(A) The company reserves the right to shut off the gas at any time and to remove its property from the premises for any of the following reasons:
(1) For tests or repairs;
(2) For non-payment of bills for gas utility service when due, after required notice has been given;
(3) For incorrect representation of facts in application for service, after required notice has been given;
(4) For failure to make or increase the cash deposit when required by the company, after required notice has been given;
(5) For reselling gas in violation of the company’s Standard Rules and Regulations, after required notice has been given;
(6) For placing or permitting the placing of any by-pass around any meter or service line; or for tampering; or permitting tampering with same;
(7) For permitting pipes, or appliances owned or used by the customer to leak or otherwise permit the escape or waste of gas, after required notice has been given;
(8) For failure to comply with the Rules and Regulations of the company, after required notice has been given;
(9) Failure to pay the applicable connect charge, after required notice has been given;
(10) On order of municipal authorities having jurisdiction; or
(11) When checks received from customer for amounts past due or for the required deposit are repeatedly not honored when presented to the bank for payment, then service may be discontinued without advance notice.
(B) The company shall not discontinue service to any customer for violation of its rules or regulations nor for nonpayment of bills without first having diligently tried to induce the customer to comply with its rules and regulations, or to pay amounts due the company. Service may be discontinued after five-days’ written notice shall have been given to the customer by the company in the manner provided for in division (D) below. Prior notice of disconnection shall not be required for fraudulent, negligent, or unlawful use of the commodity or service detected, or where a dangerous condition is found to exist on a customer’s premises.
(C) The customer shall have the privilege of paying any delinquent account at any time prior to the actual disconnection or turning off of service; provided, however, that payment at company’s office within four hours of the time of actual disconnection or turning off of service shall not affect the right to disconnect or turn off service for nonpayment. Whenever the company dispatches an employee to the premises of any customer for the purpose of discontinuing service for nonpayment, and such payment arrangements are made that do not result in actually disconnecting or turning off of service, a fee as provided by a fee schedule maintained by the City Secretary that is adopted by the City Council from time to time, shall be added to and collected as a part of the delinquent account to cover, in part, the cost to the company of dispatching the employee to the customer’s premises. A charge as provided by a fee schedule maintained by the City Secretary, adopted by the City Council from time to time, may also be added to an account and collected to recover cost for reprocessing any check that has been returned to the company by the bank by reason of insufficient funds on deposit. Whenever service has actually been disconnected on account of the failure of the customer to pay the delinquent account, or for any other reason without fault of the utility if the customer desires the service to be reconnected, the company shall require the customer to pay a reconnection charge as provided by a fee schedule maintained by the City Secretary that is adopted by the City Council from time to time.
(D) Notice of delinquency shall be construed to be given to the customer when a copy of the notice is left with the customer, or left at the premises where service is required, or posted in the United States mail addressed to the customer’s last known post office address, except as specified in divisions (H) and (I) below.
(E) The company shall not be liable for any damage to persons or property resulting from the discontinuance of gas service after having given the required notice. Arrangement satisfactory to the company for the continuance of service on account of serious illness or other causes shall be made by the customer prior to the expiration of the notice period.
(F) When, at the customer’s request, the company changes the location at which service is rendered, the gas consumed at the new and old locations, for the purposes of billing, shall be combined. The change of the location to which service is rendered shall not be deemed to affect the rights of the company with regard to the application of deposit or discontinuance of service for nonpayment of the account.
(G) The fact that the company has a cash deposit from a customer shall not in any manner affect the right of the company to discontinue service to that customer for the nonpayment of amounts past due, regardless of the fact that the deposit is in excess of the amount past due.
(H) Termination of service to elderly persons, handicapped persons, and persons with serious illnesses.
(1) Definitions. Disputes as to the existence of elderly or handicapped status shall be resolved pursuant to Subpart 8J.
(a) ELDERLY. An ELDERLY person is any residential customer aged 65 or older whose total gross income is less than or equal to the median income for Texas families categorized as “65 years and over” in Table 19A or successor tables reported in Consumer Income: Money Income and Poverty Status in 1975 of Families and Persons in the United States and the South Region, By Divisions and States (Spring 1976 Survey of Income and Education) published by the Bureau of the Census of the United States Department of Commerce, as most recently published.
(b) HANDICAPPED. Any residential customer:
1. Who has any permanent severe physical or mental impairment which substantially limits his or her ability to pay for utility service; and
2. Who is certified as being physically or mentally disabled by a physician, licensed psychologist, by the United States Veterans Administration, the Social Security Administration, the appropriate governmental agency, or a local regional mental health center.
(c) SERIOUS ILLNESS. Includes serious injury not amounting to a handicap.
(2) Special provision for the elderly and handicapped.
(a) Each utility shall file with the Commission, for its approval, procedures the utility will follow to insure the protection of elderly and handicapped customers. In addition, each utility shall keep records of ail delinquent accounts of elderly or handicapped customers and the disposition of these accounts. Protection procedures shall include:
1. Identification of eligible households;
2. Personal contact by telephone or in person by utility personnel to arrange installment of deferred payment of any delinquency;
3. Notification of right to third-party notice before termination of service; and
4. Assistance to customers wishing to make arrangements with state or local social service agencies for payment for service.
(b) The procedures may require elderly and handicapped persons to disclose information and furnish documents in connection with the status claimed on an annual basis. If a customer provides false information to the utility in order to claim an exemption under this rule, it shall be grounds for termination. Customers establishing eligibility to claim an exemption as elderly or handicapped shall be presumed to retain this status for one year after the date eligibility is established. Eligibility related to income level and ability to pay for utility service shall be reestablished annually.
(3) Delay of termination on grounds of serious illness.
(a) 1. A utility shall postpone termination of service to a residential customer, or reconnect previously terminated service, for a reasonable time up to 30 days if the customer presents a certificate from a physician stating it is likely that termination of service will either aggravate a serious illness or give rise to a substantial risk of death or a grave impairment of the health of the customer, of a member of the customer’s family, or of another permanent resident of the premises where service is rendered. The certificate shall identify the medical emergency, specify the effect of termination of service, and specify the time during which termination of service will aggravate the illness. The utility may, at its expense, obtain an additional medical report or certificate from a physician of its choice and may rely on that opinion and in reliance on that opinion terminate service five days after mailing an additional notice of termination to the customer. Failure of customer without good cause to attend the company-scheduled medical appointment shall be sufficient reason for termination of service by the utility.
2. A customer, his or her physician, or a nurse, nurse practitioner, physician’s assistant, or a public or private agency providing physical or mental health care services may notify the utility of a serious illness in person, by telephone, or by letter. The customer shall have seven days from the date of notification to present the certificate. Notice by telephone shall be subject to verification by the utility.
(b) The 30-day postponement may be extended one time by renewal by notice as above and renewal of the certificate by a physician as above.
(c) Disputes over the existence or seriousness of the illness shall be resolved under Subpart 8J.
(d) Continuation or reconnection of service under this rule shall not in any way relieve the customer of liability incurred for utility services.
(4) Delay of termination for elderly and handicapped persons.
(a) Residential utility service shall not be terminated and, if previously terminated, shall be reconnected, during the months of November through March for elderly and handicapped customers of the utility, provided that service may be terminated if the customers fail to pay at least one-half of the amount billed for service either as they fall due or pursuant to delayed payment agreement. Any balance due for service during these months shall be made in the months of April through October in installments agreed upon by the customer and the utility. If, during the months of April through October, a customer fails to pay the deferred balance due for service from November to March, the utility shall not be obligated to refrain from terminating or to reconnect service during the next November through March time period. Residential gas air condition service to these customers shall not be terminated on a day when the National Weather Service forecasts between 5:00 a.m. and 8:00 a.m. a maximum temperature for that day of 95
°
Fahrenheit, or higher.
(b) At least 72 hours prior to the proposed termination of residential service to an elderly or handicapped person, a utility shall personally contact the customer, a person living in this household, or any other person or agency designated by the elderly or handicapped person to receive notice in person or by telephone during the utility’s normal working hours or between 9:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. on Saturdays and holidays that termination of service is imminent and that steps can be taken to avoid termination. This notice shall include an explanation of the procedures available under this or other applicable rules. If none of these parties is contacted on the first attempt, a second attempt shall be made and may take place between 6:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.
(c) Continuation or reconnection of service under this rule shall not in any way relieve the customer of liability incurred for utility services.
(I) Notice of termination to tenants.
(1) For the purposes of this rule, LANDLORD means the owner, agent, manager, or lessor of premises intended primarily for residential use for which he or she receives lease or rent payments which include amounts for utility service.
(2) Each utility shall file with the Commission procedures for identifying accounts where service is rendered at an address different from the mailing address of the bill. Such procedures may include requiring landlords to identify themselves as such and to identify their tenants by name, address, and account number. Absent this identification, the utility shall not be required to treat a customer as a tenant unless it has actual knowledge or information that reliably indicates that the person to whom service is rendered is a tenant.
(3) The utility shall not disconnect service to such an account for nonpayment of the bill until the following actions have been taken:
(a) When a termination notice has been sent to the landlord, if no response is received by the utility within seven days, notice shall also be sent to the affected tenants or shall be posted in conspicuous locations such as near mail boxes, building entrances and exits, and other areas of common usage.
(b) If a landlord fails to pay for service to a tenant a utility shall not terminate service to the tenant until at least 30 days have elapsed from the date of the delinquency, and, after being notified of the delinquency, the tenant has not paid for service provided after the date of notification or made arrangements with the utility to do so.
(c) Where feasible, the utility shall offer the tenant the opportunity to apply for service in his or her own name. If this service is not feasible or if the tenant declines to apply for such service, the utility may terminate service as provided in Subpart 8E(3)(b). If the tenant chooses to take service in his or her own name, termination shall thereafter be governed by other appropriate provisions of this rule.
(d) Where premises are master-metered and a tenant and the utility are unable to agree upon payments to be made by the tenant for service, the utility shall petition the Commission for an immediate informal resolution or formal hearing to resolve the dispute.
(4) A utility shall not attempt to recover from a tenant or condition service to a tenant on the payment of any amounts owed by the landlord to the utility.
(Ord. 2-95, passed 5-8-1995)