Current through all regulations passed and filed through September 16, 2024
(A) Each utility company may require an
applicant for residential service to satisfactorily establish financial
responsibility. If the applicant has previously been a customer of that utility
company, the utility company may require the residential applicant to establish
financial responsibility pursuant to paragraph (C) of rule
4901:1-17-04
of the Administrative Code. Each utility company may use a credit check,
pursuant to paragraph (A)(2) of this rule, as the first criterion by which an
applicant may establish financial responsibility. If the results of the credit
check, at the time of the application do not establish financial responsibility
for the applicant or the applicant refuses to provide his/her social security
number, each utility company shall then advise the applicant of each of the
remaining criteria available under this rule to establish financial
responsibility. If the utility company requires an applicant to provide
additional information to establish financial responsibility, such as
identification or written documentation, then the utility company shall confirm
with the applicant when it receives the requested information. An applicant's
financial responsibility will be deemed established if the applicant meets any
one of the following criteria:
(1) The
applicant is the owner of the premises to be served or of other real estate
within the territory served by the utility company and has demonstrated
financial responsibility under either of the following conditions:
(a) With respect to that property, if the
applicant owns only the premises to be served.
(b) With respect to any other real estate
within the service territory served by the utility company, if the applicant
owns multiple properties.
(2) The applicant demonstrates that he/she is
a satisfactory credit risk by means that may be quickly and inexpensively
checked by the utility company. Under this provision, the utility company may
request the applicant's social security number in order to obtain credit
information and to establish identity. The utility company may not refuse to
provide service if the applicant elects not to provide his/her social security
number. If the applicant declines the utility company's request for a social
security number, the utility company shall inform the applicant of all other
options for establishing creditworthiness.
(3) The applicant demonstrates that he/she
has had the same class and a similar type of utility service within a period of
twenty-four consecutive months preceding the date of application, unless
utility company records indicate that the applicant's service was disconnected
for nonpayment during the last twelve consecutive months of service, or the
applicant had received two consecutive bills with past due balances during that
twelve-month period and provided further that the financial responsibility of
the applicant is not otherwise impaired.
When an applicant requests a copy of his/her payment history to
satisfy paragraph (A)(3) of this rule, each utility company shall provide a
customer, at his/her request, written information reflecting the customer's
payment history. The utility company shall provide this information within five
business days of this request.
(4) The applicant makes a cash deposit to
secure payment of bills for the utility company's service as prescribed in rule
4901:1-17-05
of the Administrative Code. Utility companies are prohibited from requiring
percentage of income payment plan customers to pay a security
deposit.
(5) The applicant
furnishes a creditworthy guarantor to secure payment of bills in an amount
sufficient for a sixty-day supply for the service requested. If a third party
agrees to be a guarantor for a utility customer, he or she shall meet the
criteria as defined in paragraph (A) of this rule or otherwise be creditworthy.
The guarantor and/or the utility company shall also comply with the following:
(a) The guarantor shall be a customer of the
utility company.
(b) The guarantor
shall sign the written guarantor agreement provided by the commission in
appendix A to this rule, which will also be posted on the commission's website
. The utility company
shall provide the guarantor with a copy of the signed agreement upon request
and shall keep the original on file during the term of the guaranty.
(c) The utility company shall send to the
guarantor a copy of all disconnection notices sent to the guaranteed
customer.
(d) The utility company
shall send a notice to the guarantor when the guaranteed customer requests a
transfer of service to a new location. The transfer of service notice shall
display all of the following information:
(i)
The name of the guaranteed customer.
(ii) The address of the current guaranteed
customer's service location.
(iii)
A statement that the transfer of service to the new location may affect the
guarantor's liability.
(iv) A
statement that, if the guarantor does not want to continue the guaranty at the
new service location, the guarantor must provide thirty days' written notice to
the utility company to end the guaranty.
(e) Under the circumstances where a
guarantor's utility service is subject to disconnection, the utility company
shall, within ten calendar days, advise the customer who provided the guarantor
that the guarantor's responsibility to the customer's account will end by a
specific date (thirty days from the date of the notice to the guaranteed
customer). The utility company shall also advise the customer that, prior to
the specific end date stated in the notice, he/she must reestablish credit
through one of the alternate means set forth in paragraph (A) of this rule, or
be subject to disconnection according to the applicable disconnection rules in
Chapter 4901:1-15 of the Administrative Code (waterworks and/or sewage
disposal) and Chapter 4901:1-18 of the Administrative Code (electric, gas, and natural gas).
(f) The guarantor shall not be on the PIPP
plus, graduate PIPP plus, or have PIPP arrearages. If a guarantor enrolls in
these programs, the customer no longer qualifies to be a guarantor and the
previously guaranteed customer will be required to provide another form of
security.
(B)
The establishment of credit under the provisions of these rules, or the
reestablishment of credit under the provisions of rule
4901:1-17-04
of the Administrative Code, shall not relieve the applicant or customer from
compliance with the regulations of the utility company regarding advance
payments and payment of bills by the due date, and shall not modify any
regulations of the utility company as to the discontinuance of service for
nonpayment.
(C) Upon default by a
customer who has furnished a guarantor as provided in paragraph (A)(5) of this
rule, the utility company may pursue collection actions against the defaulting
customer and the guarantor in the appropriate court, or the utility company may
transfer the defaulting customer's bill to the guarantor's account. The
defaulted amount transferred to the guarantor's account shall not be greater
than the amount billed to the defaulting customer for sixty days of service or
two monthly bills. After thirty days from the transfer, the utility company may
make the guarantor subject to disconnection procedures, if the amount
transferred still remains unpaid.
(D) An applicant who owes an unpaid bill for
previous residential service, whether the bill is owed as a result of service
provided to that applicant or is owed under a guarantor agreement, shall not
have satisfactorily established or reestablished his/her financial
responsibility as long as the bill remains unpaid.
4901:1-17-03 Appendix
Appendix: Guarantor agreement form
https://puco.ohio.gov/wps/portal/gov/puco/utilities/electricity/resources/guarantor-form
Click to view
Appendix
