Substitute Senate Bill No. 498
Substitute Senate Bill No. 498
PUBLIC ACT NO. 98-254
AN ACT PROTECTING THE CREDIT OF UTILITY CUSTOMERS.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of
Representatives in General Assembly convened:
Section 16-262d of the general statutes, as
amended by public act 97-11, is repealed and the
following is substituted in lieu thereof:
(a) No electric, gas, telephone or water
public service company, and no municipal utility
furnishing electric, gas or water service may
terminate such service to a residential dwelling
on account of nonpayment of a delinquent account
unless such company or municipal utility first
gives notice of such delinquency and impending
termination by first class mail addressed to the
customer to which such service is billed, at least
thirteen calendar days prior to the proposed
termination, except that if an electric or gas
public service company or municipal utility
furnishing electric or gas service has issued a
notice under this subsection but has not
terminated service prior to issuing a new bill to
the customer, such company or municipal utility
may terminate such service only after mailing the
customer an additional notice of the impending
termination, addressed to the customer to which
such service is billed either (1) by first class
mail at least thirteen calendar days prior to the
proposed termination or (2) by certified mail, at
least seven calendar days prior to the proposed
termination. In the event that multiple dates of
proposed termination are provided to a customer,
no such company or municipal utility shall
terminate service prior to the latest of such
dates. For purposes of this subsection, the
thirteen-day periods and seven-day period shall
commence on the date such notice is mailed. If
such company or municipal utility does not
terminate service within one hundred twenty days
after mailing the initial notice of termination,
such company or municipal utility shall give the
customer a new notice at least thirteen days prior
to termination. Every termination notice issued by
a public service company or municipal utility
shall contain or be accompanied by an explanation
of the rights of the customer provided in
subsection (c) of this section.
(b) No such company or municipal utility
shall effect termination of service for nonpayment
during such time as any resident of a dwelling to
which such service is furnished is seriously ill,
if the fact of such serious illness is certified
to such company or municipal utility by a
registered physician within such period of time
after the mailing of a termination notice pursuant
to subsection (a) of this section as the
Department of Public Utility Control may by
regulation establish, provided the customer agrees
to amortize the unpaid balance of his account over
a reasonable period of time and keeps current his
account for utility service as charges accrue in
each subsequent billing period.
(c) No such company or municipal utility
shall effect termination of service to a
residential dwelling for nonpayment during the
pendency of any complaint, investigation, hearing
or appeal, initiated by a customer within such
period of time after the mailing of a termination
notice pursuant to subsection (a) of this section
as said Department of Public Utility Control may
by regulation establish; provided, any telephone
company during the pendency of any complaint,
investigation, hearing or appeal may terminate
telephone service if the amount of charges
accruing and outstanding subsequent to the
initiation of any complaint, investigation,
hearing or appeal exceeds on a monthly basis the
average monthly bill for the previous three months
or if the customer fails to keep current his
telephone account for all undisputed charges or
fails to comply with any amortization agreement as
hereafter provided.
(d) Any customer who has initiated a
complaint or investigation under subsection (c) of
this section shall be given an opportunity for
review of such complaint or investigation by a
review officer of the company or municipal utility
other than a member of such company's or municipal
utility's credit department, provided the
Department of Public Utility Control may waive
this requirement for any company or municipal
utility employing fewer than twenty-five full-time
employees, which review shall include
consideration of whether the customer should be
permitted to amortize the unpaid balance of his
account over a reasonable period of time. No
termination shall be effected for any customer
complying with any such amortization agreement,
provided such customer also keeps current his
account for utility service as charges accrue in
each subsequent billing period.
(e) Any customer whose complaint or request
for an investigation has resulted in a
determination by a company or municipal utility
which is adverse to him may appeal such
determination to the Department of Public Utility
Control or a hearing officer appointed by the
department.
(f) If, following the receipt of a
termination notice or the entering into of an
amortization agreement, the customer makes a
payment or payments amounting to twenty per cent
of the balance due, the public service company
shall not terminate service without giving notice
to the customer, in accordance with the provisions
of this section, of the conditions the customer
must meet to avoid termination, but such
subsequent notice shall not entitle such customer
to further investigation, review or appeal by the
company, municipal utility or department.
(g) NO ELECTRIC, GAS, TELEPHONE OR WATER
PUBLIC SERVICE COMPANY AND NO MUNICIPAL UTILITY
FURNISHING ELECTRIC, GAS OR WATER SERVICE SHALL
SUBMIT TO A CREDIT RATING AGENCY, AS DEFINED IN
SECTION 36a-695, ANY INFORMATION ABOUT A
RESIDENTIAL CUSTOMER'S NONPAYMENT FOR ELECTRIC,
GAS, TELEPHONE OR WATER SERVICE UNLESS THE
CUSTOMER IS MORE THAN SIXTY DAYS DELINQUENT IN
PAYING FOR SUCH SERVICE. IN NO EVENT SHALL SUCH A
COMPANY OR MUNICIPAL UTILITY SUBMIT TO A CREDIT
RATING AGENCY ANY INFORMATION ABOUT A RESIDENTIAL
CUSTOMER'S NONPAYMENT FOR SUCH SERVICE IF THE
CUSTOMER HAS INITIATED A COMPLAINT, INVESTIGATION
HEARING OR APPEAL WITH REGARD TO SUCH SERVICE
UNDER SUBSECTION (c) OF THIS SECTION THAT IS
PENDING BEFORE THE DEPARTMENT.
Approved June 8, 1998