Conn. Agencies Regs. § 16-3-102 - Estimated billing
A.
Definitions.
1. Residential
customer as used in Section 16-3-102 means any person to whom a utility company
has agreed to supply utility services at residential premises occupied by that
person alone or with others as a single housekeeping unit.
2. Company as used in Section 16-3-102 means
any gas, electric or water company, corporation or other such entity under the
jurisdiction of the Public Utilities Control Authority which provides utility
services.
3. Utility service as
used in Section 16-3-102 means gas, electric or water service provided by a
utility company to a residential customer at retail rates based upon metered
consumption.
4. Actual reading as
used in Section 16-3-102 means a meter reading obtained directly from the
metering device.
5. Customer
reading as used in Section 16-3-102 means an actual reading obtained by the
customer of the utility service.
6.
Company reading as used in Section 16-3-102 means an actual reading obtained by
a representative of the company.
7.
Actual bill as used in Section 16-3-102 means a bill for utility service
submitted to a residential customer which is based upon an actual
reading.
8. Estimated bill as used
in Section 16-3-102 means a bill for utility service submitted to a residential
customer with charges calculated in accordance with formulae employed to
estimate utility service consumption.
B.
General requirements.
1. Each company which estimates bills shall
file with the Public Utilities Control Authority a current, simple, clear and
concise statement of the formulae employed in preparing its estimates. The
Public Utilities Control Authority may reject such filing and require a new
filing if, after investigation, it determines either that the statement is not
sufficiently clear and concise, or that the formulae employed result in
significant deviations from actual consumption. Each company shall provide a
copy of its filed statement to any customer upon request.
2. After 30 days of the effective date of
this regulation, no company may submit an estimated bill to a customer unless
it currently has on file with the Public Utilities Control Authority a
statement of formulae employed in estimating bills described in the preceding
subsection.
3. After depletion of
its existing, on-hand supply of pre-printed bill forms, but in no event later
than 120 days following the effective date of these regulations, each estimated
bill submitted to a customer must be clearly so marked on its face. Codes or
symbols may be used to designate the bill as being based upon estimated
consumption only if a legend clearly explaining the code or symbol appears on
the face of the bill.
4. An
electric or gas company which serves a substantial number of Spanish speaking
customers shall provide all information relating to estimated bills in Spanish
and English.
C.
Companies' obligation to obtain actual reading.
1. Each company shall obtain a company
reading whenever possible.
2. When
a company is unable to obtain a company reading during any billing period for
which such company reading was scheduled to be made, the company shall provide
the residential customer with a card requesting an immediate customer reading,
instructing the customer that he may provide such customer reading to the
company, and warning the customer that if no customer reading is received by
the company in time to be used in preparing the bill (such time limit to be
specified on the notice), an estimated bill will be issued. The company shall
provide the customer with instructions for furnishing the customer reading to
the company. The company may provide for customer readings by mail or by
telephone or by both methods.
3.
When a company issues estimated bills to a customer for two consecutive billing
periods, the company shall send to the customer through the mails, a notice
which bears the legend "IMPORTANT NOTICE" and which informs the customer that
it is imperative that the company obtain an actual reading in order to prevent
error and hardship. The notice shall inform the customer of the next schedule
visit by a company representative in order to allow the customer to make
arrangements for a company reading, if the customer chooses, or to allow the
customer to make a customer reading on the same date.
D.
Amortization agreements.
1. If a customer receives an actual bill
which follows one or more estimated bills, and the amount of the actual bill
because of the inaccuracy of prior estimation is more than twenty-five percent
larger than the amount of the prior estimated bill, the company shall upon
order of the Public Utilities Control Authority arrange for amortization of the
excess amount of the bill in equal installments at a rate such that the bill
will be fully amortized over a period of not less than equal duration to the
duration of the period during which no actual reading was taken. In cases where
customers request an arrangement for amortization of bills, the companies shall
advise the customer in writing to contact the Public Utilities Control
Authority for an order approving an amortization arrangement.
2. Companies shall make known to their
customers the availability of amortization agreements under this
section.
Notes
State regulations are updated quarterly; we currently have two versions available. Below is a comparison between our most recent version and the prior quarterly release. More comparison features will be added as we have more versions to compare.
No prior version found.