{"operation":"document","citation":"4 CCR 723-4 Rule 4407","title":"Discontinuance of Service","source_type":"regulation","agency":"Colorado Public Utilities Commission","status":"current","official":true,"published_on":null,"effective_on":null,"summary":"(a) A utility shall not discontinue the service of a customer for any reason other than the following: (I) nonpayment of regulated charges; (II) fraud or subterfuge; (III) service diversion; (IV) equipment tampering; (V) safety concerns; (VI) exigent circumstances; (VII) discontinuance ordered by an","machine_formats":{"json":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/co-ccr-4-723-4-4407.json","markdown":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/co-ccr-4-723-4-4407.md"},"app_url":"https://regulus.evalyn.ai/document/co-ccr-4-723-4-4407","source_url":"https://www.sos.state.co.us/CCR/DisplayRule.do?action=ruleinfo&ruleId=2260&deptID=18&agencyID=96&deptName=Department%20of%20Regulatory%20Agencies&agencyName=Public%20Utilities%20Commission&seriesNum=4%20CCR%20723-4","body":"(a) A utility shall not discontinue the service of a customer for any reason other than\nthe following:\n(I) nonpayment of regulated charges;\n(II) fraud or subterfuge;\n(III) service diversion;\n(IV) equipment tampering;\n(V) safety concerns;\n(VI) exigent circumstances;\n(VII) discontinuance ordered by any appropriate governmental authority; or\n(VIII) properly discontinued service being restored by someone other than the\nutility when the original cause for proper discontinuance has not been\ncured.\n(b) A utility shall apply nondiscriminatory criteria when determining whether to\ndiscontinue service for nonpayment. A utility shall not discontinue service for\nnonpayment of any of the following:\n(I) any amount which has not appeared on a regular monthly bill or which is\nnot past due. Unless otherwise stated in a tariff or Commission rule, an\naccount becomes “past due” on the 31st day following the due date of\ncurrent charges;\n(II) any past due amount that is less than $50;\n(III) any amount due on another account now or previously held or guaranteed\nby the customer, or with respect to which the customer received service,\nunless the amount has first been transferred either to an account which is\nfor the same class of service or to an account which the customer has\nagreed will secure the other account. Any amount so transferred shall be\nconsidered due on the regular due date of the bill on which it first appears\nand shall be subject to notice of discontinuance as if it had been billed for\nthe first time;\n\n(IV) any amount due on an account on which the customer is or was neither\nthe customer of record nor a guarantor, or any amount due from a\nprevious occupant of the premises. This subparagraph does not apply if\nthe customer is or was obtaining service through fraud or subterfuge or if\nparagraph 4401(c) applies;\n(V) any amount due on an account for which the present customer is or was\nthe customer of record, if another person established the account through\nfraud or subterfuge and without the customer's knowledge or consent;\n(VI) any delinquent amount, unless the utility can supply billing records from\nthe time the delinquency occurred;\n(VII) any debt except that incurred for service rendered by the utility in\nColorado;\n(VIII) any unregulated charge; or\n(IX) any amount which is the subject of a pending dispute or informal\ncomplaint under rule 4004.\n(c) If the utility discovers any connection or device installed on the customer’s\npremises, including any energy-consuming device in the proximity of the utility's\nmeter, which would prevent the meter from registering the actual amount of\nenergy used, the utility shall do one of the following.\n(I) Remove or correct such devices or connections. If the utility takes this\naction, it shall leave at the premises a written notice which advises the\ncustomer of the violation, of the steps taken by the utility to correct it, and\nof the utility’s ability to bill the customer for any estimated energy\nconsumption not properly registered. This notice shall be left at the time\nthe removal or correction occurs.\n(II) Provide the customer with written notice that the device or connection\nmust be removed or corrected within 15 days and that the customer may\nbe billed for any estimated energy consumption not properly registered. If\nthe utility elects to take this action and the device or connection is not\nremoved or corrected within the 15 days permitted, then within seven\ncalendar days from the expiration of the 15 days, the utility shall remove or\ncorrect the device or connection pursuant to subparagraph (c)(I) of this\nrule.\n(d) If a utility discovers evidence that any utility-owned equipment has been\ntampered with or that service has been diverted, the utility shall provide the\ncustomer with written notice of the discovery. The written notice shall inform the\ncustomer of the steps the utility will take to determine whether non-registration of\n\nenergy consumption has or will occur and shall inform the customer that the\ncustomer may be billed for any estimated energy consumption not properly\nregistered. The utility shall mail or hand-deliver the written notice within three\ncalendar days of making the discovery of tampering or service diversion.\n(e) A utility shall not discontinue service, other than to address safety concerns or in\nexigent circumstances, if one of the following is met.\n(I) A customer at any time tenders full payment in accordance with the terms\nand conditions of the notice of discontinuance to a utility employee\nauthorized to receive payment. Payment of a charge for a service call\nshall not be required to avoid discontinuance.\n(II) If a customer pays, on or before the expiration date of the notice of\ndiscontinuance, at least one-tenth of the amount shown on the notice and\nenters into an installment payment plan with the utility, as provided in rule\n4404.\n(III) Outside the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m., Monday through Thursday.\n(IV) Between the hours of 12:00 Noon on the day prior to and 8:00 a.m. on the\nday following any state or federal holiday or day during which the utility’s\nlocal office is closed.\n(V) To the greatest extent practicable, a utility shall not disconnect a customer\nafter 11:59 a.m. on a Monday through Thursday.\n(VI) Medical emergencies.\n(A) A utility shall postpone service discontinuance to a residential\ncustomer for 90 days from the date of a medical certificate issued\nby a Colorado-licensed physician, health care practitioner acting\nunder a physician's authority, or health care practitioner licensed to\nprescribe and treat patients which evidences that service\ndiscontinuance will aggravate an existing medical emergency or\ncreate a medical emergency for the customer or a permanent\nresident of the customer's household. A customer may invoke this\nsubparagraph only once in any twelve consecutive months.\n\n(B) As a condition of obtaining a new installment payment plan on or\nbefore the last day covered by a medical certificate, a customer\nwho has already entered into a payment arrangement, but broke\nthe arrangement prior to seeking a medical certificate, may be\nrequired to pay all amounts that were due up to the date of the\noriginal medical certificate as a condition of obtaining a new\npayment arrangement. At no time shall a payment from the\ncustomer be required as a condition of honoring a medical\ncertificate.\n(C) The medical certificate must be in writing (which includes electronic\ncertificates and signatures and those provided electronically), sent\nto the utility from the office of a licensed physician, or health care\npractitioner licensed to prescribe and treat patients, and clearly\nshow the name of the customer or individual whose illness is at\nissue; the Colorado medical identification number, phone number,\nname, and signature of the physician, health care practitioner\nacting under a physician's authority, or health care practitioner\nlicensed to prescribe and treat patients certifying the medical\nemergency. Such certificate is not contestable by the utility as to\nthe medical judgment, although the utility may use reasonable\nmeans to verify the authenticity of such certificate.\n(D) A utility may accept notification by telephone from the office of a\nlicensed physician, or health care practitioner licensed to prescribe\nand treat patients, but a written medical certificate must be sent to\nthe utility within ten days.\n(VII) Weather provisions.\n(A) A utility shall postpone service discontinuance to a residential\ncustomer on any day when the National Weather Service local\nforecast between 6:00 a.m. and 9:00 a.m. predicts that the\ntemperature will be 32 degrees Fahrenheit (32oF) or lower at any\ntime during the following 24 hours, or during any additional period\nin which utility personnel will not be available to restore utility\nservice in accordance with rule 4409. Nothing prohibits a utility from\npostponing service discontinuance when temperatures are warmer\nthan these criteria.\n(B) A utility shall postpone service discontinuance to a customer during\nan emergency or safety event or circumstance impacting the local\narea.\n(f) In addition to its tariffs, a utility shall publish information related to its practices\naround delinquency, disconnection for nonpayment, and reconnection on its\n\nwebsite. This information should be written in a manner that promotes customer\nunderstanding and must be produced in English and a specific language or\nlanguages other than English where the utility’s entire service territory contains a\npopulation of at least ten percent who speak a specific language other than\nEnglish as their primary language as determined by the latest U.S. Census\ninformation. A utility must include at least the following information:\n(I) the customer’s rights related to service disconnection, including medical\nand weather-based protections, timing restrictions on service\ndisconnection, and options and hours to contact the utility for support\nrelating to service disconnection;\n(II) a summary of a customer’s options to prevent service disconnection for\nnonpayment, including installment payment plan options, utility energy\nassistance and affordability programs, and eligibility requirements for such\nprograms;\n(III) referrals to organizations that provide energy payment assistance,\nincluding energy efficiency services, such as Energy Outreach Colorado,\ncharities, nonprofits, and governmental entities that provide or administer\nfunds for such assistance;\n(IV) the customer’s rights related to service restoration, including restoration\ntimelines, actions customers may take to restore service, and options and\nhours to contact the utility for support relating to service restoration;\n(V) a summary of charges, fees, and deposits to which a customer may be\nsubject under paragraphs 4403(j) and 4404(a), with a description of how\nthose amounts are calculated, explained in a way that enables a customer\nto estimate the full costs they may be assessed;\n(VI) a description of the customer’s options in the event of a dispute regarding\nbilling or disconnection practices;\n\n(VII) a description of the options available to an occupant of a service address\nwho is not a customer of record and who has a court-ordered protection\norder against a customer of record for the service address, relating to\npast-due balances, service disconnection, restoration, and continuance at\nthe service address, including initiating new service, transferring service,\nand the utility’s practices, policies, and criteria for determining benefit of\nservice for purposes of transferring a customer of record’s balance to an\noccupant; and\n(VIII) a description of the utility’s Demand Side Management programs,\nincluding requirements to participate, the benefits of participating, and\nutility contact information relating to such programs.\n(g) Reporting requirements.\n(I) Annual Report. No later than March 1 of each calendar year, each utility\nshall file a report covering the prior calendar year in the miscellaneous\nproceeding for utility disconnection filings, using the form available on the\nCommission’s website. A utility shall provide all required data elements\nbeginning with the first reporting year following the effective date of this\nrule. The report shall provide data on residential customers by class and\ncensus block group, which means a geographic subdivision defined by the\nUnited States Census Bureau, and must also break down such data by\nincome qualified customers, defined as customers participating in income\nqualified programs authorized by rule 4412 and the Low-Income Energy\nAssistance Program. For data provided in this report, paragraph 4033(b)\nshall not apply. A utility may rely on existing customer address information\nand commercially or publicly available geographic mapping tools to\nassociate customers with census block groups and is not required to\ncreate new customer-specific data fields solely for compliance with this\nrule. The report shall contain the following information, displayed by\nmonth:\n(A) total number of residential customer accounts;\n(B) total dollar amount billed;\n(C) total number of residential customer accounts assessed a late\npayment charge;\n(D) total dollar amount of late payment charges assessed during the\nmonth;\n(E) number of residential customer accounts with an arrearage\nbalance, where “arrearage” means an unpaid balance for regulated\nutility service that is past due under the utility’s tariff, by age of\n\narrearage (1-30 days, 31-60 days, 61-90 days, 91 days or more),\nmeasured as of the end of each reporting month;\n(F) total dollar amount of arrearage balances by age of arrearage (1-30\ndays, 31-60 days, 61-90 days, 91 days or more), measured as of\nthe end of each reporting month;\n(G) total number of disconnection notices sent;\n(H) total number of disconnections for nonpayment;\n(I) total number of service restorations after disconnections for\nnonpayment;\n(J) average duration of disconnection for nonpayment in hours,\nmeasured from when the customer completes an action in\nparagraph 4409(b) to when service is restored;\n(K) total number of new installment payment plans entered into;\n(L) average repayment term of new installment payment plans entered\ninto;\n(M) proportion of residential customer accounts that go into arrears,\nbecome disconnected, and have balances that are subsequently\ncharged off as bad debt under the utility’s standard accounting\npractices;\n(N) proportion of residential customer accounts that receive a\npreventative intervention (meaning any utility action or program\nintended to prevent service disconnection for nonpayment,\nincluding, but not limited to, payment arrangements, referrals to\nassistance programs, or direct bill assistance) before a\ndisconnection;\n(O) number of residential customer accounts associated with a service\naddress that experienced more than one disconnection for\nnonpayment within a 12-month period;\n(P) number of residential customer accounts, by fuel type, that received\na regular LEAP grant for the program year;\n(Q) percentage of disconnections for nonpayment that are followed by\nservice restoration within 24 hours and 72 hours;\n(R) total arrearage amount at time of disconnection; and\n(S) maximum and minimum arrearage amount at time of disconnection.\n\n(II) Along with the items in subparagraph (g)(I), each utility shall file the\nfollowing additional items.\n(A) A narrative containing the utility’s analysis of any trends or\ninconsistencies revealed by the reported data for the prior year\nincluding, at minimum, an analysis of:\n(i) the total number of residential customer accounts that were\ndisconnected for nonpayment in the prior calendar year and\npercentage of those accounts that were disconnected for\nnonpayment multiple times; and\n(ii) the total number of residential installment payment plans\nentered into in the prior calendar year, the average length of\nthose installment payment plans, the number of residential\ninstallment payment plans completed, and the number of\nresidential installment payment plans that were broken.\n(B) Information about how the utility is working to reduce delinquencies\nand disconnections, including actions taken to address residential\ncustomer accounts experiencing multiple disconnections within a\ncalendar year, and efforts to identify entities to which the utility\nrefers customers for energy bill assistance.\n(h) Receipt of a qualifying communication. For purposes of compliance with § 40-3-\n103.6(3)(c)(II) and subparagraph 4001(tt)(II)(B), a customer “receives” the text or\ne-mail if:\n(I) the utility sends the text or email with customer assistance information to\nthe text address or e-mail address previously provided by the customer to\nthe utility; and\n(II) the utility does not subsequently receive a “bounce back” or other\nmessage indicating the text address is invalid or the e-mail address is\ninvalid.\n(i) Customer education and outreach strategy: A utility shall conduct at least one\nmeeting with stakeholders and interested customers for the purpose of seeking\ninput on its customer education and outreach strategy for conducting\ndisconnections and reconnections during its multi-year strategy reporting period\nunder paragraph 4407(j). The results of these meetings and a detailed summary\nof the customer education and outreach conducted will be reported as part of its\nfirst annual report due no later than March 1, 2024, and each subsequent\nreporting year. Such education and outreach meetings may be held in\nconjunction with the income qualified meetings under paragraph 4412(j).\n(j) Customer education and outreach multi-year strategy reporting: As part of its\nannual report due no later than March 1, 2024, a utility shall file a customer\n\neducation and outreach strategy on residential and small commercial customer\ndisconnections and reconnections covering a span of the next five years. As part\nof this filing, a utility shall provide an overview of its education and outreach\nefforts, including qualifying communications, disconnection and reconnection\ndata and trends, and the tariffed rates for disconnection and reconnections. Upon\nfiling of an initial multi-year strategy report, each utility shall file an update to its\nreport every five years on March 1 of the relevant year. A utility filing a strategy\nreport required by paragraphs (i)-(j) of this rule is required to file updated\nreporting if the education and outreach strategy changes in a material and\nsubstantial way.\n\n(k) Tariff: A utility shall file language to include in its tariff as cited below a\nrequirement to report on its five-year customer education and outreach strategy,\nand if applicable, qualifying communications for reconnections. A utility filing a\nstrategy report required by paragraphs (i)-(j) of this rule is required to file updated\nreporting if the education and outreach strategy changes in a material and\nsubstantial way.","truncated":false,"body_characters":17899}