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General Assembly Raised Bill No. 175
February Session, 2020
LCO No. 1668
Referred to Committee on ENERGY AND TECHNOLOGY
Introduced by:
(ET)
AN ACT CONCERNING EL ECTRICITY SHUTOFF NO TIFICATIONS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Assembly convened:
Section 1. Subsection (a) of section 16-262d of the general statutes is 1
repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 2
1, 2020): 3
(a) No electric distribution, gas, telephone or water company, no 4
electric supplier and no municipal utility furnishing electric, gas or 5
water service may terminate such service to a residential dwelling on 6
account of nonpayment of a delinquent account unless such company, 7
electric supplier or municipal utility first gives notice of such 8
delinquency and impending termination by (1) first class mail 9
addressed to the customer to which such service is billed, (2) electronic 10
mail sent to the most recent electronic mail address provided by the 11
customer to which such service is billed, (3) text message sent to the 12
phone number of the most recent mobile telephone, as defined in section 13
14-296aa, provided by the customer to which such service is billed, and 14
(4) a phone call to the phone number of the most recent mobile 15
telephone, as defined in section 14-296aa, provided by the customer to 16 Raised Bill No. 175
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which such service is billed at least thirteen calendar days prior to the 17
proposed termination, except that if an electric distribution or gas 18
company, electric supplier or municipal utility furnishing electric or gas 19
service has issued a notice under this subsection but has not terminated 20
service prior to issuing a new bill to the customer, such company, 21
electric supplier or municipal utility may terminate such service only 22
after mailing the customer an additional notice of the impending 23
termination, addressed to the customer to which such service is billed 24
either [(1)] (A) by first class mail at least thirteen calendar days prior to 25
the proposed termination, or [(2)] (B) by certified mail, at least seven 26
calendar days prior to the proposed termination. In the event that 27
multiple dates of proposed termination are provided to a customer, no 28
such company, electric supplier or municipal utility shall terminate 29
service prior to the latest of such dates. For purposes of this subsection, 30
the thirteen-day periods and seven-day period shall commence on the 31
date such notice is mailed. If such company, electric supplier or 32
municipal utility does not terminate service within one hundred twenty 33
days after mailing the initial notice of termination, such company, 34
electric supplier or municipal utility shall [give] mail the customer a new 35
notice at least thirteen days prior to termination. Every termination 36
notice, except the text message termination notice described in this 37
subsection, issued by a public service company, electric supplier or 38
municipal utility shall contain or be accompanied by an explanation of 39
the rights of the customer provided in subsection (c) of this section. 40
Sec. 2. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2020) (a) On and after January 1, 41
2021, each gas and electric distribution company shall report monthly to 42
the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority the aggregate number of 43
customer utility service: (1) Terminations; (2) disconnections; and (3) 44
reconnections from the preceding month. Each gas and electric 45
distribution company shall report the corresponding data by customer 46
class, hardship status and zip code. 47
(b) On or before January 1, 2021, and annually thereafter, each gas 48
and electric distribution company shall report to the joint standing 49
committee of the General Assembly having cognizance of matters 50 Raised Bill No. 175
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relating to energy the aggregate number of customer utility service: (1) 51
Terminations; (2) disconnections; and (3) reconnections from the 52
preceding year. 53
(c) On or before January 1, 2021, and annually thereafter, each gas 54
and electric distribution company shall report to the authority the 55
aggregate number of customer utility service: (1) Terminations; (2) 56
disconnections; and (3) reconnections from the preceding year. Each gas 57
and electric distribution company shall include information concerning 58
current and historical trends, extenuating circumstances and any other 59
information requested by the authority. 60
Sec. 3. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2020) (a) On or before January 1, 61
2021, the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority shall initiate a 62
proceeding to examine all information provided by the gas and electric 63
distribution companies to a customer prior to termination of the 64
customer's utility service. The examination shall include, but is not 65
limited to, consideration of (1) practices used by the gas and electric 66
distribution companies concerning the due date for payments to avoid 67
termination of utility service; and (2) the display of such due date on the 68
customer's utility bill. On or before July 1, 2021, the authority shall 69
report, in accordance with section 11-4a of the general statutes, the 70
results of such proceeding to the joint standing committee of the General 71
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to energy. 72
(b) On or before January 1, 2021, the gas and electric distribution 73
companies, the Commissioner of Energy and Environmental Protection 74
and the authority shall verify all information relevant to the termination 75
process of a customer's utility service is published on the gas and electric 76
distribution company's respective Internet web sites and the Energize 77
Connecticut Internet web site or its successor. 78
Sec. 4. (NEW) (Effective October 1, 2020) On or before January 1, 2021, 79
the authority shall initiate a proceeding to review the fees charged by 80
gas and electric distribution companies to reconnect a customer's utility 81
service. On or before July 1, 2021, the authority shall report, in 82 Raised Bill No. 175
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accordance with section 11-4a of the general statutes, the results of such 83
proceeding to the joint standing committee of the General Assembly 84
having cognizance of matters relating to energy. 85
Sec. 5. Subdivision (5) of subsection (b) of section 16-262c of the 86
general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu 87
thereof (Effective October 1, 2020): 88
(5) Each gas and electric distribution company shall submit to the 89
Public Utilities Regulatory Authority annually, on or before [July] April 90
first, an implementation plan which shall include information 91
concerning amortization agreements, counseling, reinstatement of 92
eligibility, rate impacts and any other information deemed relevant by 93
the authority. The [Public Utilities Regulatory Authority] authority 94
may, in consultation with the [Office of Policy and Management] 95
Department of Energy and Environmental Protection and the Office of 96
Consumer Counsel, approve or modify such plan within [ninety] one 97
hundred eighty days of receipt of the plan. If the authority does not take 98
any action on such plan within [ninety] one hundred eighty days of its 99
receipt, the plan shall automatically take effect at the end of the [ninety-100
day] one-hundred-eighty-day period, provided the authority may 101
extend such period for an additional thirty days by notifying the 102
company before the end of the [ninety-day] one-hundred-eighty-day 103
period. Any amount recovered by a company in its rates pursuant to 104
this subsection shall not include any amount approved by the [Public 105
Utilities Regulatory Authority] authority as an uncollectible expense. 106
The authority may deny all or part of the recovery required by this 107
subsection if it determines that the company seeking recovery has been 108
imprudent, inefficient or acting in violation of statutes or regulations 109
regarding amortization agreements. 110
This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following
sections:
Section 1 October 1, 2020 16-262d(a)
Sec. 2 October 1, 2020 New section
Sec. 3 October 1, 2020 New section Raised Bill No. 175
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Sec. 4 October 1, 2020 New section
Sec. 5 October 1, 2020 16-262c(b)(5)
Statement of Purpose:
To (1) broaden the notice requirements prior to termination of utility
service to include electronic mail, text message, and phone calls, (2)
require gas and electric distribution companies to report the aggregate
number of utility service terminations, disconnections and
reconnections, and (3) require the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority
to examine the termination practices of the gas and electric distribution
companies and report to the joint standing committee of the General
Assembly having cognizance of matters relating to energy.
[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except
that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not
underlined.]