Ohio Administrative Code › Title 4901:1 - Utilities › Chapter 4901:1-10 - Electric Companies › Section 4901:1-10-33 - Consolidated billing requirements

Current through all regulations
			 passed and filed through July 1, 2024
(A) This rule applies to an electric utility
			 that issues customers a consolidated electric bill that includes both electric
			 utility and competitive retail electric service (CRES) provider charges for
			 electric services. Nothing in this rule affects the obligations of the electric
			 utility to provide disconnection notices. An electric utility cannot
			 discriminate or unduly restrict a customer's CRES provider from including
			 non-jurisdictional charges on a consolidated electric bill.
(B) A supplier agreement between an electric
			 utility and a CRES provider must provide that if the electric utility collects
			 customer payments on behalf of the CRES provider, the customer's liability to
			 the CRES provider ceases to the extent of a payment made and applicable to the
			 customer's CRES provider account.
(C) Consolidated bills shall be accurate and
			 shall be rendered at monthly intervals. All consolidated customer bills issued
			 by or on behalf of an electric utility and a CRES provider must include at
			 least the following information:
(1) The
			 customer's name, billing address, and service address.
(2) The electric utility's twenty-four hour,
			 local and toll-free telephone numbers for reporting service
			 emergencies.
(3) The dates of the
			 service period covered by the bill.
(4) Current electric charges, separated from
			 gas charges, if these charges appear on the same bill, but only to the extent
			 that the biller provides both electric and gas services.
(5) Applicable billing determinants:
			 beginning meter read, ending meter read, demand meter read, multipliers,
			 consumption, and demand.
(6)
			 Identification of estimated bills.
(7) Any non-recurring charge(s).
(8) Net-metered usage for customer
			 generators, if applicable.
(9) Each
			 charge for non-jurisdictional services, if applicable, and the name and
			 toll-free number of each provider of such service(s).
(10) Amount due for previous billing
			 period.
(11) Total payments and
			 total credits applied during the billing period.
(12) Total consolidated amount due and
			 payable, or, if applicable, the total consolidated budget bill
			 amount.
(13) Due date for payment
			 to keep the account current. The due date shall not be less than
			 twenty-one
									 days from the date of postmark.
(14) Name and
			 address of the electric utility to which payments should be made.
(15) The following notice:
"If your complaint is not resolved after you have called your
				electric supplier and/or your electric utility, or for general utility
				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 consumers' 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
."
(16) An explanation of codes and
			 abbreviations used.
(17) At a
			 minimum, definitions for the following terms, or like terms used by the
			 company, if applicable: customer charge, delivery charge, estimated reading,
			 generation charge, kilowatt hour (kWh), and late payment charge.
(18) The price-to-compare for residential
			 bills and a notice that such customers can obtain a written explanation of the
			 price-to-compare from their electric utility.