Pennsylvania Code
Title 52 - PUBLIC UTILITIES
Part I - Public Utility Commission
Subpart C - Fixed Service Utilities
Chapter 56 - STANDARDS AND BILLING PRACTICES FOR RESIDENTIAL PUBLIC UTILITY SERVICE
Subchapter M - BILLING AND PAYMENT STANDARDS
GENERAL
Section 56.267 - Advance payments
Universal Citation: 52 PA Code ยง 56.267
Current through Register Vol. 54, No. 38, September 21, 2024
Payments may be required in advance of furnishing any of the following services:
(1) Seasonal service.
(2) The construction of facilities and furnishing of special equipment.
(3) Gas and electric rendered through prepayment meters provided:
(i) The customer
is nonlow income. For purposes of this section, "nonlow income" is defined as
an individual who has an annual household gross income greater than 150% of the
Federal poverty income guidelines and has a delinquency for which the
individual is requesting a payment agreement but offering terms that the public
utility, after consideration of the factors in §
56.337(b)
(relating to procedures upon customer or occupant contact prior to
termination), finds unacceptable.
(ii) The service is being rendered to an
individually-metered residential dwelling, and the customer and occupants are
the only individuals affected by the installation of a prepayment
meter.
(iii) The customer and
public utility enter into a payment agreement which includes, but is not
limited to, the following terms:
(A) The
customer voluntarily agrees to the installation of a prepayment
meter.
(B) The customer agrees to
purchase prepayment credits to maintain service until the total balance is
retired and the public utility agrees to make new credits available to the
customer within 5 days of receipt of prepayment.
(C) The public utility agrees to furnish the
customer with emergency backup credits for additional usage of at least 5
days.
(D) The customer agrees that
failure to renew the credits by making prepayment for additional service
constitutes a request for discontinuance under §
56.312(1)
(relating to discontinuance of service), except during a medical emergency, and
that discontinuance will occur when the additional usage on the emergency
backup credits runs out.
(iv) The public utility develops a written
plan for a prepayment meter program, consistent with the criteria established
in this section, and submits the plan to the Commission at least 30 days in
advance of the effective date of the program.
(v) During the first 2 years of use of
prepayment meters, the public utility thoroughly and objectively evaluates the
use of prepayment meters in accordance with the following:
(A)
Content. The evaluation
should include both process and impact components. Process evaluation should
focus on whether the use of prepayment meters conforms to the program design
and should assess the degree to which the program operates efficiently. The
impact evaluation should focus on the degree to which the program achieves the
continuation of public utility service to participants at reasonable cost
levels. The evaluation should include an analysis of the costs and benefits of
traditional collections or alternative collections versus the costs and
benefits of handling nonlow income positive ability to pay customers through
prepayment metering. This analysis should include comparisons of customer
payment behavior, energy consumption, administrative costs and actual
collection costs.
(B)
Time
frame. The process evaluation should be undertaken during the middle
of the first year; the impact evaluation at least by the end of the second
year.
(4) Temporary service for short-term use, including installation and removal, with credit for reasonable salvage.
The provisions of this §56.267 amended under the Public Utility Code, 66 Pa.C.S. § § 501, 1301, 1401-1419, 1501 and 1509.
Disclaimer: These regulations may not be the most recent version. Pennsylvania may have more current or accurate information. We make no warranties or guarantees about the accuracy, completeness, or adequacy of the information contained on this site or the information linked to on the state site. Please check official sources.
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