Applications for Service, Customer Deposits, and Third-Party Guarantee Arrangements

(a)A utility shall process an application for utility service that is made either orally or in writing and shall apply nondiscriminatory criteria with respect to the requirement of a deposit prior to commencement of service. Nondiscriminatory criteria means that no deposit or guarantee, or additional deposit or guarantee, shall be required by a utility because of race, sex, creed, national origin, marital status, age, number of dependents, source of income, disability, or geographical area of residence.#

(b)All utilities requiring deposits shall offer customers at least one payment alternative that does not require the use of the customer's social security number.#

(c)If billing records are available for a customer who has received past service from the utility, the utility shall not require that person to make new or additional deposits to guarantee payment of current bills unless the records indicate recent or substantial delinquencies.#

(d)A utility shall not require a deposit from an applicant for service who provides written documentation of a 12 consecutive month good payment history from the utility from which that person received similar service. For purposes of this paragraph, the 12 consecutive months must have ended no earlier than 60 days prior to the date of the application for service.#

(e)A utility shall not require a deposit from an applicant for service or restoration of service who is or was within the last 12 months, a participant in the Low-Income Energy Assistance Program or in an income qualified program consistent with rule 4412, or who received energy bill assistance from Energy Outreach Colorado within the last 12 months.#

(f)If a utility uses credit scoring to determine whether to require a deposit from an applicant for service or a customer, the utility shall have a tariff that describes, for each scoring model that it uses, the credit scoring evaluation criteria and the credit score limit that triggers a deposit requirement.#

(g)If a utility uses credit scoring, prior payment history with the utility, or customer- provided prior payment history with a like utility as a criterion for establishing the need for a deposit, the utility shall include in its tariff the specific evaluation criteria that trigger the need for a deposit.#

(h)If a utility denies an application for service or requires a deposit as a condition of providing service, the utility immediately shall inform the applicant for service of the decision and shall provide, within three business days, a written explanation to the applicant for service stating the specific reasons why the application for service has been denied or a deposit is required.#

(i)No utility shall require any surety other than either a deposit to secure payment for utility services or a third-party guarantee of payment in lieu of a deposit. In no event shall the furnishing of utility services or extension of utility facilities, or any indebtedness in connection therewith, result in a lien, mortgage, or other interest in any real or personal property of the customer unless such indebtedness has been reduced to a judgment. Should the guarantor terminate service or terminate the third party guarantee before the customer has established a satisfactory payment record for 12 consecutive months, the utility, applying the criteria contained in its tariffs, may require a deposit or a new third party guarantor.#

(j)The total deposit a utility may require or hold at any one time shall not exceed an amount equal to an estimated 90 days' bill of the customer, except in the case of a customer whose bills are payable in advance of service, in which case the deposit shall not exceed an estimated 60 days' bill of the customer. The deposit may be in addition to any advance, contribution in aid of construction or guarantee required by the utility tariff in connection with construction of lines or facilities, as provided in the extension policy in the utility's tariffs. A deposit may be paid in installments.#

(k)A utility receiving deposits shall maintain records showing:#

(I)the name of each customer making a deposit;#

(II)the amount and date of the deposit;#

(III)each transaction, such as the payment of interest or interest credited, concerning the deposit;#

(IV)each premise where the customer receives service from the utility while the deposit is retained by the utility;#

(V)if the deposit was returned to the customer, the date on which the deposit was returned to the customer; and#

(VI)if the unclaimed deposit was paid to the energy assistance organization, the date on which the deposit was paid to the energy assistance organization.#

(l)Each utility shall state in its tariff its customer deposit policy for establishing or maintaining service. The tariff shall state the circumstances under which a deposit will be required and the circumstances under which it will be returned. A utility shall return any deposit paid by a customer who has made no more than two late payments in 12 consecutive months.#

(m)Each utility shall issue a receipt to every customer from whom a deposit is received. No utility shall refuse to return a deposit or any balance to which a customer may be entitled solely on the basis that the customer is unable to produce a receipt.#

(n)The payment of a deposit shall not relieve any customer from the obligation to pay current bills as they become due. A utility is not required to apply any deposit to any indebtedness of the customer to the utility, except for utility services due or past due after service is terminated.#

(o)A utility shall pay simple interest on a deposit at the percentage rate per annum as calculated by the Commission staff and in the manner provided in this paragraph.#

(I)At the request of the customer, the interest shall be paid to the customer either on the return of the deposit or annually. The simple interest on a deposit shall be earned from the date the deposit is received by the utility to the date the customer is paid. At the option of the utility, interest payments may be paid directly to the customer or credited to the customer's account.#

(II)The simple interest to be paid on a deposit during any calendar year shall be at a rate equal to the average for the period October 1 through September 30 (of the immediately preceding year) of the 12 monthly average rates of interest expressed in percent per annum, as quoted for one-year United States Treasury constant maturities, as published on the website or publication of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Each year, the Commission staff shall compute the interest rate to be paid. If the difference between the existing customer deposit interest rate and the newly calculated customer deposit interest rate is less than 25 basis points, the existing customer deposit interest rate shall continue for the next calendar year. If the difference between the existing customer deposit interest rate and the newly calculated customer deposit interest rate is 25 basis points or more, the newly calculated customer deposit interest rate shall be used. The Commission shall send a letter to each utility stating the rate of interest to be paid on deposits during the next calendar year. Annually following receipt of Commission staff's letter, if necessary, a utility shall file by advice letter or application, as appropriate, a revised tariff, effective the first day of January of the following year, or on an alternative date set by the Commission, containing the new rate of interest to be paid upon customers' deposits, except when there is no change in the rate of interest to be paid on such deposits.#

(p)A utility shall have tariffs concerning third-party guarantee arrangements and, pursuant to those tariffs, shall offer the option of a third party guarantee arrangement for use in lieu of a deposit. The following shall apply to third-party guarantee arrangements:#

(I)an applicant for service or a customer may elect to use a third-party guarantor in lieu of paying a deposit;#

(II)the third-party guarantee form, signed by both the third-party guarantor and the applicant for service or the customer, shall be provided to the utility;#

(III)the utility may refuse to accept a third-party guarantee if the guarantor is not a customer in good standing at the time of the presentation of the guarantee to the utility;#

(IV)the amount guaranteed shall not exceed the amount which the applicant for service or the customer would have been required to provide as a deposit;#

(V)the guarantee shall remain in effect until the earlier of the following occurs:#

(A)the guarantee is terminated in writing by the guarantor;#

(B)if the guarantor was a customer at the time of undertaking the guarantee, the guarantor ceases to be a customer of the utility; or#

(C)the customer has established a satisfactory payment record, as defined in the utility's tariffs, for 12 consecutive months.#

(VI)Should the guarantor terminate service or terminate the third party guarantee before the customer has established a satisfactory payment record for 12 consecutive months, the utility, applying the criteria contained in its tariffs, may require a deposit or a new third party guarantor.#

(q)A utility shall pay all unclaimed monies, as defined in § 40-8.5-103(5), C.R.S., that remain unclaimed for more than two years to the energy assistance organization. "Unclaimed monies" shall not include: undistributed refunds for overcharges subject to other statutory provisions and rules and credits to existing customers from cost adjustment mechanisms.#

(I)Monies shall be deemed unclaimed and presumed abandoned when left with the utility for more than two years after termination of the services for which the deposit or the construction advance was made or when left with the utility for more than two years after the deposit or the construction advance becomes payable to the customer pursuant to a final Commission order establishing the terms and conditions for the return of such deposit or advance and the utility has made reasonable efforts to locate the customer.#

(II)Interest on a deposit shall accrue at the rate established pursuant to paragraph (o) of this rule commencing on the date on which the utility receives the deposit and ending on the date on which the deposit is paid to the energy assistance organization. If the utility does not pay the unclaimed deposit to the energy assistance organization within four months of the date on which the unclaimed deposition is deemed to be unclaimed or abandoned pursuant to subparagraph (q)(I) of this rule, then at the conclusion of the four-month period, interest shall accrue on the unclaimed deposit at the rate established pursuant to paragraph (o) of this rule plus six percent.#

(III)If payable under the utility's line extension tariff provisions, interest on a construction advance shall accrue at the rate established pursuant to paragraph (o) of this rule commencing on the date on which the construction advance is deemed to be owed to the customer pursuant to the utility's extension policy and ending on the date on which the construction advance is paid to the energy assistance organization. If the utility does not pay the unclaimed construction advance to the energy assistance organization within four months of the date on which the unclaimed construction advance is deemed to be unclaimed or abandoned pursuant to subparagraph (q)(I) of this rule, then at the conclusion of the four-month period, interest shall accrue on the unclaimed construction advance at the rate established pursuant to paragraph (o) of this rule plus six percent.#

(r)A utility shall resolve all inquiries regarding a customer's unclaimed monies and shall not refer such inquiries to the energy assistance organization.#

(s)If a utility has paid unclaimed monies to the energy assistance organization, a customer later makes an inquiry claiming those monies, and the utility resolves the inquiry by paying those monies to the customer, the utility may deduct the amount paid to the customer from future funds submitted to the energy assistance organization.#