Current through all regulations passed and filed through September 16, 2024
(A) This rule applies to competitive retail
electric service (CRES) bills that do not include any electric utility charges.
Requirements for consolidated billing appear in rule
4901:1-21-18 of the
Administrative Code.
(B) A CRES
provider may bill customers directly for competitive retail electric services
or arrange for the electric utility to bill customers for such services
according to a tariff approved by the commission.
(C) Residential and small commercial customer
bills issued by or for CRES providers shall be accurate and understandable, be
rendered at monthly intervals consistent with those of the customer's electric
utility, and contain sufficient information for customers to compute and
compare the total cost of competitive retail electric service(s). Such bills
shall also include:
(1) The customer's name,
billing address, service address, electric utility account number, and, if
applicable, the CRES account number.
(2) The dates of service covered by the bill,
an itemization of each type of competitive service covered by the bill, any
related billing components, the charge for each type of service, and any other
information the customer would need to recalculate the bill for
accuracy.
(3) The applicable
billing determinants, including beginning meter reading(s), ending meter
reading(s), demand meter reading(s), multiplier(s), consumption(s), and
demands.
(4) For customer
generators with net-metering contracts, a statement of the net- metered
generation.
(5) The unit price per
kilowatt hour charged for competitive service, as calculated by dividing the
current-period competitive service charges by the current-period consumption,
or, if applicable, the flat-monthly rate.
(6) An identification of the provider of each
service appearing on the bill.
(7)
A notice in boldface type containing clear explanation for any change of
providers, rates, terms, or conditions of service,
with
such notice
appearing on the first two
consecutive bills following the occurrence of any such changes, excluding the
first billing after the starting date of competitive retail electric
service.
(8) The amount billed for
the current period, any unpaid amounts due from previous periods, any payments
or credits applied to the customer's account during the current period, any
late payment charges or gross and net charges, if applicable, any nonrecurring
charges, and the total amount due and payable.
(9) The due date for payment to keep the
account current. Such due date shall be no less than:
(a) Fourteen calendar days after the postmark
date on the bill for residential customers. For residential bills issued from
outside the state of Ohio, the due date shall not be less than twenty-one
calendar days after the postmark date.
(b) Twenty-one calendar days after the
postmark date on the bill for nonresidential customers.
(10) The current balance of the account, if a
residential customer is billed according to a budget plan.
(11) Options and instructions on how
customers may make their payments.
(12) For each provider whose charges appear
on the bill, a listing of the provider's toll-free telephone number and address
for customer billing questions or complaints.
(13) The following notice:
"If your complaint is not resolved after you have called (name
of CRES provider), or for general utility information, residential and business
customers may contact the public utilities commission of Ohio (PUCO) for
assistance at 1-800-686-7826 (toll free) from eight a.m. to five p.m. weekdays,
or at http://www.puco.ohio.gov.
Hearing or speech impaired customers may contact the PUCO via 7-1-1 (Ohio relay
service).
The Ohio consumers' counsel (OCC) represents residential
utility customers in matters before the PUCO. The OCC can be contacted at
1-877-742-5622 (toll free) from eight a.m. to five p.m. weekdays, or at
http://www.pickocc.org."
(14) The applicable electric
utility's twenty-four hour local or toll-free numbers for reporting service
emergencies.
(15) An identification
of estimated bills or bills not based upon actual end-of-period meter readings
for the period.
(16) An explanation
of any codes and abbreviations used.
(D) If applicable, each CRES provider shall,
upon request, provide customers with the name and street address/location of
the nearest payment center and/or authorized payment agent.
(E) If applicable, when a customer pays the
bill at a payment center or to an authorized payment agent, such payment shall
be credited to the customer's account as of the day it is received by such
payment center or agent.
(F) Each
CRES provider shall establish policies and procedures for handling billing
disputes and requests for payment arrangements.
(G) Each CRES provider shall credit any
customer partial payments in the following order:
(1) Billed and past due CRES provider
charges.
(2) Billed and due current
CRES provider charges.
(3) Other
past due and current non-regulated charges.
Budget billing payments and payments in full of the undisputed
amount related to a bona fide dispute do not constitute partial payments.
Payments made on accounts for which there is a bona fide dispute shall be
credited to the undisputed portion of the account.
(H) Any CRES provider wishing to issue
billing statements online shall comply with the following guidelines:
(1) A customer shall not be required to use
online billing.
(2) No enrollment
or usage fees shall be assessed to a customer who chooses to receive bills
and/or customer information online.
(3) The online billing statement shall
include all requirements listed in paragraph (C) of this rule.
(4) The CRES provider shall maintain a secure
and encrypted site that is to be accessed only by the customer of record after
completing a secure registration process.
(5) Any fees to accept online payments shall
be clearly disclosed in payment window(s).
(6) Any payment made online shall be treated
as a payment made at the company's business office and
be posted to the account in
accordance with paragraph (E) of this rule with
the time needed to post the payment to the
account clearly stated.
(7) If a customer chooses to use online
billing, the customer shall not be restricted to making payments online in the
future. All payment methods shall continue to be available to the
customer.
