(a) Thirty days prior to the filing of a new
tariff, tariff supplement or tariff revision that constitutes a general rate
increase within the meaning of
66 Pa.C.S. §
1308(d) (relating to
voluntary changes in rates) and that is anticipated to exceed $1 million, a
public utility shall file with the Secretary a written notice informing the
Commission of the utility's anticipated filing of a general rate increase and,
to the extent available, an estimate of the overall amount of the anticipated
general rate increase. This notice shall be deemed proprietary and
confidential. Copies of this notice shall be served on the Office of Consumer
Advocate and the Office of the Small Business Advocate, so long as these
offices observe the proprietary nature of the notice.
(b) Upon the filing of a new tariff, tariff
supplement or tariff revision that constitutes a general rate increase within
the meaning of
66 Pa.C.S. §
1308(d), notice shall be
given to the public by each of the following methods:
(1)
By posting in offices. A
public utility shall post a notice at least 15 by 20 inches in size in a
conspicuous place in each company office at which payments are accepted.
(i) The notice shall read as follows, with
the blanks appropriately completed:
NOTICE OF PROPOSED RATE
CHANGES
To Our Customers:
(company) is filing a request with the Pennsylvania
Public Utility Commission (PUC) to increase your (type of service) rates as of
(date). This notice describes the company's rate request, the PUC's role, and
what actions you can take.
(company) has requested an overall rate increase of
$
___
per year. If the company's entire request is approved,
the total bill for a residential customer using (state typical usage level)
would increase from $
___
to $
____
per month or by.
__
%.
The total bill for a commercial customer using (state
typical usage level) would increase from $
____
to $
__
per month or by.
__
%.
Rates for an industrial customer using (state typical
usage level) would increase from $
__
to $
__
per month or by.
__
%.
To find out your customer class or how the requested
increase may affect your (type of service) bill, contact (company) at (toll
free phone number). The rates requested by the company may be found in (tariff
number). You may examine the material filed with the PUC which explains the
requested increase and the reasons for it. A copy of this material is kept at
(company's) office. (For companies with annual revenues of more than $10
Million, ADD: "Upon request, the company will send you the Statement of Reasons
for (tariff number), explaining why the rate increase has been
requested.")
The state agency which approves rates for public
utilities is the PUC. The PUC will examine the requested rate increase and can
prevent existing rates from changing until it investigates and/or holds
hearings on the request. The company must prove that the requested rates are
reasonable. After examining the evidence, the PUC may grant all, some, or none
of the request or may reduce existing rates.
The PUC may change the amount of the rate increase or
decrease requested by the utility for each customer class. As a result, the
rate charged to you may be different than the rate requested by the company and
shown above.
There are three ways to challenge a company's request to
change its rates:
1. You can file a
formal complaint. If you want a hearing before a judge, you must file a formal
complaint. By filing a formal complaint, you assure yourself the opportunity to
take part in hearings about the rate increase request. All complaints should be
filed with the PUC before (proposed effective date of the rate increase). If no
formal complaints are filed, the Commission may grant all, some or none of the
request without holding a hearing before a judge.
2. You can send us a letter telling why you
object to the requested rate increase. Sometimes there is information in these
letters that makes us aware of problems with the company's service or
management. This information can be helpful when we investigate the rate
request.
Send your letter or request for a formal complaint form
to the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission, Post Office Box 3265,
Harrisburg, PA 17105-3265.
3. You can be a witness at a public input
hearing. Public input hearings are held if the Commission opens an
investigation of the company's rate increase request and if there is a large
number of customers interested in the case. At these hearings you have the
opportunity to present your views in person to the PUC judge hearing the case
and the company representatives. All testimony given "under oath" becomes part
of the official rate case record. These hearings are held in the service area
of the company.
(When PUC Voice Processing System becomes available,
ADD:)
For more information, call the PUC at 1-800-XXX-XXXX. You
may leave your name and address so you can be notified of any public input
hearings that may be scheduled in this case.
_________________________________________________________
Company
(ii) The notice shall be posted for at least
60 days before the proposed general rate increase becomes effective, and is in
addition to the notices prescribed in §
§
53.42 and
53.43 (relating to notice of the
public file; and maintenance and availability of the public file). For the
purposes of posting only, the public utility may shorten the specified customer
notice language to fit legibly on the minimum required size of the posters,
provided that the shortened customer notice language contains, at a minimum,
information describing the amount of the proposed annual increase, the proposed
effective date, the percentage of the increase to a typical residential,
commercial and industrial customer's total bill and a statement that customers
may contact the company at a toll free telephone number to get additional
information on the proposed increase or to find out what actions they may
take.
(2)
By
written or printed notice. A public utility shall notify its customers
by a written or printed notice. The written or printed notice shall be mailed
at least 61 days or hand delivered at least 60 days prior to the proposed
effective date of the tariff, tariff supplement or tariff revision. The text of
the written or printed notice shall be the same as the notice language
specified in paragraph (1).
(3)
By news release. On the date the rate increase is filed, a
public utility shall distribute news releases containing a description of the
proposed rate changes to the major newspapers, radio and television stations
serving the public utility's area. The news release shall contain, at a
minimum, information describing the amount of the proposed increase, the
proposed effective date, the percentage of the increase to the company's annual
revenues, the dollar increase to a typical residential, commercial and
industrial customer's total bill and a statement that customers may contact the
company at a toll free telephone number to get further information on the
proposed increase or to find out what actions they may take.
(4)
Alternative method. In
lieu of the method described in paragraph (2), a public utility on a 1-month
billing cycle filing a proposed general rate increase may notify its customers
by means of a bill insert.
(i) The text of
the bill insert shall be printed on distinctive color paper and shall contain
the exact notice language specified in paragraph (1).
(ii) The bill insert shall be included with
customer bills beginning no later than the day the tariff, tariff supplement or
tariff revision containing the rate increase is filed.
(iii) There may be no sales, marketing or
promotional type literature included in a customer bill that contains the
customer notice of proposed rate increase.
(iv) The billing envelope's front side, in
conspicuous type, shall call attention to the fact that rate increase
information is contained in that month's mailing.
(v) The bill insert shall continue each
billing day until the 1-month billing cycle is completed and all customers have
been notified.
(vi) Due to the
longer time frame of this method of notification, a public utility that elects
to use bill inserts shall agree to extend from 60 to 90 days the minimum period
within which the filing of a complaint places the burden of proof upon the
company with respect to proposed rates.
(vii) On the date the rate increase is filed,
notice by bill insert shall be supplemented by paid newspaper advertisements
published in the major newspapers serving the public utility's service area
containing a description of the proposed rate changes.
(viii) A public utility that elects to use
this alternative method of customer notification shall advise the Commission of
this election in writing at the time the rate increase is filed.
(c) A utility shall
provide customer notice consistent with the language in subsection (b)(1)(i) to
persons who move into that utility's service territory and become customers
during the pendency of a rate increase request. Customer notice shall be
provided to new customers at the time they complete an application for
service.
(d) A utility shall
provide customer notice consistent with the language provided in subsection
(b)(1)(i) to customers to be acquired from another entity as a result of a
transfer application filed under
66 Pa.C.S. §
1102(3) (relating to
enumeration of acts requiring certificate), if new rates resulting from the
utility's rate increase request are to apply to the transferred customers.
Customer notice shall be provided to transfer customers at the time the
transfer application is filed with the Commission.
(e) The customer notice requirements in
subsection (b) are not applicable to interexchange carriers.
(f) Upon Commission approval of the final
filing of an energy cost rate adjustment (ECR) under
66 Pa.C.S. §
1307
(relating to sliding scale of rates; adjustments), notice shall be given to the
public by both of the following methods:
(1)
By bill insert. A public utility that filed an ECR adjustment
in final form shall notify its customers by a bill insert after the adjustment
is approved by the Commission. The bill insert shall be sent as soon after the
Commission action as practicable. The notice shall contain, at a minimum,
information describing the adjustment and time frame for reconciliation
hearings, the effect of the approved increase or decrease on a typical
residential, commercial and industrial customer's bill and a statement that
customers may contact the company at a given telephone number to get further
information on the adjustment or to find out what actions they may
take.
(2)
By news
release. On the date the ECR adjustment is officially approved by the
Commission, a public utility shall distribute news releases containing a
description of the ECR adjustment to the major newspapers, radio and television
stations serving the public utility's area. The news release shall contain, at
a minimum, the information specified in paragraph (1).
(g) For other proposed changes in rates,
rules and regulations, including nongeneral rate increases, proposed changes in
regulations-without rate changes-and proposed rate changes under
66 Pa.C.S. §
1307(f), public notice of
the proposed changes shall be given in the manner directed by the
Commission.
(h) Upon completion of
the notice requirements of this section, a public utility shall file an
affidavit with the Commission confirming that the notice requirements have been
met.
