Approved by the Legislative Commissioner

April 13, 2007

AN ACT CONCERNING UTILITY SERVICE TERMINATION.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. (NEW) (Effective July 1, 2007) (a) A person seeking to terminate electric, gas, telecommunications or water service to a residential dwelling shall provide identification, as defined in section 16-49e of the general statutes, the password previously provided by the customer, the customer code provided by the company or other reasonable identification method established by the company to the electric distribution, gas, telecommunications or water company, electric supplier or municipal utility providing such service sufficient to establish that the person authorizing the termination is the customer of record or the customer's authorized representative. Such company, supplier or utility shall not terminate service if the person does not provide reasonable identification establishing that the person requesting the termination is the customer of record or the customer's authorized representative for the residential dwelling.

(b) If a person or entity other than a customer of record or the customer's authorized representative seeks to terminate electric, gas, water or telecommunications service to a residential dwelling, the company, supplier or utility service shall not effect termination of service unless, nine or more days prior to the requested termination date, the company, utility or supplier sends a notification letter to the customer of record at the customer's last-known address.

(c) Notwithstanding the requirements of this section, an electric, gas, telecommunications or water company, electric supplier or municipal utility may terminate service at any time (1) upon request of a state or local fire or police authority, (2) upon determination by the company, supplier or utility that failure to terminate the service may adversely impact safety or the public health, or (3) upon the company, supplier or utility's compliance with applicable statutes or Department of Public Utility Control regulations governing termination of service not requested by the customer.

Sec. 2. Section 16-262e of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective July 1, 2007):

(a) Notwithstanding the provisions of section 16-262d, wherever an owner, agent, lessor or manager of a residential dwelling is billed directly by an electric, electric distribution, gas, telephone or water company or by a municipal utility for utility service furnished to such building not occupied exclusively by such owner, agent, lessor, or manager, and such company or municipal utility or the electric supplier providing electric generation services has actual or constructive knowledge that the occupants of such dwelling are not the individuals to whom the company or municipal utility usually sends its bills, such company, electric supplier or municipal utility shall not terminate such service for nonpayment of a delinquent account owed to such company, electric supplier or municipal utility by such owner, agent, lessor or manager unless: (1) Such company, electric supplier or municipal utility makes a good faith effort to notify the occupants of such building of the proposed termination by the means most practicable under the circumstances and best designed to provide actual notice; and (2) such company, electric supplier or municipal utility provides an opportunity, where practicable, for such occupants to receive service in their own names without any liability for the amount due while service was billed directly to the lessor, owner, agent or manager and without the necessity for a security deposit; provided, if it is not practicable for such occupants to receive service in their own names, the company, electric supplier or municipal utility shall not terminate service to such residential dwelling but may pursue the remedy provided in section 16-262f.

(b) Whenever a company, electric supplier or municipal utility has terminated service to a residential dwelling whose occupants are not the individuals to whom it usually sends its bills, such company, electric supplier or municipal utility shall, upon obtaining knowledge of such occupancy, immediately reinstate service and thereafter not effect termination unless it first complies with the provisions of subsection (a) of this section.

(c) The owner, agent, lessor or manager of a residential dwelling shall be liable for the costs of all electricity, gas, water or heating fuel furnished by a public service company, electric supplier, municipal utility or heating fuel dealer to the building, except for any service furnished to any dwelling unit of the building on an individually metered or billed basis for the exclusive use of the occupants of that dwelling unit, provided, an owner, agent, lessor or manager shall be liable for service provided on an individually metered or billed basis pursuant to subsection (g) of this section from ten days after the date of written request if the company, supplier, utility or dealer is denied access to its individual meters or other facilities located on the premises of the building. Said owners, agents, lessors or managers shall only be liable when said owners, agents, lessors or managers control access to such individual meters to which access is denied. If service is not provided on an individually metered or billed basis and the owner, agent, lessor or manager fails to pay for such service, any occupant who receives service in his own name may deduct, in accordance with the provisions of subsection (d) of this section, a reasonable estimate of the cost of any portion of such service which is for the use of occupants of dwelling units other than such occupant's dwelling unit.

(d) Any payments made by the occupants of any residential dwelling pursuant to subsection (a) or (c) of this section shall be deemed to be in lieu of an equal amount of rent or payment for use and occupancy and each occupant shall be permitted to deduct such amounts from any sum of rent or payment for use and occupancy due and owing or to become due and owing to the owner, agent, lessor or manager.

(e) Wherever a company, electric supplier or municipal utility provides service pursuant to subdivision (2) of subsection (a) of this section, the company, electric supplier or municipal utility shall notify each occupant of such building in writing that service will be provided in the occupant's own name. Such writing shall contain a conspicuous notice in boldface type stating,

"NOTICE TO OCCUPANT. YOU MAY DEDUCT THE FULL AMOUNT YOU PAY (name of company or municipal utility) FOR (type of service) FROM THE MONEY YOU PAY YOUR LANDLORD OR HIS AGENT."

(f) The owner, agent, lessor or manager shall not increase the amount paid by such occupant for rent or for use and occupancy in order to collect all or part of that amount lawfully deducted by the occupant pursuant to this section.

(g) The owner, agent, lessor or manager of a residential dwelling shall be responsible for providing a public service company, electrical supplier or municipal utility or heating fuel dealer access to its meter or other facilities located on the premises of the residential dwelling promptly upon written request of the public service company, electrical supplier or municipal utility or heating fuel dealer during reasonable hours. If such owner, agent, lessor or manager fails to provide such access upon reasonable written request, the owner, agent, lessor or manager shall be liable for the costs incurred by the public service company, electrical supplier or municipal utility or heating fuel dealer in gaining access to the meter and facilities, including costs of collection and attorney fees. If the failure to provide access delays the ability of the public service company, electrical supplier or municipal utility or heating fuel dealer to terminate service to an individually metered or billed portion of the dwelling, the owner, agent, lessor or manager failing to provide access shall also be liable for the amounts billed by the public service company, electrical supplier or municipal utility or heating fuel dealer for service provided to the individually metered or billed portion of the dwelling for the period beginning seven days after access has been requested and ending when access is provided by such owner, agent, lessor or manager.

[(g)] (h) Nothing in this section shall be construed to prevent the company, electric supplier, municipal utility, heating fuel dealer or occupant from pursuing any other action or remedy at law or equity that it may have against the owner, agent, lessor, or manager.

The following fiscal impact statement and bill analysis are prepared for the benefit of members of the General Assembly, solely for the purpose of information, summarization, and explanation, and do not represent the intent of the General Assembly or either chamber thereof for any purpose:

OFA Fiscal Note

State Impact: None

Municipal Impact: None

Explanation

The bill makes various changes pertaining to utility service termination by utility companies, and has no fiscal impact.

House “A” clarifies the conditions when owners, agents, lessors, or managers are liable for costs of electricity, gas, water, or heating fuel and makes other minor changes.

The Out Years

State Impact: None

Municipal Impact: None

OLR Bill Analysis

sHB 7250 (as amended by House “A”)*

AN ACT CONCERNING UTILITY SERVICE TERMINATION.

SUMMARY:

This bill requires owners of residential buildings to give utilities and heating fuel dealers access to meters and other facilities located on their premises. It subjects the affected parties to sanctions if they do not, including being held responsible for their tenants' utility bills.

The bill also establishes verification requirements for the termination of residential utility service. These provisions apply to services provided by utility companies, municipal utilities, and competitive electric suppliers.

*House Amendment “A” (1) deletes termination provisions applying to non-residential buildings; (2) modifies when a landlord becomes responsible for a tenant's bill, in apparently inconsistent ways (see COMMENT); (3) expands the verification requirements to apply to all telecommunications services; (4) expands the ways a person can verify that he or she is the customer of record; and (5) makes other changes.

EFFECTIVE DATE: July 1, 2007

ACCESS TO METERS AND OTHER UTILITY EQUIPMENT

The bill requires the owner, lessor, manager, or agent of any residential building promptly to give a utility or heating fuel dealer access to its individual meters or other facilities located on the premises during reasonable hours, upon written request. Any such party that fails to provide access upon a reasonable request is liable for the utility or dealer's cost in gaining access to the facilities, including collection costs and attorney fees. If the failure to provide access delays the utility or dealer's ability to terminate service to an individually metered or billed portion of the dwelling, the owner, lessor, manager, or agent is also liable for the amount billed by the utility or dealer for that part of the building, starting seven days after the utility or dealer requested access and until access is provided. These provisions apply to access to equipment owned by investor-owned and municipal utilities, competitive electric suppliers, and heating fuel dealers.

The bill also provides that the owner, lessor, manager, or agent is liable for services provided on an individually metered or billed basis if the utility or dealer is denied access with the liability beginning 10 days after the request for access. In this case, the owner, lessor, manager, or agent is only liable if he or she controls access to the meters or facilities.

TERMINATIONS

The bill requires anyone who seeks to terminate electric, gas, telecommunications, or water service to a dwelling to provide the utility with identification sufficient to demonstrate that he or she is the customer of record, i.e., the person responsible for the utility bill or authorized representative. The customer or the customer's representative can do this by providing a driver's license or certain other documents, the password previously provided by the customer, the customer code provided by the utility, or other reasonable methods established by the utility. The utility may not terminate service if the person does not provide reasonable identification showing that he or she is the customer of record.

If a person other than the customer of record seeks to terminate service, the utility cannot do so unless it has sent a notification to the customer at his last known address at least nine days before the termination date.

However, a utility can terminate service at any time (1) at the request of a state or local fire or police authority, (2) at the utility's determination that failure to terminate service may harm public health, or (3) if the utility has complied with all applicable laws or Department of Public Utility Control regulations on terminations not requested by the customer.

COMMENT

Inconsistent Landlord Liability Provisions

Section 2 (c) of the bill makes a owner, lessor, manager, or agent liable for a tenant's bill starting 10 days after the landlord receives a written request to provide access to the utility or fuel dealer's facilities but fails to do so. This subsection does not specify an end date for the landlord's liability. Section 2 (g) makes the landlord liable starting seven days after access is requested if the failure to provide access delays a termination of service. In this subsection, the liability ends when the landlord provides access to the facilities.

COMMITTEE ACTION

Energy and Technology Committee

Joint Favorable Substitute