(3)
Water meter requirements.
a.
Water meter installation. Each water utility shall adopt a
written standard method of meter installation. Copies of standard methods shall
be made available upon request. All meters shall be set in place by the
utility.
b.
Records of
water meters and associated metering devices. Each water utility shall
maintain for each meter and associated metering device the following applicable
data.
(1) Meter identification.
1. Manufacturer.
2. Meter type, catalog number, and serial
number.
3. Meter
capacity.
4. Registration unit of
measurement (gallons or cubic feet).
5. Number of moving digits or dials on
register.
6. Number of fixed zeros
on register.
7. Pressure rating of
the meter.
(2) Meter
location history.
1. Dates of installation and
removal from service.
2. Location
of installations.
3. All customer
names with readings and read out dates.
Remote register readings shall be maintained identical to
readings of the meter register.
c.
Registration devices for
meters. Where remote meter reading is used, the customer shall have a
readable meter register at the meter.
d.
Water meter readings.
(1) Water meter reading interval. Reading of
all meters used for determining charges to customers shall be scheduled at
least quarterly. An effort shall be made to read meters on corresponding days
of each meter reading period. The meter reading date may be advanced or
postponed no more than ten days without adjustment of the billing for the
period.
(2) Customer water meter
reading. The utility may permit the customer to supply the meter readings on a
form supplied by the utility or, in the alternative, may permit the customer to
supply the meter reading information by telephone, or electronically, provided
a utility representative reads the meter at least once every 12 months and when
there is a change of customer.
(3)
Readings and estimates in unusual situations. When a customer is connected or
disconnected, or the regular meter reading date is substantially revised
causing a given billing period to be longer or shorter than usual, the bill
shall be prorated on a daily basis.
(4) Estimated bill. An estimated bill may be
rendered in the event that access to a meter cannot be gained and a meter
reading form left with the customer is not returned in time for the billing
operation. Only in unusual cases shall more than three consecutive estimated
bills be rendered.
(5)Extensions to customers.
a.
Definitions. The
following definitions shall apply to the terms used in this subrule:
"Advances for construction costs" means cash
payments or surety bonds or an equivalent surety made to the utility by an
applicant for an extension, portions of which may be refunded depending on any
subsequent connections made to the extension. Cash payments, surety bonds, or
equivalent sureties shall include a grossed-up amount for the income tax effect
of such revenue.
"Agreed-upon attachment period" means a
period of not less than 30 days nor more than one year mutually agreed upon by
the utility and the applicant within which the customer will attach. If no time
period is mutually agreed upon, the agreed-upon attachment period shall be
deemed to be 30 days.
"Contribution in aid of construction" means
a nonrefundable cash payment covering the costs of an extension that are in
excess of utility-funded allowances. Cash payments shall be grossed-up for the
income tax effect of such revenue. The amount of tax shall be reduced by the
present value of the tax benefits to be obtained by depreciating the property
in determining the tax liability.
"Customer advance for construction record"
means a separate record established and maintained by the utility, which
includes by depositor, the amount of advance for construction provided by the
customer, whether the advance is by cash or surety bond or equivalent surety,
and if by surety bond, all relevant information concerning the bond or
equivalent surety, the amount of refund, if any, to which the depositor is
entitled, the amount of refund, if any, which has been made to the customer,
the amount unrefunded, and the construction project on which or work order
pursuant to which the extension was installed.
"Estimated annual revenues" means an
estimated calculation of annual revenue based upon the following factors,
including but not limited to: the size of the facility to be used by the
customer, the size and type of equipment to be used by the customer, the
average annual amount of service required by the equipment, and the average
number of hours per day and days per year the equipment will be in use.
"Estimated construction costs" means an
estimated calculation of construction costs using average costs in accordance
with good engineering practices and based upon the following factors: amount of
service required or desired by the customer requesting the extension; size,
location and characteristics of the extension, including all appurtenances; and
whether or not the ground is frozen or whether other adverse conditions exist.
The average cost per foot shall be calculated utilizing the prior calendar year
costs, to the extent such cost basis does not exceed the current costs using
current construction cost methodologies, resources and material, and working
conditions, divided by the total feet of extensions by size of pipe for the
prior calendar year. In no event shall estimated construction costs include
costs associated with facilities built for the convenience of the
utility.
"Extensions" means a distribution main
extension.
"Similarly situated customer" means a
customer whose annual consumption or service requirements, as defined by
estimated annual revenue, are approximately the same as the annual consumption
or service requirements of other customers.
b.
Terms and conditions. The
utility shall extend service to new customers under the following terms and
conditions:
(1) The utility shall provide all
water plant additions at its cost and expense without requiring an advance for
construction or contribution in aid of construction from customers or
developers except in those unusual circumstances where extensive plant
additions are required before the customer can be served or where the customer
will not attach within the agreed-upon attachment period after completion of
construction. In such instances, the utility shall require, no more than 30
days prior to commencement of construction, the customer or developer to
advance funds which are subject to refund as additional customers are attached.
A contract between the utility and the customer which requires an advance by
the customer to make plant additions shall be available for board
inspection.
(2) Where the customer
will attach within 30 days after completion of the distribution main extension,
the following shall apply:
1. If the estimated
construction cost to provide a distribution main extension is less than or
equal to five times the estimated annual revenue calculated on the basis of
similarly situated customers, the utility shall finance and make the extension
without requiring an advance for construction.
2. If the estimated construction cost to
provide a distribution main extension is greater than five times the estimated
annual revenue calculated on the basis of similarly situated customers, the
applicant for such an extension shall contract with the utility and deposit no
more than 30 days prior to commencement of construction an advance for
construction equal to the estimated construction cost less five times the
estimated annual revenue to be produced by the customer.
(3) Where the customer will not attach within
the agreed-upon attachment period after completion of the distribution main
extension, the customer requesting the extension shall contract with the
utility and deposit no more than 30 days prior to the commencement of
construction an advance for construction equal to the estimated construction
cost.
(4) Advance payments for
plant additions or extensions are subject to refund for a ten-year period and
may be made by cash, surety bond, or equivalent surety. In the event a surety
bond or an equivalent surety is used, the bonded amount shall have added to it
a surcharge equal to the annual interest rate paid by the utility on customer
bill deposits times the bonded amount. The bond shall be called by the utility
at the end of one year or when the earned refunds are equal to the bonded
amount, less the surcharge, whichever occurs first. If, upon termination of the
surety bond, there are sufficient earned refunds to offset the amount of the
surety bond, less the surcharge, the depositors shall provide the utility the
amount of the surcharge. If, upon termination of the surety bond, there are not
sufficient earned refunds to offset the full amount of the surety bond, less
the surcharge, the depositors shall provide the utility a cash deposit equal to
the amount of the surety bond, less refunds accumulated during the bonded
period, plus the surcharge, or the depositor may pay the interest on the
previous year's bond and rebond the balance due to the utility for a second or
third one-year period. Upon receipt of such cash deposit, the utility shall
release the surety bond. The cash deposit, less the surcharge, shall be subject
to refund by the utility for the remainder of the ten-year period.
c.
Refunds. The
utility shall refund to the depositor for a period of ten years from the date
of the original advance, a pro-rata share for each service attachment to the
distribution main extension. The pro-rata refund shall be computed in the
following manner:
(1) If the combined total of
five times the estimated annual revenue for the depositor and each customer who
has attached to the distribution main extension exceeds the total estimated
construction cost to provide the extension, the entire amount of the advance
provided by the depositor shall be refunded to the depositor.
(2) If the combined total of five times the
estimated annual revenue for the depositor and each customer who has attached
to the distribution main extension is less than the total estimated
construction cost to provide the extension, the amount to be refunded to the
depositor shall equal five times the estimated annual revenue of the customer
attaching to the extension.
(3) In
no event shall the total amount to be refunded to a depositor exceed the amount
of the advance for construction made by the depositor. Any amounts subject to
refund shall be paid by the utility without interest. At the expiration of the
above-described ten-year period, the customer advance for construction record
shall be closed and the remaining balance shall be credited to the respective
plant account.
d.
Extensions not required. Utilities shall not be required to
make extensions as described in this subrule unless the extension shall be of a
permanent nature.
e.
More
favorable methods permitted. Subrule 21.3(5) shall not be construed as
prohibiting any utility from making a contract with a customer in a different
manner, if the contract provides a more favorable method of extension to the
customer, so long as no discrimination is practiced among customers or
depositors.
f.
Connections
to utility-owned equipment. Subrule 21.3(5) shall not be construed as
prohibiting an individual, partnership, or company from constructing its own
extension. An extension constructed by a nonutility entity must meet at a
minimum the applicable portions of the standards in subrules 21.5(1) and
21.5(2) and such other reasonable standards as the utility may employ in
constructing extensions, so long as the standards do not mandate a particular
supplier. All connections to the utility-owned equipment or facilities shall be
made by the utility at the applicant's expense. At the time of attachment to
the utility-owned equipment or facilities, the applicant shall transfer
ownership of the extension to the utility and the utility shall book the
original cost of construction of the extension as an advance for construction,
and refunds shall be made to the applicant in accordance with paragraph
21.3(5)"c." The utility shall be responsible for the operation
and maintenance of the extension after attachment.
g.
Reimbursement of extension
construction cost. If the utility requires the applicant to construct
the extension to meet service requirements greater than those necessary to
serve the applicant's service needs, the utility shall reimburse the applicant
for the difference in cost between the extension specifications required by the
utility and the extension specifications necessary to meet the applicant's
service needs.
(7)
Location of
meters. Meters may be installed outside or inside as mutually agreed
upon by the customer and the utility.
a.
Outside meters. Meters installed out-of-doors shall be readily
accessible for maintenance and reading, and so far as practicable the location
should be mutually acceptable to the customer and the utility. The meter shall
be installed so as to be unaffected by climatic conditions and reasonably
secure from injury.
b.
Inside meters. Meters installed inside the customer's building
shall be located as near as possible to the point where the service pipe enters
the building and at a point reasonably secure from injury and readily
accessible for reading and testing. In cases of multiple buildings, such as
two-family dwellings or apartment buildings, the meter(s) shall be located
within the premises served or in a common location accessible to the customers
and the utility.