Current through Reg. 50, No. 13; March 28, 2025
(a)
Applicability. This section applies to a retail public utility that is required
to possess a certificate of convenience and necessity to provide retail water
or sewer utility service under §
24.225 of this title, (relating to
Certificate of Convenience and Necessity (CCN) Required) an affiliate of such a
retail public utility, and a district or affected county that provides retail
water or sewer utility service.
(b)
Definitions. The following words and terms, when used in this section, have the
following meanings, unless the context indicates otherwise:
(1) Affected customer--a customer of an
entity to which this section applies that receives retail water or sewer
service from that entity in an area experiencing an extreme weather emergency
and has a bill due during the extreme weather emergency.
(2) Extreme weather emergency--a period
beginning when the previous day's highest temperature in an area did not exceed
28 degrees Fahrenheit and the temperature is predicted to remain at or below
that level for the next 24 hours according to the nearest National Weather
Service reports for that area. For purposes of this section, an extreme weather
emergency is over on the second business day the temperature exceeds 28 degrees
Fahrenheit.
(3) Payment
schedule--an agreement between an entity to which this section applies and an
affected customer that allows the customer to pay, in one or more installments,
an unpaid bill due during an extreme weather emergency after its due
date.
(c) Prohibited
actions. An entity to which this section applies is prohibited from imposing a
late fee on, or disconnecting the retail water or sewer service of, an affected
customer for nonpayment of a bill that is due during an extreme weather
emergency until after the extreme weather emergency is over.
(d) One-time notice. On or before January 31,
2023, an entity to which this section applies must provide to each water or
sewer customer a one-time written notice of the requirements of this section.
(1) The written notice must be in plain
English and Spanish and inform the customer that its retail water or sewer
service provider is:
(A) prohibited from
imposing late fees or disconnecting retail water or sewer service for
nonpayment of bills that are due during an extreme weather emergency until
after the emergency is over;
(B)
required to offer a payment schedule to a requesting affected customer for
unpaid bills due during an extreme weather emergency; and
(C) prohibited from disconnecting the retail
water or sewer service for nonpayment of bills due during an extreme weather
emergency of an affected customer that has requested a payment schedule until
after the payment schedule has been offered and the affected customer has
either declined to accept the payment schedule in a timely fashion or violated
the terms of the payment schedule.
(2) The written notice may be provided as a
billing insert or a separate communication, and must be delivered by first
class mail, hand delivered, or provided electronically to affected customers
that have agreed to receive communications electronically.
(3) Commission staff may develop standard
notice language in English and Spanish and post the standard notice language on
the commission's website. An entity may use this standard notice language as
part of its written notice to comply with paragraph (1) of this
subsection.
(e) Payment
schedule. An affected customer may request to establish a payment schedule for
unpaid bills that are due during an extreme weather emergency. An entity to
which this section applies that receives such a request within 30 days from the
date the extreme weather emergency ends must offer the requesting affected
customer a payment schedule and a deadline for accepting the payment schedule.
A payment schedule may be established in person, by telephone, or online, but
all payment schedules must be reduced to writing and provided to the customer.
(1) A payment schedule offered under this
subsection may:
(A) include a finance charge,
conspicuously stated on the payment schedule, for late fees on the payment
schedule not to exceed an annual rate of 10 percent simple interest;
and
(B) require payment in one or
more installments.
(2) A
payment schedule offered under this subsection must:
(A) be written in plain language in English
and, if requested, Spanish;
(B)
identify the total amount due, and, if payment is to be made in multiple
installments, the number of installments and the amount of each
installment;
(C) the deadline for
payment, or if payment is to be made in multiple installments, the deadline for
each installment;
(D) identify the
dates the extreme weather event occurred, and the due dates and amounts owed of
any bills that were due during the extreme weather event; and
(E) include a statement, in a clear and
conspicuous type, that states "If you are not satisfied with this agreement, or
if the agreement was made by telephone and you feel this does not reflect your
understanding of that agreement, contact (insert name and contact information
of service provider)."
(3) An entity to which this section applies
is prohibited from disconnecting the retail water or sewer service for
nonpayment of bills due during an extreme weather emergency of an affected
customer that has requested a payment schedule until after the payment schedule
has been offered and the customer has either declined to accept the payment
schedule in a timely fashion or violated the terms of the payment schedule. Any
preexisting disconnection notices issued to an affected customer for nonpayment
of a bill due during an extreme weather emergency are suspended upon the timely
request for a payment schedule under this subsection. If the affected customer
does not timely accept the offered payment schedule or violates the terms of
the payment schedule, any suspended disconnection notices are reinstated, and
the entity may renegotiate the terms of the payment schedule or disconnect
service on or after the disconnection date listed on the disconnection notice.
If the affected customer does not timely accept the offered payment schedule or
violates the terms of the payment schedule and there is not a preexisting
disconnection notice, the entity must issue a disconnection notice under §
24.167 of this title (related to
Discontinuance of Service) prior to disconnecting the water or sewer service of
the affected customer.
(f) Enforcement. An entity that violates this
section may be subject to civil penalties under §
24.364 of this title (relating to
Civil Penalties for Late Fees and Disconnections During an Extreme Weather
Emergency for Nonpayment) and any other enforcement actions permitted by
law.
