Ohio Administrative Code › Title 4901:1 - Utilities › Chapter 4901:1-18 - Termination of Residential Service › Section 4901:1-18-06 - Disconnection procedures for electric, gas, and natural gas utilities

Current through all regulations passed and filed through July 1,
			 2024
(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.