer will be required to provide another form of security.
(B) The establishment of credit under the
provisions of these rules, or the reestablishment of credit under the
provisions of rule 4901:1-17-04 of the Administrative Code, shall not relieve
the applicant or customer from compliance with the regulations of the utility
company regarding advance payments and payment of bills by the due date, and
shall not modify any regulations of the utility company as to the
discontinuance of service for nonpayment.
(C) Upon default by a customer who has
furnished a guarantor as provided in paragraph (A)(5) of this rule, the utility
company may pursue collection actions against the defaulting customer and the
guarantor in the appropriate court, or the utility company may transfer the
defaulting customer's bill to the guarantor's account. The defaulted
amount transferred to the guarantor's account shall not be greater than
the amount billed to the defaulting customer for sixty days of service or two
monthly bills. After thirty days from the transfer, the utility company may
make the guarantor subject to disconnection procedures, if the amount
transferred still remains unpaid.
(D) An applicant who owes an unpaid bill
for previous residential service, whether the bill is owed as a result of
service provided to that applicant or is owed under a guarantor agreement,
shall not have satisfactorily established or reestablished his/her financial
responsibility as long as the bill remains unpaid.
4901:1-17-03 Appendix
Appendix: Guarantor agreement form
https://puco.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/puco/utilities/electricity/resources/guarantor-form
