Current through all regulations passed and filed through September 16, 2024
(A) This rule applies to a competitive retail
electric service (CRES) provider that issues customers a consolidated electric
bill that includes both electric utility and CRES provider charges for electric
services. Nothing in this rule affects the obligations of the electric utility
to provide disconnection notices.
(B) A supplier agreement between an electric
utility and a CRES provider must provide that if the CRES provider collects
customer payments on behalf of the electric utility, the customer's liability
to the electric utility ceases to the extent of the payment made and applicable
to the customer's account.
(C)
Consolidated bills shall be accurate, rendered at monthly intervals, and
contain clear and understandable form
and language. All consolidated customer bills issued by or on behalf of an
electric utility and a CRES provider must include at least the following
information:
(1) The customer's name, billing
address, and service address.
(2)
The electric utility's twenty-four hour, local or toll-free number for
reporting service emergencies.
(3)
The dates of the service period covered by the bill.
(4) Current electric charges, separated from
gas charges, if these charges appear on the same bill, but only to the extent
that the biller provides both electric and gas services.
(5) Applicable billing determinants:
beginning meter read, ending meter read, demand meter read, multipliers,
consumption, and demand.
(6)
Identification of estimated bills.
(7) Any nonrecurring charge(s).
(8) Net-metered usage for customer
generators, if applicable.
(9) Each
charge for nontariffed and/or nonregulated service or product, if applicable,
and the name and toll-free number of each provider of such
service(s).
(10) Amount due for
previous billing period.
(11) Total
payments, late payment charges or gross/net charges, and total credits applied
during the billing period.
(12)
Total consolidated amount due and payable, or, if applicable, the total
consolidated budget bill amount.
(13) Due date for payment to keep the account
current. The due date for residential bills shall not be less than fourteen
calendar days from the date of postmark. For residential bills being issued
from outside the state of Ohio the due date shall not be less than twenty-one
calendar days.
(14) Name and
address of company to whom payments should be made.
(15) The following notice:
"If your complaint is not resolved after you have called your
electric supplier and/or your electric utility, 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."
(16) An explanation of codes and
abbreviations used.
(17) At a
minimum, definitions for the following terms, or like terms used by the
company, if applicable: customer charge, delivery charge, estimated reading,
generation charge, kilowatt hour (kWh), shopping incentive or shopping credit,
late payment charge, and transition charge.
(18) The price-to-compare for residential
bills and a notice that such customers can obtain a written explanation of the
price-to-compare from their electric utility.
(D) In addition to the information required
pursuant to paragraph (C) of this rule, each consolidated bill issued must
include, in that portion of the bill which details the charges from the
electric utility, at least the following information:
(1) Electric utility account
number.
(2) Applicable rate
schedule.
(3) A numerical statement
of the customer's historical consumption for each of the preceding twelve
months, and both the total and average consumption for such twelve-month
period.
(4) Specific tariffed
charges to the extent applicable: customer charge, delivery charge, transition
charge, shopping incentive or shopping credit, and other conceptually similar
tariffed charges.
(5) If the
customer is on a budget plan with the electric utility only, the monthly budget
amount and current balance of electric utility account.
(6) Current charges.
(7) The electric utility's local or toll-free
number and address for questions and complaints.
(E) In addition to the information required
pursuant to paragraph (C) of this rule, each consolidated bill issued must
include, in that portion of the bill which details the charges from the CRES
provider, at least the following information:
(1) Customer's CRES account number, if
different from the electric utility account number.
(2) To the extent applicable, itemization for
each charge including: for fixed-price offers, the unit price per kWh for
competitive service; for all other offers for electric generation service, an
explanation of how the rate is derived; and any other information the customer
would need to recalculate the bill for accuracy.
(3) If the customer is on a budget plan with
the CRES provider only, the monthly budget amount and the current balance of
the CRES account.
(4) Current
charges.
(5) A highlighted notice
of any change in rates, terms, or conditions appearing on the first two
consecutive bills following the occurrence of any such changes and a clear
explanation of each change.
(6) For
flat-monthly rate offers, a specific listing of the rate to be charged per
month for the duration of the contract.
(F) Consolidated bill format. Any new
consolidated bill format proposed by a CRES provider shall be filed with the
commission for approval. If an application for a consolidated bill format is
not acted upon by the commission within forty-five days after it is filed, the
consolidated bill format shall be deemed approved on the forty- sixth day after
filing.
(G) Transfer of customer
billing information.
(1) The non-billing
electric utility shall furnish the applicable required bill content information
to the billing party in a timely manner and in a mutually agreed upon
electronic format for inclusion in the consolidated customer bill.
(2) The billing CRES provider shall include
in the consolidated bill all required bill content information furnished by the
nonbilling electric utility.
(3) An
entity ordered by the commission to provide any bill content, message, insert,
or notice remains responsible to provide such information to its customers,
although the information may be provided through the consolidated
bill.
(H) Partial
payment priority.
(1) A customer's partial
payment shall be credited in the following order:
(a) Billed and past due CRES provider charges
or, if applicable, CRES provider payment arrangement or past due CRES provider
budget billing.
(b) Billed and past
due electric utility distribution, standard offer generation, and transmission
charges or, if applicable, electric utility payment arrangement or past due
electric utility budget billing.
(c) Billed and due current electric utility
distribution and transmission charges or current electric utility budget
billing.
(d) Billed and due current
CRES provider charges or current CRES provider budget billing.
(e) Other past due and current nonregulated
charges, excluding CRES charges.
(2) Exceptions to the partial payment
priority.
(a) 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.
(b) If a customer pays an agreed-upon
electric utility and/or CRES budget payment amount, then that payment shall be
considered payment in full for the current bill.
(I) Upon the customer's switch
from a CRES provider, the billing party shall identify for the customer and
state on the bill as of what date the billing party will no longer remit
payments to the previous CRES provider and any outstanding balance due to the
previous CRES provider.
(J) Any
CRES provider wishing to issue consolidated 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 paragraphs (C), (D), and (E)
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 rule
4901:1-21-14 of the
Administrative Code. The time needed to post the payment shall be 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.
