Section 62.74. Bill format for residential and small business customers

(a) NGS billed prices shall reflect the marketed prices and the disclosure statement prices.

(b) The following requirements apply only to the extent to which an entity has responsibility for billing customers, and to the extent that the charges are applicable. Duplication of billing for the same or identical charges by both the NGDC and NGS is not permitted.

(1) NGDC charges shall appear separately from NGS charges.

(2) Charges for basic services shall appear before charges for nonbasic services, and appear distinctly separate.

(3) Customer bills shall contain the following charges, if these charges are applicable, and these charges shall appear in a distinct section of the bill. The designation or label of each charge as either a basic charge or nonbasic charge appears in parentheses following the name of the charge. This label of either basic or nonbasic is not required to accompany the name of the charge on the bill.

(i) Commodity charges (basic).

(A) Commodity charges shall be presented in the standard pricing unit for natural gas of the NGDC in actual dollars or cents per standard pricing unit or actual average dollars or cents per standard pricing unit.

(B) Commodity charges shall appear first among the basic charges with one exception. NGDCs may place the customer charge first among the basic charges.

(ii) Distribution charges (basic).

(iii) Customer charge or basic charge (charge for basic service in § 56.15 (relating to billing information)) (basic).

(iv) Gas cost adjustment charges (basic).

(v) Interstate transition cost surcharges (basic).

(vi) Taxes (Comply with § 56.15) (basic).

(vii) Late payment charges (basic).

(viii) Security deposit (basic).

(ix) Reconnection fee (basic).

(x) Itemization of nonbasic charges (nonbasic).

(xi) Overall billing total.

(4) The entity reading the meter for billing purposes shall provide the following natural gas use data figures:

(i) The total annual natural gas use for the past 12 months in the standard pricing unit of the NGDC including the current billing cycle. This is a single cumulative number.

(ii) The average monthly natural gas use for the past 12 months in the standard pricing unit of the NGDC including the current billing cycle. This is a single cumulative number.

(5) The requirements of § 56.15 shall be incorporated in customer bills to the extent that § 56.15 applies.

(6) Definitions for the following charges and terms are required in a customer’s bill, if they appear as billing items, as contained in § 62.80 (relating to common natural gas competition terms), and shall be in a distinctly separate section of the bill:

(i) Commodity charges.

(ii) Distribution charges.

(iii) Customer charge/basic charge (charge for basic service in § 56.15).

(iv) Gas cost adjustment charges.

(v) The standard pricing unit of the NGDC, either, ccf, Mcf or Dth.

(7) “General Information” is the required title for customer contact information in a customer’s bill.

(i) The name, address, telephone number and Internet address for the NGS and NGDC shall be included.

(ii) Both NGDC and NGS information in subparagraph (i) is required on all customer bills with the billing entity’s information first.

(8) When a customer chooses the option to receive a separate bill for competitive natural gas supply, the NGDC shall include in a customer’s bill the following information where the NGS charges would normally appear:

(i) The NGS’s name.

(ii) A statement that the customer’s NGS is responsible for the billing of NGS charges.

(9) When a customer chooses the option to receive a single bill from the NGDC, the NGDC shall include in the customer’s bill the name of the NGS where the NGS charges appear.

(10) For customers who have chosen to receive gas supply from a competitive supplier, the customer’s bill shall include the following statements which may appear together in a paragraph:

(i) “Commodity prices and charges are set by the natural gas supplier you have chosen.”

(ii) “The Public Utility Commission regulates distribution prices and services.”

(c) The billing entity shall provide samples of customer bills to the Commission for review prior to issuance to customers.

Notation

Cross References

This section cited in 52 Pa. Code § 56.15 (relating to billing information); 52 Pa. Code § 56.262 (relating to billing information); 52 Pa. Code § 62.71 (relating to purpose); and 52 Pa. Code § 62.224 (relating to POR programs).