Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 52, December 27, 2024
a
Intent: The purpose of this Section is to provide adequate notice and reason
for disconnection; allow for the customer to remedy the problem and avoid
disconnection; create an expectation to act upon notice by a utility when a
customer does not remedy the problem; and set prohibitions and limits on
disconnection under certain circumstances.
b Allowable Reasons for Disconnection:
1 Non-payment of past due bill for the same
class and type of utility service;
2 Non-payment of valid utility service
deposit owing on account;
3
Non-payment of a deposit owing as result of utility evidence of a problem
described in Section
280.210;
4 Failure to provide access in multi-meter
premises to utility facilities after attempts by the utility to gain access as
described in Section
280.140;
5 Failure to provide access to utility
facilities after four attempts (two attempts if in order to meet regulatory
requirements) by the utility to gain access to a single customer premises,
provided that the utility must comply with the same notification and record
keeping requirements as in Section
280.140(c)(1), (2)
and (3);
6 Occupant usage without a valid customer of
record;
7 Theft of service and/or
tampering;
8 Non-compliance with
any rules of the utility on file with the Commission for which the utility is
authorized by tariff to disconnect service in the event of
non-compliance;
9 Non-compliance
with an order of the Commission;
10 Unsafe conditions; or
11 Cooperation with civil
authorities.
c
Non-deniable Charges: The following shall not constitute valid reasons for
disconnection of regulated utility services:
1
Charges for non-utility services, unless otherwise authorized by Illinois
statute;
2 Charges for another
class (residential or non-residential) of utility service;
3 Charges for another type (gas, electric,
water or sewer, unless water and sewer utility service are provided by the same
utility) of utility service;
4
Charges for equipment or merchandise unless otherwise authorized by statute;
or
5 Charges currently in dispute
under Section
280.220 or
Section
280.230.
d Disconnection Notice Content:
Utility disconnection notices shall conform with Appendices A, B and D and
shall include at least:
1 Date
issued;
2 Effective date;
3 Reason for disconnection;
4 Options for the customer to prevent
disconnection;
5 Contact
information for the utility;
6
Contact information for the Commission's Consumer Services Division;
and
7 Medical certification process
and customer bill of rights in Appendix B.
e Method of Disconnection Notice Delivery:
1 All utility disconnection notices shall be
sent separately from any other mailing to the customer.
2 The notice shall be sent by U.S. Mail or
hand delivered.
3 The utility shall
record the date the notice is sent or delivered and retain that record for two
years.
4 If the utility and
customer have agreed to electronic communications, a utility shall submit a
duplicate notice to the customer electronically as long as it has also mailed
or hand delivered a paper version of the notice to the customer.
f Third Party Notice: A customer
may designate, by written request to the utility, that a third party will be
sent or delivered a duplicate notice whenever a disconnection notice is sent or
delivered to the customer. The utility will send or deliver any third party
notice at the same time as the notice is sent or delivered to the
customer.
g Timing of Notice:
1 When notice shall be sent: A utility shall
not send or deliver a disconnection notice until after one of the reasons
described in subsection (b) occurs.
2 Effective date: The utility shall not
disconnect service until at least 10 days after the sending or delivery of the
notice to the customer.
3 Duration
of notice: The notice shall remain effective for 45 days after it is sent or
delivered.
4 Overlapping notices: A
utility may send or deliver a new notice prior to the expiration of a previous
notice. The customer shall be entitled to the remedies offered in the previous
notice until the effective date of the new notice.
5 The customer's regular monthly bill shall
not be considered a new disconnection notice or operate to extend the due date
of a previously issued disconnection notice.
h Exemptions to Notice Requirements:
Disconnection notices substantially in the form of Appendix A shall be required
prior to all disconnections of service, except in cases of:
1 Occupant usage without a customer of
record, provided that the utility shall refer to subsection (i) for special
provisions related to occupant usage;
2 Theft of service and/or
tampering;
3 Unsafe
conditions;
4 Cooperation with
civil authorities;
5 Outages and
maintenance work; or
6 The current
customer has requested the service be disconnected.
i Warning Letter Required Instead of Appendix
A (Disconnection Notice for Occupant Usage without Valid Customer):
1 When the utility has left the service on at
a premises and there is usage without a customer of record, it shall send or
deliver a warning letter to the premises address, containing the utility's toll
free contact information, advising that an applicant must contact the utility
to become a new customer or the service will have to be disconnected after 10
days.
2 If the utility has contact
information for the landlord or property manager of the premises, a duplicate
warning letter shall be sent or delivered to that person at the same time as
the warning letter to the premises.
3 If there is no response within 10 days
after the sending of the warning letter, the utility shall have the right to
disconnect the service.
4 The
utility shall not be obliged to send a warning letter to a premises when it
disconnects service within 10 days after the date that the current customer
requests as the date the utility will shut off and end that customer's
service.
j Warning Call
to Residential and Master-Metered Customers:
1
Unless the customer has no phone number on record, the utility shall provide a
warning call to the customer a minimum of 48 hours prior to the scheduled
disconnection.
2 The warning call
may be live or automated, and it shall advise the customer of the utility's
intent to disconnect the service. A second call shall be required 24 hours
prior to the schedule disconnection if the first call does not reach a person
or an answering machine.
3 The
warning call shall provide the customer with the toll free or local phone
numbers that the customer may use to contact the utility to discuss the
situation.
4 The utility shall make
a record of the date and time of day of, and its success or failure in reaching
the customer through, the warning call. It shall retain the record for two
years.
k Obligation to
Act:
1 When a utility has sent or hand
delivered four consecutive disconnection notices to the same customer for the
same unremedied reason for disconnection under subsection (b), it shall not
send a fifth notice of disconnection for the same unremedied reason unless its
effort to disconnect the service has failed. Such failure shall include any
temporary moratoriums that would prevent the utility from attempting to
disconnect service during the effective period of the disconnection
notice.
2 If the utility's effort
to disconnect the service fails, the utility shall record the date, time of
day, utility personnel involved and a description of the reason for the
failure. It shall retain this record for two years.
l Time of Day and Day of the Week
Prohibitions and Limits: Except for matters of safety, emergency maintenance
and cooperation with civil authorities, a utility shall comply with the
following prohibitions and limits upon disconnection:
1 Non-business hours prohibition: A utility
shall not disconnect a customer within one hour before or at any time during
which it does not have its customer service personnel available to handle the
customer's contact.
2 Weekday
afternoon limits: A utility shall not disconnect a customer after 4:00 PM on
Monday through Thursday unless the utility is prepared to take the customer's
payment and reconnect the customer that same day if the customer remedies the
reason for the disconnection.
3
Friday limits: A utility shall not disconnect a residential customer after noon
on Friday or a non-residential customer after 4:00 PM on Friday, unless it is
prepared to take the customer's payment and reconnect the customer that same
day if the customer remedies the reason for the disconnection.
4 Weekend limits: A utility shall not
disconnect a customer on Saturday or Sunday unless it is prepared to take the
customer's payment and reconnect the customer that same day if the customer
remedies the reason for the disconnection.
5 Holiday limits: A utility shall not
disconnect a customer on a State of Illinois or utility holiday, or after noon
on any day preceding a State of Illinois or utility holiday, unless the utility
is prepared to take the customer's payment and reconnect the customer that same
day if the customer remedies the reason for the disconnection.
m Medical Certification: A utility
shall not disconnect service to a residence for 60 days upon receipt of a valid
medical certificate for a resident of the household, so long as the account is
eligible for medical certification under Section
280.160.
n Temperature Prohibitions:
1 Cold weather:
Termination of gas
and electric utility service to all residential users, including all tenants of
apartment buildings where gas or electricity is used as the only source of
space heating or to control or operate the only space heating equipment, is
prohibited:
A
On any day when
the National Weather Service forecast for the following 24 hours covering the
area of the utility in which the residence or master-metered apartment building
is located includes a forecast that the temperature will be 32 degrees
Fahrenheit or below; or
B
On any day preceding a holiday or weekend when the National
Weather Service forecast covering the area of the utility in which the
residence or master-metered apartment building is located includes a
forecast that the temperature will be 32 degrees Fahrenheit or below at
any time during the holiday or weekend. [220 ILCS
5/8-205(a)]
2 Hot weather:
If gas or electricity
is used as the only source of space cooling or to control or operate the only
space cooling equipment at a residence or master-metered apartment building,
then a utility with over 100,000 residential customers may not terminate gas or
electric utility service to the residential user, including all tenants of
master-metered apartment buildings:A
On any day when the National Weather Service forecast for the following
24 hours covering the area of the utility in which the residence or
master-metered apartment building is located includes a forecast that the
temperature will be 95 degrees Fahrenheit or above; or
B
On any day preceding a holiday or
weekend when the National Weather Service forecast covering the area
of the utility in which the residence or master-metered apartment building is
located includes a forecast that the temperature will be 95 degrees
Fahrenheit or above at any time during the holiday or weekend.
[220 ILCS
5/8-205(b)]
o Energy Act of 1989 Participants
(Low Income Customers) Winter Disconnection Prohibition:
Notwithstanding any other provision of this Part, no
electric or gas public utility shall disconnect service to any residential
customer who is a participant under Section 6 of the Energy Assistance Act of
1989 [305
ILCS 20/6] for nonpayment of a bill or deposit
where gas or electricity is used to control or operate the primary source of
space heating equipment at the premises during the period of time from December
1 and including March 31 of the immediately succeeding calendar year.
[220 ILCS
5/8-206(k)]
p Electric Space-Heating Customer Winter
Disconnection Prohibition: A utility that served more than 100,000
electric customers in Illinois as of December 31, 2005 shall not terminate
electric service to a residential space heating customer for non-payment from
December 1 through March 31. [220
ILCS 5/16-111.6]
q Military Personnel on Active Duty
Disconnection Prohibition: No utility shall for nonpayment stop gas or
electricity from entering the residential premises that was the primary
residence of a service member immediately before the service member was
assigned to military service. [220 ILCS
5/8-201.5(b)]
r Service Member or Veteran Disconnection
Prohibition: No electric or gas public utility shall disconnect service
to any residential customer who has notified the utility that he or she is a
service member or veteran for nonpayment of a bill or deposit where gas or
electricity is used as the primary source of space heating or is used to
control or operate the primary source of space heating equipment at the
premises during the period of time from December 1 through and including March
31 of the immediately succeeding calendar year. [220 ILCS
5/8-206(l)]
