Service and Billing Practices for Commercial and Industrial Customers of Electric, Gas, Water, and Steam Heat Utilities

PURPOSE: This rule establishes service and billing and payment standards to be observed by electric, gas, water, and steam heat utilities, and their commercial and industrial customers in resolv ing questions regarding these matters so that reasonable and uni form standards exist for service and billing and payment practices for all electric, gas, water, and steam heat utilities. (1) Whenever a utility is unable to gain access to a customer’s premises for the purpose of reading and testing meters or servicing or maintaining the utility’s equipment or for other appropriate purposes, following calls made at the customer’s premises during the usual course of business, the customer, on request from the utility, in which a particular time is specified, shall give access to his/her premises to representatives of the utility for those purposes at the time specified, which time shall be within the hours of 8:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. Monday through Friday, otherwise the utility may estimate for billing purposes the meter reading subject to correction when the utility may read the meter. (2) Except for the provisions of this rule, all bills rendered to customers for metered service furnished will show the reading of the meter at the beginning and end of the period for which the bill is rendered and shall give the dates of readings, the number of units of service supplied and the basis of charge or reference. Where, by reason of the use of postal or other card form of billing or for other good reasons, this information cannot reasonably be placed on the bills, any utility may present for filing with the commission, in conjunction with its rules, a proposed form of billing. The commission may authorize, deny, or require modification of any such proposed form of billing. (3) No utility shall discontinue the service of any customer for violation of any rule of that utility except on written notice of intention to discontinue service. This notice shall state the rea son for which service will be discontinued, specify a date after which the discontinuance may be effected and shall be mailed to or served upon the customer not less than forty-eight (48) hours prior to that date. This may be waived where a bypass is discovered on a customer’s service meter, or in the event of discovery of dangerous leakage or short circuit on a customer’s premises, or in the case of a customer utilizing the service in a manner as to make it dangerous for occupants of the premises, thus making the immediate discontinuance of service to the premises imperative, or in the case of an order from a govern mental agency directing the discontinuance of service. In the event of discontinuance of service for any of these reasons, the customer shall be notified of the discontinuance immediately with a statement concerning the reason for discontinuance. (4) Each utility may require from any customer at any time a cash deposit or, at its option, a personal guarantee of a respon sible person provided that the amount of any such deposit or guarantee so required shall not exceed an estimated bill covering one (1) billing period plus thirty (30) days. A cash de posit shall bear interest at a rate specified in the utility’s tariffs, approved by the commission, which shall be credited annually upon the account of the customer or paid upon the return of the deposit, whichever occurs first, and provided the cash deposit remains for a period of at least six (6) months. These provisions shall not apply to any deposits or guarantees made by the customer for the purpose of securing an extension of or additions to a utility’s distributing system in accordance with the utility’s rules covering these extensions as filed with this commission. Interest shall not accrue on any cash deposit after the date the utility has made a bona fide effort to return that deposit to the depositor. The utility, in its records, shall keep evidence of its effort to return the deposit. Each utility shall file with the commission, a tariff setting forth the interest rate payable on cash deposits, unless the utility already has a rate of interest set forth in its tariff. (5) A statement of the practice of any utility covering deposits or guarantees of surety, together with interest rate payable upon cash deposits, must be filed with the commission as a portion of the utility’s schedule of rates under the provisions of the commission’s rules covering the filing and publication of rate schedules. A statement of the practice governing service main or line extensions by any utility must likewise be filed with the commission as a portion of the schedule of rates on file. Each utility shall adjust customer’s bills for incorrect meter readings or improper meter registration in a reasonable and equitable manner consistent with the rules which it has on file with the commission. Any specific rule adopted by a utility covering these adjustments shall be filed with the commission in conformance with the commission’s rules covering the filing and publication of rate schedules. (6) Customer, as used in this rule, means a commercial or indus trial customer of an electric, gas, water, or steam heat utility. AUTHORITY: sections 386.250, 393.140, and 393.290, RSMo 2016.* This rule originally filed as 4 CSR 240-10.040. Original rule filed March 5, 1953, effective March 15, 1953. Amended: Filed Sept. 22, 1959, effective Oct. 1, 1959. Amended: Filed May 2, 1968, effective May 16, 1968. Amended: Filed June 10, 1992, effective Feb. 26, 1993. Amended: Filed Nov. 7, 2018, effective July 30, 2019. Moved to 20 CSR 4240-10.040, effective Aug. 28, 2019. *Original authority: 386.250, RSMo 1939, amended 1963, 1967, 1977, 1980, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996; 393.140, RSMo 1939, amended 1949, 1967; and 393.290, RSMo 1939, amended 1967.