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GENERAL
The following rules and regulations for the use of electricity and protection of equipment shall be in force.
(A) Customers shall make written application for service at the customer service office through a customer support representative at least 24 hours prior to the time service is required, specifying in the application the location and kind of service required.
(B) Customers, moving or in any manner changing the location or nature of the service, shall notify a customer support representative at once of such change, and any new customer desiring service at such vacated or changed location shall immediately make application for service at such location.
(C) The Manager for the city’s power and light utility shall locate the point of service entrance and the location of the meter, which shall be as close as possible under the circumstances to the city’s service lines.
(D) No meter shall hereafter be located inside any residence or in any other building or structure where such meter will not be plainly visible and at all times accessible to the Manager of the city’s power and light utility, and at a height it can be easily read from the floor. All meters installed prior to the enactment of this chapter may be changed by agreement with the customer.
(E) When service to any customer is discontinued, by reason of such customer having vacated the location served or on account of delinquency in the payment of any charge against such customer, and in the judgment of the Manager of the city’s power and light utility the service entrance of the meter at such location is inconveniently or improperly located, service shall not be restored, continued, or renewed at such location until such service entrance or meter is relocated or changed to a place designated by the Manager of the city’s power and light utility.
(F) Whenever any new service entrance is located or changed, or any meter is installed or its location changed, each installation shall be made with a type of cable and in such boxes or receptacles that can be sealed so that such meter cannot in any manner be tampered with, wired around, or in any other manner interfered with to prevent its registering the correct amount of current passing through.
(G) (1) No customer shall be hereafter connected or reconnected for service by the electric utility or entitled to receive electricity from that Department until such customer shall apply at the customer support office hours for such service, pay all delinquencies, if any, standing against such customer, and make a deposit with such customer support representative according to the class of service desired, as follows:
(a) For residence connection, two months estimated electrical bill, but in no event less than $25;
(b) For office connection, two months estimated electrical bill, but in no event, less than $25; or
(c) For power connection, two months estimated electrical bill, but in no event less than $25.
(2) The deposit shall be held and retained by the Utility Cashier (Ut) for the use and benefit of such customer, and shall be returned to the customer with interest at the rate of 3% per annum from the time of deposit whenever the customer shall discontinue the use of such service, after deducting therefrom any amount that may be owing by the customer to the city as a charge for such service. No interest shall be paid on deposits held less than six months.
(H) No customer shall be permitted to resell the current furnished to him or her at a higher rate than billed to him or her.
(I) (1) The meters furnished to measure and register the current furnished to customers are the absolute property of the city and moving, altering, tampering with, connecting, or disconnecting such meters or meter equipment, or connection, or in any manner rendering the same inaccessible or difficult to read by the Manager of the city’s power and light utility or authorized employees of the city’s power and light utility, is prohibited.
(2) Authorized employees or representatives of the city shall have the right of access to its meters or meter equipment at all reasonable hours for the purposes of inspecting, testing, or reading the same.
(J) The city shall have the right to discontinue service for any of the following reasons:
(1) While making repairs or alterations to the system or any part thereof;
(2) Breakdown in the generating or distributing system;
(3) Nonpayment of bills when due;
(4) Interfering or tampering with equipment, appliances, meters, or connections;
(5) Failure on the part of any customer to comply with these rules; and
(6) Whenever, in the judgment of the Manager of the city’s power and light utility, the wiring in or on customer’s premises is in such condition as to be dangerous.
(Prior Code, § 30.08) (Ord. 1960-10, passed 6-1-1960; Ord. 2019-25, passed on 5-13-2020)
The city’s power and light utility shall place all services from its pole line to the attachments on customer’s buildings or structures, or other point designated by the city. The customer shall furnish proper entrance therefor as described in the rules and regulations of the Electric Department of the city.
(Prior Code, § 30.04) (Ord. 1961-11, passed 3-22-1961; Ord. 2019-25, passed on 5-13-2020)
(A) All meters shall be the property of the city, and shall be installed by and under the control of the city, but the customer shall furnish the place for the meter as specified and described in the rules.
(B) No person shall move, tamper with, connect, or disconnect such meter or meter equipment.
(C) Whoever violates any provision of this section shall be fined not more than $300 for each offense.
(Prior Code, §§ 30.05, 30.99) (Ord. 2019-25, passed on 5-13-2020)
When a meter is not recording within the limits of accuracy established by the utility or a billing error has occurred, then adjustments to prior billings may be made for the period that is the shorter of:
(A) To the extent it is ascertainable, the period of time during which such inaccuracy or billing error occurred; or
(B) One year prior to the date on which the inaccuracy or billing error was discovered.
(Prior Code, § 30.06) (Ord. 2019-25, passed on 5-13-2020)
All complaints as to the amount of bills or reading must be filed by the customer at the office of the Billing Department before the bill becomes delinquent. No credit shall be given on any bill because of any defect, trouble, or insufficiency of the lines or wiring in the building or other structure of the customer. However, if such customer presents a reasonable excuse for not making such complaint within the time above specified, such adjustments may be made at any time thereafter.
(Prior Code, § 30.06) (Ord. 2019-25, passed on 5-13-2020)
(A) Electric service bills are issued monthly. They are due upon receipt, and are payable to the customer support representative at the customer service office during regular office hours. All other employees of the city or utility are expressly prohibited from receiving payments for utility bills.
(B) If payment is not made on or before 15 days from the date of the bill, the account is then delinquent and the collection charge in the amount of 10% of the first $3 of the bill plus 3% of the excess of $3 as provided in the rate subchapter is applicable. If payment is not made within the next five days, the customer is informed by mail that the service is subject to disconnection, without further notice.
(C) In case of disconnection for nonpayment of the bill, the customer will not be reconnected until he or she has paid the reconnection charge plus all amounts owed to the utility, or make an arrangement for their payment which is satisfactory to the utility.
(D) The utility shall not be required to restore service on the date delinquent bills are paid unless the payment is made prior to 2:00 p.m. of this same day. When payment of delinquent bills is made after 2:00 p.m., the service will not be restored until after 8:00 a.m. on the next work day.
(E) In addition to rates for service, when it is necessary for an employee of the electric utility to go to a customer’s premises to collect a delinquent bill, a collection charge of $10 will be made.
(F) When a check that was received in payment of a customer’s account is returned unpaid by the bank for any reason (not the fault of the electric utility), the customer shall be assessed a handling charge of $30 for each check returned by the bank.
(Ord. 1988-20, passed 9-8-1988; Ord. 1993-8, passed 8-26-1993; Ord. 2007-4, passed 6-28-2007; Ord. 2019-25, passed on 5-13-2020)
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