Service Disconnection Reporting Requirements for Electric, Gas, Sewer, and Water Utilities

PURPOSE: This rule sets forth the requirement and standards for the submission of reports regarding and related to the cessation of services provided to customers by those investorowned electric, gas, sewer, and water utilities that serve more than two thousand (2,000) residential customers and that are subject to the jurisdiction of the commission. (1) For purposes of this rule— (A) Residential meter(s) means a device or devices, owned by a utility, used for measuring the volume of services of a customer’s electric, gas, sewer, or water consumption for residential service at a single point of delivery; and (B) Average customer arrearage means the mean average of the total of all delinquent charges, late payment charges, and reconnection fees per residential meter. This shall be calculated as the sum of all delinquent charges, late payment charges, and reconnection fees associated with all residential meters as of the last minute on the last calendar day of the calendar month, divided by the total number of residential meters with delinquent charges, late fees, or reconnection fees as of the last minute on the last calendar day of the calendar month. (2) Each utility, as that term is defined in 20 CSR 4240-13.015(1) (FF), serving more than two thousand (2,000) residential customers shall separately provide a report in the commission's electronic filing information system (EFIS) within twenty (20) days of the end of each calendar month. For those utilities that provide more than one (1) type of utility service, individual reports must be provided for each type of utility service. The utility shall provide an electronic copy of each report to the Office of the Public Counsel. All information provided shall be considered public information; however, no customer-specific information shall be reported or made public. All information shall be provided in a native electronic spreadsheet format with all links and formulas intact. The first required monthly report shall be submitted ninety (90) days after this rule becomes effective. Each utility shall report the following information as it relates to the immediately preceding calendar month: (A) The total number of residential meters actively receiving service as of the first minute on the first calendar day of the calendar month; (B) The total number of residential meters actively receiving service as of the last minute on the last calendar day of the calendar month; (C) The total number of residential meters for which there was a termination of service, as that term is defined in 20 CSR 4240-13.015(1)(EE), during the calendar month; (D) The total number of residential meters for which there was a discontinuance of service, as that term is used in 20 CSR 4240-13.050(1)(A), (B), (C), and (E), during the calendar month; (E) The total number of residential meters that did not receive service as of 00:00 on the first calendar day of the calendar month and began receiving service before 24:00 on the last calendar day of the calendar month; (F) The total number of residential meters for which at least one delinquent charge, as that term is defined in 20 CSR 424013.015(1)(I), exists as of the last minute on the last day of the calendar month; (G) The average customer arrearage; (H) The total dollar value of any monies received from the Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program, Low-Income Household Water Assistance Program, or Energy Crisis Intervention Program to pay for a residential meter’s delinquent charge, as that term is defined in 20 CSR 4240-13.015(1)(I), during the calendar month; (I) The total dollar value of any monies received from any assistance program other than those referred to in subsection (2)(H) to pay for a residential meter’s delinquent charge, as that term is defined in 20 CSR 4240-13.015(1)(I), during the calendar month; (J) The total number of residential meters for which payment is made for utility services under a payment agreement, as that term is defined in 20 CSR 4240-13.015(1)(W); settlement agreement, as that term is defined in 20 CSR 4240-13.015(1)(CC); or payment agreement, as that term is used in 20 CSR 424013.055(10), as of the last minute on the last day of the calendar month; (K) The mean average volume of services billed to each residential meter recorded during the calendar month in kilowatt-hours for electric services, centrum cubic feet for gas services, and thousand gallons of water for water services; and (L) Any other information the commission orders the utility to provide. (3) Any utility that provides a report pursuant to this rule, 20 CSR 4240-13.075, need not provide a separate report pursuant to 20 CSR 4240-13.055(15) outside the Cold Weather Rule period. During the designated Cold Weather Rule period, November 1 through March 31, each utility providing heat-related utility service shall submit a report pursuant to 20 CSR 4240-13.055(15) no later than the twentieth day of the following month. (4) If the commission finds that any deficiency exists in the report provided by a utility as required by section (2) of this rule, the commission may direct its staff to issue a notice to the utility identifying the deficiency. Any utility that receives a notice from the commission stating that deficiencies exist in its report shall respond to that notice within twenty (20) days after the date said notice is issued and shall provide all information necessary to cure the deficiency identified in said notice in its response. Both the notice and the response shall be included in EFIS by the staff of the commission. AND INSURANCE (5) Each report provided by a utility as required under section (2) of this rule shall be made publicly available for access through a hyperlink found on the commission’s official website’s home page. (6) The staff of the commission shall produce an Annual Residential Customer Disconnection Report within forty-five (45) days of the end of each calendar year that shall aggregate all of the reports provided by all of the utilities as required under section (2) of this rule during the course of the previous year. This Annual Residential Customer Disconnection Report shall be made publicly available for access through a hyperlink found on the commission’s official website’s home page. All information included in the Annual Residential Customer Disconnection Report shall be considered public information; however, no customer-specific information shall be reported or made public. (7) The receipt by the commission or commission staff of reports prescribed by this rule shall not bind the commission or commission staff to the approval or acceptance of, or agreement with, any matter contained in the reports for the purpose of fixing rates or in determining any other issue that may come before the commission. AUTHORITY: sections 386.250 and 393.140, RSMo 2016.* Original rule filed May 12, 2023, effective Dec. 30, 2023. *Original authority: 386.250, RSMo 1939, amended 1963, 1967, 1977, 1980, 1987, 1988, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, and 393.140, RSMo 1939, amended 1949, 1967.