PENNSYLVANIA PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Responsible Utility Customer Protection [36 Pa.B. 7614]
[Saturday, December 16, 2006]Public Meeting held
November 30, 2006Commissioners Present: Wendell F. Holland, Chairperson; James H. Cawley, Vice Chairperson; Kim Pizzingrilli, Statement follows; Terrance J. Fitzpatrick
Rulemaking to Amend the Provisions of 52 Pa. Code, Chapter 56 to Comply with the Provisions of 66 Pa.C.S., Chapter 14; General Review of Regulations; Doc. No. L-00060282
By the Commission:
On November 30, 2004, the Governor signed into law SB 677, or Act 201. This law went into effect on December 14, 2004. The Act amended Title 66 by adding Chapter 14 (66 Pa.C.S. §§ 1401--1418), Responsible Utility Customer Protection. The Act is intended to protect responsible bill paying customers from rate increases attributable to the uncollectible accounts of customers that can afford to pay their bills, but choose not to pay. The legislation is applicable to electric distribution companies, water distribution companies and larger natural gas distribution companies (those having an annual operating income in excess of $6,000,000).1 Steam and waste water utilities are not covered by Chapter 14.
Chapter 14 seeks to eliminate the opportunities for customers capable of paying to avoid paying their utility bills, and to provide utilities with the means to reduce their uncollectible accounts by modifying the procedures for delinquent account collections. The goal of these changes is to increase timely collections while ensuring that service is available to all customers based on equitable terms and conditions. 66 Pa.C.S. § 1402.
Chapter 14 supersedes certain Chapter 56 regulations, all ordinances of the City of Philadelphia and any other regulations that impose inconsistent requirements on the utilities. Chapter 14 expires on December 31, 2014, unless re-enacted. Two years after the effective date and every two years thereafter, the Commission must report to the General Assembly regarding the implementation and effectiveness of the Act. The Commission is directed to amend Chapter 56 and may promulgate regulations to administer and enforce Chapter 14. Complying with this responsibility of the Act is the purpose of this rulemaking.
On January 28, 2005, the Commission issued a Secretarial Letter identifying general subject areas for discussion and encouraged interested parties to file written comments. In addition, on February 3, 2005, the Commission held a ''Roundtable Forum'' to address the implementation and application of Chapter 14.
Written comments were filed by the following interested parties: Energy Association of Pennsylvania (EAP), Office of Consumer Advocate (OCA), Philadelphia Gas Works (PGW), Community Legal Services (CLS), PECO Energy Company (PECO Energy), Pennsylvania Utility Law Project (PULP), Aqua Pennsylvania, Inc. (Aqua), Pennsylvania American Water, PPL Electric Utilities Corporation and PPL Gas Utilities Corporation, Pennsylvania Coalition Against Domestic Violence, Pennsylvania Apartment Association, Housing Alliance of Pennsylvania, and American Association of Retired Persons (AARP).
Based upon our review of the comments filed by interested parties pursuant to our January 28, 2005 Secretarial Letter and the oral comments expressed at the Roundtable Forum, we issued an Implementation Order dated March 4, 2005 that addressed seven threshold issues. Although we considered these issues to be the most fundamental, we understood that this is an on-going process and that other implementation issues will need to be resolved in the future.
Therefore, by Secretarial Letter issued June 27, 2005, we informed interested parties of the next Chapter 14 Roundtable, July 1, 2005, and established agenda items for this meeting. At this second Chapter 14 Roundtable, we again sought to engage in a discussion that promoted an exchange of ideas and views so that all interested parties will better understand differing positions and the rationales underlying them. It was intended that the parties would benefit from this discussion of the issues and assist in the effective development of procedures, interim guidelines and subsequent regulations necessary to implement the new requirements of Chapter 14.
Written comments were again submitted by the EAP, OCA, PGW, CLS, PECO Energy, PULP, and Aqua. The comments were also intended to supplement oral representations at the July 1, 2005 Roundtable. Another Roundtable discussion was held on July 21, 2005 to discuss PGW-Specific Chapter 14 issues, and written comments were filed by PGW, the OCA, CLS, and PULP. On September 12, 2005, we issued the Second Implementation Order addressing additional unresolved issued identified for review and disposition as follows:
Section I--Termination/Reconnection
Section II--Payment Arrangements (PARS)
Section III--Applications--Deposits
Section IV--Protection from Abuse (PFA)/Consumer Education
Section IV--PGW--Specific IssuesThereafter, we continued to address issues at this docket number. On August 24, 2005, we issued a Section 703(g) Order Seeking Comments on one of these threshold issues--the interpretation of the payment agreement restrictions in § 1405(d). On October 31, 2005, we issued the Reconsideration of Implementation Order amending Implementation Order by concluding ''that § 1405(d) permits the Commission (in addition to instances where there has been a change of income) to establish one payment agreement that meets the terms of Chapter 14 before the prohibition against a second payment agreement in § 1405(d) applies.'' Finally, on November 21, 2005, we issued a Declaratory Order pursuant to 66 Pa.C.S. § 331(f) that Chapter 14 does not authorize public utilities to require upfront payments greater than those amounts specified in § 1407(c)(2).
At this point in our implementation process, we have addressed and resolved numerous issues involving the application of Chapter 14 provisions. However, we must still implement Section 6 of the Act which requires the Commission to amend Chapter 56 to comply with the provisions of Chapter 14, and if necessary, promulgate other regulations to administer and enforce Chapter 14.2 In order to facilitate the completion of this responsibility under the Act, we are issuing this Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking Order. This Advance Notice will enable us to gather input from the industry, consumer groups, and advocates before drafting the proposed revisions.
Many of these issues have been raised but not resolved in this implementation process. This Advance Notice will give us the opportunity to conduct a general review of this Chapter to identify, modify, and/or rescind certain provisions of Chapter 56. See, e.g., General Review of Regulations; Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking, Doc. No. L-00950103, adopted April 27, 1995, 25 Pa. B. 2188 (June 3, 1995). Hopefully, this process will lead to a clear, cohesive, thorough, and analytically sound proposed rulemaking order.
In addition to revising Chapter 56 to align it with Chapter 14 as discussed previously, we believe all parties should use this opportunity to address other issues as well. For example, since the most recent revision of Chapter 56, there have been technological advances including electronic billing and payment, email, the Internet, etc. Parties are invited to comment as to how these technological advances should be addressed in the regulations, especially the billing and payment sections. The rulemaking proceeding will also review all of its outstanding ad hoc reporting requirements for the same purpose.
Chapter 14 will necessitate significant changes to the winter termination rules at § 56.100. This is an area of crucial importance and is central to the Commission's obligation to protect the health and safety of all citizens of the Commonwealth. This has been an area of much discussion and inquiry since the Chapter was enacted and the Commission is asking the parties to provide comments related to these procedures.
Chapter 14 also changes the procedures utilities may use when screening applicants for service and credit worthiness. Related to this are provisions in Chapter 14 that expands a utility's ability to assign liability for account balances that may have accrued under the name of someone other than the customer or applicant. Again, the Commission requests comments on these procedures and asks for the assistance of all parties in formulating regulations to address this important area.
More specifically, the Commission is seeking comments on the most controversial and complex provisions of Chapter 14 identified in questions set forth in Appendix A and requests comments from all utilities subject to Chapter 14 and other interested parties. In addition, we welcome offers of proposed language for our consideration in drafting the regulatory provisions. Finally, we encourage the commentators to raise any matters or issues that they feel we have overlooked or missed, including the need to revise Chapter 56 sections unrelated to Chapter 14.
This is an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking order and is in addition to the normal rulemaking procedures for publication and comment established under the Commonwealth Documents Law, 45 P. S. 1201, et seq. Accordingly, pursuant to Sections 501, 504, 505, 506, 1301, and 1501 of the Public Utility Code, 66 Pa.C.S. §§ 501, 504, 505, 506, 1301, and 1501, and the Commonwealth Documents Law, 45 P. S. 1201, et seq., and the regulations promulgated thereunder, we shall initiate a rulemaking proceeding to comply with the requirements of Section 6 of Chapter 14; Therefore,
It Is Ordered that:
1. A rulemaking proceeding is hereby instituted at this docket to consider revisions of the regulations appearing in 52 Pa. Code Chapter 56, relating to standard and billing practices for residential utility service.
2. This advanced notice of proposed rulemaking order proceeding shall be published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin.
3. Interested parties may submit written comments, original and 15 copies, within 60 days from the date the notice is published in the Pennsylvania Bulletin, to James McNulty, Secretary of the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, P. O. Box 3265, Harrisburg, PA 17105-3265. A copy of written comments shall also be served upon the Commission's Bureau of Consumer Services and Law Bureau. In addition, one copy in electronic format (Microsoft Word ® 2002 or readable equivalent) on diskette shall be provided to the Secretary and copies shall be emailed to Terrence J. Buda (tbuda@state.pa.us), Cyndi Page (cypage@state. pa.us), and Daniel Mumford (dmumford@state.pa.us). All comments shall be posted on the Commission website.
4. Copies of this order shall be served upon all jurisdictional electric utilities, gas, and water utilities subject to Chapter 14, the Office of Consumer Advocate, the Office of Small Business Advocate, and those parties who submitted comments at Docket No. M-00041802.
5. The contact persons for this matter are Daniel Mumford in Bureau of Consumer Services (717) 783-1957, and Terrence J. Buda in the Law Bureau (717) 783-3459.
JAMES J. MCNULTY,
SecretaryAPPENDIX A 1. Rules that apply to victims with a protection from abuse (PFA) order and to customers of steam heating, wastewater and small natural gas companies.
Section 1417 states that the Chapter 14 rules ''shall not apply'' to victims under a protection from abuse (PFA) order. The definition of ''natural gas distribution utility'' at § 1403 also excludes gas utilities with annual operating revenues of less than $6 million per year or that are not connected to an interstate gas pipeline. Moreover, § 1406(e) excludes water utilities. In addition, Chapter 14 excludes steam heat and wastewater utilities. In light of the above, we need to address what regulations should be applied for these utilities and consumers that are specifically excluded from Chapter 14 requirements. If it is Chapter 56 that is to be applied, we need to address what will be applicable to PFA holders and delinquent steam heat, small gas and wastewater customers once Chapter 56 is revised to reflect Chapter 14.
We propose creating a separate chapter to address the utilities and consumers that are specifically excluded from Chapter 14 provisions. This separate chapter essentially would reflect the current Chapter 56 rules, except that it would only apply to residential customers of steam heating utilities, wastewater utilities, small natural gas distribution utilities, water utilities' winter termination activity, and victims with a PFA order.
2. Previously unbilled utility service.
The ''make-up'' bill rules at § 56.14 address the procedures to be used when a utility bills for previously unbilled service resulting from a billing error, meter failure, leakage that could not reasonably have been detected or loss of service, or four or more consecutive estimated bills. We propose incorporating into this section a four-year limit on such billings. This four-year statute of limitations reflects the same time restrictions found in other sections of the regulations; § 56.35 for example; and the record maintenance requirements found at § 56.202. In addition, this would reflect the four-year limit found at 66 Pa.C.S.A. § 1312.
Also concerning § 56.14, we propose maintaining the obligation of a utility to offer a payment schedule based on previously unbilled utility service. Since this section involves charges that were not previously billed and are not overdue, we see no conflict with the limitations on the number of payment agreements found in Chapter 14 at § 1405(d).
3. Credit Standards
Credit standards and procedures are found in §§ 56.31--56.38. In addition to incorporating the requirements of §§ 1404(a), 1404(d)--(f), 1407(d), 1414(c) and the § 1403 definitions of applicant and customer, into these sections, we propose revising these sections to clarify acceptable applicant identification requirements, use of social security numbers, and third-party service requests, in the context of preventing fraud and identify theft (refer to the Commission's July 14, 2005 Order re: Investigation In Re: Identity Theft at Docket M-00041811). This will include the identification standards that should be applied to ''each adult occupant'' per § 1404(d).
Chapter 14 at § 1404(a) (2) specifies utilities are to use ''a generally accepted credit scoring methodology which employs standards for using the methodology that fall within the range of general industry practice.'' In order to insure that the credit standards being used meet these conditions and are being applied in an equitable and nondiscriminatory manner, we propose requiring utilities to include their credit scoring methodologies and standards in their Commission-approved tariffs.
Chapter 14 at § 1407(d) allows a utility to hold an applicant seeking reconnection at a location terminated for non payment responsible for utility service previously furnished at the same address but in another parties name(s) for the period during which the applicant resided at the same address. Section 1407(e) addresses how a utility may establish such liability, including ''. . . other methods approved as valid by the Commission.'' We propose requiring utilities to seek approval from the Commission before using the ''other methods'' mentioned in this section by requiring utilities to include the ''other methods'' in their Commission-approved tariffs. We also propose including a four-year statute of limitations on such assignments of liability. This four-year limit reflects the same time restrictions found in other sections of the regulations; § 56.35 for example; and the record maintenance requirements found at § 56.202. In addition, this would reflect the four-year limit found at 66 Pa.C.S.A. § 1312.
4. Payment period for deposits.
Chapter 14 includes deposit payment time frames (§§ 1404(a), 1404(e), 1404(h)) that would benefit from clarifying regulations. The Commission provided some clarifications with respect to deposit payment time frames in the first Implementation Order of March 3, 2005, pp. 15-17(M-00041802F0002), but also declared that the ''. . . Commission will undertake a review of these sections of its Regulations in a subsequent rulemaking proceeding.'' For example, one source of confusion at § 1404(h) is the phrase ''. . . shall have up to 90 days to pay the deposit in accordance with Commission regulations'' when in fact there is no 90 day payment period in current Commission regulations. Current Commission regulations specify 50 percent of the deposit upfront, followed by 25 percent 30 days later and 25 percent 60 days later, making the deposit payment period 60 days. In addition, there appears to be a need to reconcile the installment option for paying deposits found at § 1404(h) with language at § 1404(e) that declares that a utility does not have to provide service to an applicant who ''. . . fails to pay the full amount of the cash deposit.'' More generally, the payment periods in Chapter 14 appear to distinguish between applicants and customers, and customers who have had service terminated for one of the grounds listed under § 1404(a) (1). As specifically stated in the first Implementation Order, p. 17, the Commission intends to address deposit payment timeframes in this proceeding and urges all interested parties to comment on these issues.
We propose that in situations where a customer or applicant is seeking restoration of service after having been terminated for any of the grounds found in § 1404(a)(1) that 50% of the deposit can be required up-front as a condition of restoration, with the balance of the deposit due within 90 days of restoration. For situations where a customer or applicant is seeking service outside of the grounds found in § 1404(a)(1), the full amount of the security deposit can be required before service is provided per § 1404(e). For existing customers with service who are required to pay a deposit, we propose maintaining the existing rules at §§ 56.41--42 which allows for the deposit to be paid in three installments over 60 days since Chapter 14 is silent on rules for collecting deposits from customers with service, and since these Chapter 56 provisions do not appear to be inconsistent with the credit related provisions in Chapter 14.
5. Termination of service.
Regulations governing the termination of service are found in Chapter 56 sections 56.81--56.131. Termination of service can have serious consequences, not only for the customers immediately affected but also for neighbors and the surrounding community. Therefore, we seek comments that reflect careful consideration of the health and safety factors for those immediately affected by termination of essential utility service, as well as the Commission's duty to protect the health and safety of all citizens of the Commonwealth.
Chapter 14 includes grounds for authorized termination at § 1406(a) and we propose incorporating these grounds into § 56.81. § 1406(c) lists grounds for which immediate termination without prior notice is authorized and we propose incorporating these into § 56.98. However, Chapter 14 does not specifically list grounds for which termination of service is not authorized as currently found at § 56.83. This section includes prohibitions on terminating utility service for nonpayment of nonbasic charges, for charges of a different rate class, for overdue account balances less than $25.00, for unpaid concurrent service, etc. We propose maintaining § 56.83 to the extent that it is found to be consistent with Chapter 14. We also propose maintaining the distinction between ''user without contract'' and ''unauthorized use'' as determined and supported by the Commission in the first Implementation Order, pp, 7-10.
Moreover, we propose revising the termination notice process to incorporate the new termination notice procedures found in Chapter 14 at § 1406(b). We also intend to address the interaction of dispute procedures (§§ 56.92, 56.97, 56.141--181) with the termination procedures, including the obligation of the utility to stay termination pending resolution of a dispute, and the obligation to provide the consumer with an opportunity to file an informal complaint after a dispute is addressed by the utility and the customer remains dissatisfied. There appears to be nothing in Chapter 14 that supersedes the dispute regulations in Chapter 56 that would negate any of the rights a consumer has to raise a dispute with a utility. Likewise, the procedures found at § 56.94 addressing what is to happen immediately prior to termination appear not to be impacted by Chapter 14.
6. Winter termination procedures.
Termination of utility service in the winter-time is of critical importance and of great interest to many parties, including the Commission. As noted previously, the Commission takes seriously its obligation to protect the health and safety of citizens of the Commonwealth and enforcing the winter termination procedures is an important aspect of this duty. New winter termination rules at § 1406(e) are significantly different and supersede the traditional rules at § 56.100. As a result, the revisions to § 56.100 are of great importance and the Commission urges all parties to seriously consider the many issues involved and invites specific and detailed comments on this section in particular. Winter-time termination restrictions are based upon the customer's income in relation to the federal poverty level. There is also a need to promulgate specific regulations to cover the winter-time statutory provisions exclusive to the Philadelphia Gas Works.
Section 1406(e) restricts termination without Commission permission for customers at or below 250% of the federal poverty level (150% for PGW). However, there is no direction provided regarding utility obligations to determine and confirm a customer's eligibility for winter time termination based on their income and the customer's obligation to cooperate with such procedures. The Commission addressed this to some extent in the Second Implementation Order and we propose incorporating this guidance into this regulation.
Unlike § 56.100 which distinguishes between heat related and non-heating accounts (heat-related accounts are protected from termination without PUC permission), § 1406(e) does not make this distinction in Chapter 14. To align § 56.100 with the statute, we propose eliminating the distinction between heat and nonheat accounts.
In addition, one of the major tools used by policy makers and other parties is the information obtained per the provisions of § 56.100(4) and (5). These subsections require utilities to annually, at the beginning of the winter, survey the heat-related accounts they have terminated and to make a good faith effort to restore service to as many as possible. The utilities are then required to report to the Commission by December 15 of each year on these efforts and the number of heat-related accounts still without service. Given that Chapter 14 now allows utilities to terminate some utility service throughout the winter without PUC permission, we believe that updated information on the number of households without utility service throughout the wintertime may be necessary. We propose revising the survey provisions (§ 56.100(4) and (5)) to require updates throughout the winter consistent with the Final Order of July 20, 2006 re: Biennial Report to the General Assembly and Governor Pursuant to Section 1415 (M-00041802F0003). We also propose to clarify what grounds for termination should be included in the survey in addition to non-payment (safety, meter non-access, etc.). Also, we propose to clarify how far back a termination had to have occurred to be included in the accounts surveyed. This has all been a matter of some confusion at times and providing additional clarifications should assist utilities with compliance to this section.
As a related matter we propose that utilities report to the Commission anytime they become aware of a death following a termination of utility service where it appears that the death may be linked to the lack of utility service.
7. Emergency Medical Procedures.
Section 56.111 refers only to a ''physician'' as being eligible to file a medical certificate. However, Chapter 14, § 1406(f), in addition to physician, also refers to ''nurse practitioner.'' We propose amending all of the emergency medical provisions in Chapter 56 (§§ 56.111--118) to include ''nurse practitioner'' as found in Chapter 14, § 1406(f).
Much of the language at § 56.114 concerning limitations on renewal of medical certificates has been in effect only since 1998. Since that time utility experience in implementing these sections has resulted in numerous informal inquiries to Commission staff about details not currently specified in the current regulation. For example, are the limitations noted in this section applicable per individual or household or account, and is there any timeframe on these limitations such as annual, lifetime of the account or are the limitations just in reference to consecutively filed certificates? And given that the section also requires that a utility petition the Commission if it wishes to contest a certificate renewal, is this directive intended for certificates that are not already barred by the restrictions listed previously in this section, or does the directive apply to any certificate a utility wishes to contest?
We propose answering these questions in a way that balances the need of the utility to effectively manage account collections with the needs of consumers with medical conditions to obtain necessary, temporary relief from the threat of termination. It is important to point out that the restrictions at § 56.114 only apply if the customer is not meeting their obligation to arrange payment on all bills as required per § 56.116. We propose amending the medical certificate renewal provisions at § 56.114 to clarify that the limit of two renewal certifications applies to medical certificates filed for the same set of arrearages, meaning that if the customer subsequently eliminates the arrearage, the customer is once again eligible to file medical certificates, regardless of the number of medical certificates filed previously. We would also apply these restrictions to the household and the same account; meaning that the limits apply to the entire household as long as the account remains in the same name(s).
We also propose that a utility does not have to petition the Commission using the procedures at § 56.118 if it is simply enforcing the restrictions at § 56.114; petitioning is necessary only if the utility does not want to honor a medical certificate that does not fall under the restrictions. Requiring a petition in all circumstances where a utility does not want to honor a medical certificate would essentially make the restrictions at § 56.114(2) meaningless, when the intent of this section when it was proposed in 1996 was to ''clarify, simplify and remove excessive and burdensome requirements from the parties dealing with our Bureau of Consumer Services'' (26 Pa.B. 2908).
8. Commission informal complaint procedures.
Chapter 14 includes sections that effect the Commission's informal and formal complaint procedures. An example are the length of payment arrangement formulae found at § 1405(b) that dictate the length of the payback period for a customer's payment arrangement based upon the customer's income in relation to the federal poverty level. Another is the prohibition on establishing payment arrangements for customers participating in a CAP program found at § 1405(c). We propose revising the Commission's informal and formal complaint procedures found at §§ 56.161--181 to develop some of the details that are necessary to effectively integrate the requirements of Chapter 14 into these sections.
Regarding the restriction at § 1405(c), we propose applying the restriction to any balance that reflects application of CAP program rates and also to any account balance comprised of both CAP rates and standard rates. At the same time we intend to clarify that while the Commission will not be establishing payment agreements on CAP balances per the above noted restrictions, the Commission can still address CAP-related disputes including but not limited to issues like billing, eligibility requirements and default as part of the Commission's obligation at § 2203(8) and 2804(9) to ensure that the utility's CAP is operated in a cost-effective manner through compliance with its approved CAP plan, including the proper calculation of a participant's CAP payment amount.
We also propose clarifying the role of the Commission in establishing payment agreement restoration terms for customers whose service has been terminated as addressed, to some extent, in the first Implementation Order (pages 11-12) and with the Reconsideration of Implementation Order of October 27, 2005 (M-00041802F0002).
In addition to addressing Commission procedures as noted above, we propose § 56.163 be amended to include the imposition of a standard upon the utility in response to consumer informal complaints filed at the Commission. To facilitate the handling of informal consumer complaints, we are proposing a company response standard of 30 days as found in the analogous telephone regulations (52 Pa. Code § 64.153). For informal complaints where the customer's service has been terminated, we are proposing a five-day standard.
9. Restoration of Service.
Chapter 14 provides utilities with expanded opportunities for assigning liability for balances that accrued in another party's name if some other party seeks restoration of service. Section 1407(d) allows a utility to ''. . . also require the payment of any outstanding balance or portion of an outstanding balance if the applicant resided at the property for which service is requested during the time the outstanding balance accrued and for the time the applicant resided there.'' This section is elaborated on by the section that follows it at § 1407(e), i.e., ''[a] public utility may establish that an applicant previously resided at a property for which residential service is requested through the use of mortgage, deed or lease information, a commercially available consumer credit reporting service or other methods approved as valid by the Commission.''
We propose requiring utilities to include in their tariffs the procedures and standards the utility will use to determine whether an applicant or customer has previously resided at a property and whether an applicant or customer is responsible for an unpaid account balance per § 1407(d) and (e) and specify the means for providing acceptable proof of such. This will help ensure equitable and nondiscriminatory liability determinations. We also propose incorporating a four year statute of limitations on such determinations. This four-year statute of limitations reflects the same time restrictions found in other sections of the regulations such as § 56.35 and the record maintenance requirements found at § 56.202. In addition, this would reflect the four-year limit found at 66 Pa.C.S.A. § 1312.
Chapter 14 at § 1407(b) includes service restoration timeframes which we propose incorporating into § 56.191, while clarifying that the timeframes refer to ''calendar'' days and hours as opposed to ''business'' days and hours. We also intend to clarify that the timeframes found in this section are contingent upon what time of the year it is when the customer or applicant has met all applicable restoration conditions. For example, the standards in § 1407(b) require that service be restored within 24 hours for ''. . . terminations occurring after November 30 and before April 1.'' If the customer satisfies all restoration requirements in December, we would impose the 24 hour reconnection timeframe found at § 1407(b)(2), regardless of when the termination of service occurred.
10. Reporting requirements.
The monthly collections data reporting requirements are specified at § 56.231. Under this regulation, electric, gas and steam heating utilities report to the Commission monthly on a variety of collection variables including the number of service terminations, overdue customers, service restorations and arrearages. Policy makers, utilities and the general public use this information to measure the effectiveness of utility collection activities. We propose revising this section to also include Class A water utilities. Water utility rates have increased significantly since this section was first promulgated and concerns with collection issues in the water industry are now sufficient to amend this section to include major water utilities.
In addition, we propose revising this section to incorporate the Interim Guidelines for Residential Collections Data Reporting Requirements of the Electric, Natural Gas and Water Distribution Companies in Accordance with the Provisions of Chapter 14 at § 1415 as contained in the Final Order of July 24, 2006 re: Biennial Report to the General Assembly and Governor Pursuant to Section 1415 (M-00041802F0003).
Rulemaking to Amend the Provisions of 52 Pa. Code, Chapter 56 to Comply with the Provisions of 66 Pa.C.S., Chapter 14 General Review of Regulations; NOV-2006-BCS-0013* Doc. No. L00060182
Statement of Commissioner Kim Pizzingrilli Before the Commission is an Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANOPR) to comply with the requirements of the Responsible Utility Customer Protection Act, which amended Title 66 by adding Chapter 14. See 66 Pa.C.S. §§ 1401--1418. During the implementation process, many Chapter 14 application issues were addressed with the input of interested parties and Commission staff. Now, we must amend Chapter 56 to comply with the provisions of Chapter 14, and if necessary, promulgate other regulations to administer and enforce Chapter 14.
The ANOPR contains an Appendix listing ten issues. The intent of this list is to bring additional focus to the more challenging questions as we proceed with the rulemaking. Within the Appendix, the Commission has made some proposed findings. While I concur with the adoption of the ANOPR and the form of the Appendix, I request that commentators address the question of whether it is appropriate or necessary to incorporate portions of the statute directly into the regulations.
In addition, I note that the ANOPR proposes that utilities report to the Commission when they become aware of a death following a termination of utility service where it appears that the death may be linked to the lack of utility service. As a relatively new issue that was brought to our attention by the Consumer Advisory Council, I request that commentators provide input on specific recommendations regarding the implementation of this proposed requirement, including what situations should be reported and the need to establish a requisite time frame linking an incident and lack of utility service.
I look forward to reviewing the comments filed in response to our ANOPR and encourage parties to bring to our attention other pertinent issues that could be addressed in this rulemaking. The input from affected parties will aid the Commission in carrying out the goals of Chapter 14 while ensuring that service is available to all customers based on equitable terms and conditions.
[Pa.B. Doc. No. 06-2453. Filed for public inspection December 15, 2006, 9:00 a.m.] _______
1 Small natural gas companies may voluntarily ''opt in'' to Chapter 14. 66 Pa.C.S. § 1403.
2 Section 6 further provides that ''promulgation of any such regulation shall not act to delay the implementation of effectiveness of this chapter.''
