Current through all regulations passed and filed through December 11, 2023
(A) Each electric utility shall notify
customers annually, by bill insert or other notice, about its summary of
customer rights and responsibilities, as prescribed by rule
4901:1-10-12
of the Administrative Code, and how to request a copy from the electric
utility.
(B) Each electric utility
shall maintain a listing in each incumbent local
exchange carrier's local
directory operating in the electric utility's
certified territory.
(C) Customer
education and marketing practices.
Each electric utility shall provide informational, promotional,
and educational materials that are non-customer specific and explain services,
rates, and options to customers. The staff may review and/or request
modification of informational, promotional, and educational materials. Such
materials, shall include the following information:
(1) An explanation of the service, its
application, and any material exclusions, reservations, restrictions,
limitations, modifications, or conditions.
(2) If services are bundled, an
identification and explanation of service components and associated
prices.
(3) An identification and
explanation of:
(a) Any one-time or
nonrecurring charge(s) (e.g., penalties and open-ended clauses).
(b) Recurring charge(s) (e.g.,
usage).
(4) An
explanation of how the customer can access the approximate generation resource
mix and environmental disclosure data, as prescribed in rule
4901:1-10-31
of the Administrative Code.
(D) Unfair and deceptive acts or practices.
No electric utility shall commit an unfair or deceptive act or practice in
connection with the promotion or provision of service, including an omission of
material information. An unfair or deceptive act/practice includes, but is not
limited to, the following:
(1) An electric
utility states to a customer that distribution service will or may be
disconnected unless the customer pays any amount due for a non-tariffed or
non-regulated service.
(2) An
electric utility charges a customer for a service for which the customer did
not make an initial affirmative order. An affirmative order means that a
customer or applicant for service must positively elect to subscribe to a
service before it is added to the account. Failure to refuse an offered or
proposed service is not an affirmative order for the service.
(E) Customer specific information.
(1) An electric utility shall not disclose a
customer's account number without the customer's consent and proof of that
consent as delineated in paragraph (E)(4) of this rule, or a court or
commission directive ordering disclosure, except for the following purposes:
(a) An electric utility's collections and/or
credit reporting activities.
(b)
Participation in the home energy assistance program, the emergency home energy
assistance program, and programs funded by the universal service fund, pursuant
to section
4928.52
of the Revised Code, such as the percentage of income payment plan
programs.
(c) Cooperation with
governmental aggregation programs, pursuant to section
4928.20
of the Revised Code.
(2)
An electric utility shall not disclose a customer's social security number
without the customer's written consent as delineated in paragraph (E)(4) of
this rule, or without a court order, except for the following purposes:
(a) Completing a customer credit
evaluation.
(b) An electric
utility's or competitive retail electric service (CRES) provider's collections
and/or credit reporting activities.
(c) Participation in the home energy
assistance program, the emergency home energy assistance program, and programs
funded by the universal service fund, pursuant to section
4928.52
of the Revised Code, such as the percentage of income payment plan
programs.
(3) An
electric utility shall not disclose residential customer energy usage data that
is more granular than the monthly historical consumption data, provided on the
customer pre-enrollment list pursuant to paragraph (E) of rule
4901:1-10-29
of the Administrative Code, without the customer's consent,
or as required for billing purposes, or electronic
authorization, or a court or commission directive ordering
disclosure.
(4) Customer
information release consent form
(a) Written
consent shall be on a separate piece of paper and shall be clearly identified
on its face as a release of personal information and all text appearing on the
consent form shall be in at least sixteen-point type. The following statement
shall appear prominently on the consent form, just prior to the signature, in
type darker and larger than the type in surrounding sentences: "I realize that
under the rules and regulations of the public utilities commission of Ohio, I
may refuse to allow (name of the electric utility) to release the information
set forth above. By my signature, I freely give (name of the electric utility)
permission to release the information designated above." The written consent
form for the release of customer energy usage data shall specify the identity
of any recipients of the data, type and granularity of the data being
collected, and uses for which the data is being collected. Forms requiring a
customer to circle or to check off preprinted types of information to be
released may not be used.
(b)
Electronic consent shall be verifiable and in a substantially similar format to
the written consent in paragraph (E)(4)(a) of this rule. The following
statement shall appear prominently: "I realize that under the rules and
regulations of the public utilities commission of Ohio, I may refuse to allow
(name of the electric utility) to release the information set forth above. By
providing my electronic signature, I freely give (name of the electric utility)
permission to release the information designated above."
(5) Nothing in this rule prohibits the
commission from accessing records or business activities of an electric
utility, as provided for in paragraph (B) of rule
4901:1-10-03 of the
Administrative Code.
(F)
Customer load pattern information. An electric utility shall:
(1) Upon request, timely provide twenty-four
months of a customer's usage history, payment history, detailed consumption
data, if available, and time differentiated price data, if applicable, to the
customer without charge.
(2)
Provide generic customer load pattern information, in a universal and
user-friendly file format, to other electric service providers on a comparable
and nondiscriminatory basis. Load pattern information shall be based upon a
minimum of three years of historical customer usage data.
(3) Provide customer-specific information to
CRES providers on a comparable and nondiscriminatory basis as prescribed in
paragraph (E) of rule
4901:1-10-29
of the Administrative Code, unless the customer objects to the disclosure of
such information.
(4) Prior to
issuing any eligible-customer lists and at least four times per calendar year,
provide all customers clear written notice, in billing statements or other
communications, of their right to object to being included on such lists. Such
notice shall include instructions for reporting such objection. This notice
shall read as follows:
"We are required to include your name, address,
usage information, and other customer specific information as identified on
the approved pre-enrollment list displayed on our website and tariffs, on
a list of eligible customers that is made available to other competitive retail
electric service providers. If you do not wish to be included on this list,
please call (electric utility telephone number) or write (electric utility
address). If you have previously made a similar election, your name will
continue to be excluded from the list without any additional action on your
part. If you previously decided not to be included on the list and would like
to reverse that decision, please call or write us at the same telephone number
and address. An election not to be included on this list will not prevent
(electric utility name) from providing your information to governmental
aggregators."
In addition, the electric utility may offer its customers the
option of contacting the electric utility by electronic means and, if it does
so, the electric utility shall add its electronic mail address or web site to
the above notice. The categories of customer specific
information listed on the pre-enrollment shall be displayed in an easily
accessible place on each utility's website for customers to view.
(5) If a customer objects as
provided in paragraphs (F)(3) and (F)(4) of this rule, the electric utility
shall not release such information unless and until the customer affirmatively
indicates that the information may be released.
(G)
To provide
customers with a list of certified CRES providers actively seeking residential
customers within the electric utility's service territory, each electric
utility shall maintain a link on its website directing customers to the
commission's website, energychoiceohio.gov, which offers such
information.
Effective:
11/1/2021
Five Year Review (FYR) Dates:
7/22/2021 and
09/30/2026
Promulgated
Under:
111.15
Statutory Authority: R.C.
4905.22,
4905.04,
4928.06,
4928.11
Rule Amplifies: R.C.
4905.06,
4905.22,
4928.11,
4905.37
Prior Effective Dates: 07/01/1999, 09/18/2000, 01/01/2004,
06/29/2009, 12/20/2014