PSC 113.0406(8)(b)3.
3. Estimated bills, if the utility made a reasonable effort to obtain access. Reasonable efforts to gain access means that the utility has notified the customer after 3 consecutive estimated readings that the utility will read the meter at other than standard business hours at the customer's request.
PSC 113.0406(8)(b)4.
4. Receipt of lump sum payments made from an outside source as the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program or other like programs.
PSC 113.0406(8)(c)
(c) The rate of interest to be paid shall be calculated in the same manner as provided for in
s. PSC 113.0402 (9) (b). Interest shall be paid from the date when the customer overpayment occurred until the date when the overpayment is refunded. Interest will be calculated on the net amount overpaid in each calendar year.
PSC 113.0406(8)(d)
(d) Nothing in these rules shall prevent the commission or its staff from requiring the payment of interest on amounts returned to customers in those instances where the commission or its staff finds that such payment is necessary for a fair and equitable resolution of an individual complaint.
PSC 113.0406 History
History: Cr.
Register, July, 2000, No. 535, eff. 8-1-00.
PSC 113.0407(1)(1) Whenever the customer disputes the utility's request for a deposit or other guarantee, or advises the utility's designated office that all or any part of any billing as rendered is in dispute, or that any matter related to the disconnection or refusal of service is in dispute, the utility shall:
PSC 113.0407(1)(d)
(d) Provide the opportunity for the residential customer to enter into a deferred payment agreement under
s. PSC 113.0404 when applicable in order to resolve the dispute.
PSC 113.0407(1)(e)
(e) When a utility designates an agent to handle disputes and inquiries and when the agent refuses or fails to adequately address the disputes and inquiries, upon complaint or other indicator of such refusal or failure, the dispute resolution responsibility required under this section reverts to the utility.
PSC 113.0407(1)(f)
(f) When utility payments are made electronically or through vendors, credit cards, or other third party and when these third parties have a contractual relationship with the utility, the dispute/inquiry resolution responsibility remains with the utility.
PSC 113.0407(2)
(2) After the customer has pursued the available remedies with the utility, he or she may request that the public service commission staff informally review the disputed issue and recommend terms of settlement.
PSC 113.0407(3)(a)(a) A customer's request for informal review may be made in any reasonable manner such as by written request or telephoned request directed to the public service commission. By telephone or written request the public service commission staff may request the utility to investigate the dispute.
PSC 113.0407(3)(b)
(b) The utility shall designate employees for responding to commission complaints who are readily available and have an appropriate and sufficient authority level for investigating concerns raised by the commission and its staff. Utilities shall promptly inform the commission of any changes in these designations. A utility shall respond to public service commission staff's request for an investigation by contacting the complainant within 48 hours for most circumstances, or 4 hours in an emergency situation and by providing a response to the commission within 10 business days. Staff may extend this time period if the utility requests more time to complete its investigation. Based on information provided by the utility and the customer, public service commission staff shall make an informal determination for settlement of the dispute and communicate that determination to both by telephone or mail. Either party to the dispute may request and receive the public service commission staff determination and the basis for it, in writing. Commission staff shall inform any customer disputing an informal determination of the right to pursue a formal review. Staff shall include any information or arguments that the customer believes the commission should consider.
PSC 113.0407(3)(c)
(c) There shall be at least 7 days between the date the public service commission staff telephones or mails written notice of terms of settlement after informal review and any subsequent disconnection.
PSC 113.0407(4)(a)(a) After informal review, any party to the dispute may make a written request for a formal review by the commission itself. To avoid disconnection pending a formal review, the customer must request a formal review by the commission, in writing, within 7 days of the issue of the informal determination. All other requests for formal review shall be made within 30 days of the date the commission staff telephones or mails written confirmation if the staff telephone notice is requested and mailed, the 30 day period begins from the date of that mailing.
PSC 113.0407(4)(b)
(b) Within 7 days of receiving a request for formal review in a dispute involving a pending disconnection of service, the commission shall make a determination whether to grant the request for formal review. The commission shall base its determination on the request for formal review and commission staff's informal complaint file. Within 35 days from the time that all other requests for formal review are made, commission staff shall provide the commission with a memorandum based on the information it has received from the utility and the customer. A copy of the commission staff memorandum shall be provided to the parties 15 days prior to consideration by the commission. Either party to the complaint may file a response to the commission staff's memorandum. These comments shall be filed with the commission 2 working days prior to the date scheduled for consideration by the commission. The commission shall inform both parties of its decision.
PSC 113.0407(5)
(5) Either party to the complaint may request that the commission reconsider its formal determination under this section. Such requests shall comply with s.
227.49, Stats. and must be received by the commission within 20 days of mailing of the commission's determination. A request for reconsideration shall include any additional information or arguments that the party believes were not considered in the original complaint. The commission may review and reaffirm its original decision, issue a new decision, or decide to hold hearing on the matter for the gathering of additional information.
PSC 113.0407(6)(a)(a) If the commission decides to conduct formal hearing under
sub. (5) on the dispute, the commission may condition the terms of its granting a formal hearing. Failure to met these conditions before hearing shall constitute waiver of the dispute by the customer.
PSC 113.0407(6)(c)
(c) Any such hearing shall be held not less than 10 days following a notice of hearing and a decision thereon shall be rendered following the conclusion of the hearing.
PSC 113.0407(7)
(7) Utility service shall not be disconnected or refused because of any disputed matter while the disputed matter is being pursued in accordance with the provisions of this section. The utility shall inform the customer that pursuing a disputed matter does not relieve the customer or the obligation of paying charges which are not in dispute, or prevent disconnection of service for nonpayment of undisputed charges.
PSC 113.0407 History
History: Cr.
Register, July, 2000, No. 535, eff. 8-1-00.
PSC 113.0410
PSC 113.0410
Billing statement inserts. No offer, advertisement, solicitation, announcement, statement, representation or other material shall be placed on a customer's billing statement unless it meets the criteria of s.
196.595 (2), Stats., or
ch. PSC 113.
PSC 113.0410 History
History: Cr.
Register, July, 2000, No. 535, eff. 8-1-00.
PSC 113.0412
PSC 113.0412
Limiting connected load. If the utility maintains a rate based on connected load, provision shall be made in its rules whereby the customer may arrange his or her load or wiring in such manner as is reasonably acceptable to the utility, whether by the use of double-throw switches or such other devices as may be approved by the utility, so that only a portion of the load may be served at one time and whereby, in such cases, the connected load to be used for the computation of charges shall be the largest load which can be served at any one time.
PSC 113.0412 History
History: Cr.
Register, July, 2000, No. 535, eff. 8-1-00.
PSC 113.0501
PSC 113.0501
Information available to customers. PSC 113.0501(1)(1) Each utility shall have available in its offices where payments are received and at area libraries, copies of its rates and rules applicable to the locality. The rates and rules shall be available for customer inspection by electronic, written or telephonic means and reasonable notice as to their availability shall be provided to customers.
PSC 113.0501(2)
(2) Each electric utility, for every municipality in which it serves shall provide in the respective telephone directories a telephone listing by which the utility can be notified during a 24-hour day of any utility service deficiency or emergency which may exist.
PSC 113.0501(3)
(3) Where a second language is common in a particular area served by the utility and so identified by the commission, all rules pertaining to billing and credit shall be available upon customer request, for distribution in English and that second language in every business office of the utility in that area accessible to the public and where customer payments are received.
PSC 113.0501(4)
(4) Each utility shall provide written notice to its residential customers annually and a written notice to all new residential customers, at a minimum, of the rules on deposits, payment options including deferred payment agreements and budget billing, disconnection and dispute procedures; of the availability of information on energy conservation practices, of the availability of a clear, concise record of the customer's actual electric consumption (or actual degree-day adjusted electric consumption) for each billing period during the prior 12 months or the actual number of months that the customer has lived at that location if less than 12 months and of the availability of agencies or programs which may provide financial aid assistance or counseling; and contain a reply procedure to allow customers an opportunity to advise the utility of any special circumstances, such as the presence of infants or elderly persons or the use of human life-sustaining equipment and to advise the utility to contact a specific third party agency or individual prior to any disconnection action being taken.
PSC 113.0501(5)
(5) A utility shall provide on request to current or prospective customers, tenants or property owners residential energy consumption information. This information shall include either the average consumption for the prior 12-month period or figures reflecting the highest and lowest consumption amounts for the previous 12 months. Provision of this information is neither a breach of customer confidentiality nor a guarantee or contract by the utility as to future consumption levels for the premises in question. The requestor shall be entitled to one such statement at a charge not in excess of $1 once every 12 months. Additional statements shall be furnished if the customer pays the utility's reasonable costs of preparing and furnishing the statement.
PSC 113.0501 History
History: Cr.
Register, July, 2000, No. 535, eff. 8-1-00.
PSC 113.0502(1)(1) Unless conditions of an actual or potential emergency nature require otherwise, each utility shall strive to give reasonable advance notice to affected customers of each planned service interruption expected to last more than 30 minutes. No such notification is necessary when applying load control or on-peak control systems.
PSC 113.0502(2)
(2) Whenever feasible, interruptions expected to last more than 1 hour and affect more than 100 customers, or interruptions to critical loads, shall be scheduled for periods which will cause a minimum of customer inconvenience.
PSC 113.0502 History
History: Cr.
Register, July, 2000, No. 535, eff. 8-1-00.
PSC 113.0503(1)(a)
(a) "Computerized call center system" means a system where an automatic call distributor is used to manage incoming calls and to place calls in a queue and that has the capability to generate significant statistical information.
PSC 113.0503(1)(b)
(b) "Speed of answer" means the amount of time it takes for a call to be connected to either a live agent or an automated system that is ready to assist the customer and is measured beginning from the point when the call is first queued to be connected.
PSC 113.0503(2)(a)(a) A utility or its agent shall maintain sufficient employees and equipment to achieve an average speed of answer of not more than 90 seconds. The average speed of answer shall be determined by summing the total queuing time and dividing by the total number of customer calls handled by automated systems. A utility or its agent shall calculate this average speed of answer on a monthly basis, including customer service calls, outage calls and emergency calls.
PSC 113.0503(2)(b)
(b) A utility or its agent shall maintain sufficient employees to achieve an average speed of live response of not more than 90 seconds. The average speed of live response shall be determined by summing the total time from indication of request for live response and divided by the total number of calls answered by a live agent. A utility or its agent shall calculate this average speed of answer on a monthly basis, including customer service calls, outage calls and emergency calls.
PSC 113.0503(3)
(3) A utility or its agent shall give emergency calls the highest priority and shall be generally available for all calls and must provide customers with the option of selecting a live agent contact among those selections presented by any computerized call center system.
PSC 113.0503(4)
(4) A utility or its agent shall maintain average speed of answer data in a manner set forth by the commission and must provide customers with the option of selecting a live agent contact among those selections presented by any computerized call center system.
PSC 113.0503(5)
(5) The requirements of
subs. (2) to
(4) do not apply in either of the following circumstances:
PSC 113.0503(5)(a)
(a) To a utility or its agent that do not use a computerized call center system.
PSC 113.0503(5)(b)
(b) During natural disasters, severe weather, or other events beyond the utility's control that adversely impact the utility's telephone answering capabilities.
PSC 113.0503 History
History: Cr.
Register, July, 2000, No. 535, eff. 8-1-00.
PSC 113.0504(1)
(1) If a change in type of service, such as from 25 to 60 Hertz, or a change in voltage to a customer's substation, is effected at the insistence of the utility and not solely by reason of increase in the customer's load or change in the character thereof, the utility shall share equitably in the cost of changing the equipment of the customers affected as determined by the commission in the absence of agreement between utility and customer.
PSC 113.0504 Note
Note: The change in customer's equipment should be made with the greatest possible economy to the customer and final settlement made at the time of the change. Substantially the following basis was prescribed by the commission in Jackman v. Janesville Electric Co., 17 W.R.C.R. 356 and has been customarily adopted as the basis for settlement:
PSC 113.0504 Note
Payment by the utility to the customer of:
PSC 113.0504 Note
1. The remaining value of the customer's electrical equipment which is made obsolete;
PSC 113.0504 Note
2. The cost of making the resulting necessary change in interior wiring; and
PSC 113.0504 Note
3. The cost of installing the new equipment and removing the old, less the salvage value of such equipment as the customer retains.
PSC 113.0504(2)
(2) If a utility changes its standard voltage it shall notify customers in advance and if customer equipment other than lamps must be changed, an adjustment as required in
sub. (1) hereof shall be made. If tests of a representative sample of customers' meters indicate that meters have started to creep because of the voltage increase or if the tests of the representative sample show that meters average more than 0.5% fast, meters affected by the change in voltage shall be tested and adjusted.
PSC 113.0504 History
History: Cr.
Register, July, 2000, No. 535, eff. 8-1-00.
PSC 113.0505(1)(1) A utility shall maintain and deliver services that ensure safe, affordable, reliable service and attempt to mitigate and prevent energy hardships before they arise. The utility shall strive to meet the following five goals: to serve the target population of customers with actual or potential energy hardships, to provide customers with the assistance they need, to educate internal utility staff so that they understand low-income households and are aware of services offered by the utility and outside resources, to adapt and improve and to establish and maintain inter-utility coordination. The utility shall maintain sufficient data on its performance with regard to the goals and parameters of this section in a manner satisfactory to the commission. Effectiveness in meeting the service requirements shall be monitored and measured against the following parameters:
PSC 113.0505(1)(a)
(a) A description of the utility's low-income/at-risk customer services including the mission/vision/goals and organizational staffing structure. The report shall include the organizational staffing structure, name, telephone number, location, position description and training of representatives who staff the services for low-income/at-risk customers.
PSC 113.0505(2)
(2) Any information received from individual customers which serves to identify them individually, by usage or status, shall not be released by a utility to any source other than a utility low-income assistance program or the customer, without the customer's consent. In preparing summaries or reports, a utility shall not provide any information from which the identity, usage, or account status of any individual customer can be ascertained.
PSC 113.0505 History
History: Cr.
Register, July, 2000, No. 535, eff. 8-1-00.
PSC 113.0506(1)
(1) All investor-owned electric utilities which have annual gross operating revenues related to electricity of less than $100,000,000 and all electric cooperatives with retail customers organized under
ch. 185, Stats., will be assessed a service fee of $500 per investigation under the scope of the stray voltage program.
PSC 113.0506(2)
(2) All investor-owned electric utilities which have annual gross operating revenues related to electricity of more than $100,000,000 shall be assessed according to s.
196.857 (1m), Stats.
PSC 113.0506(3)
(3) Electric cooperatives with retail customers organized under
ch. 185, Stats., will be assessed a total of $50,000 annually. Each electric cooperative shall provide an equal portion for this assessment. The amounts received under this paragraph shall be credited to the appropriation made in s.
20.155 (1) (L), Stats., and credited against the assessment collected under s.
196.857 (1m) (a), Stats. The cooperatives shall pay the total amount that is assessed within 30 days after it receives a bill for that amount from the commission. The bill constitutes notice of assessment and demand of payment.
PSC 113.0506(4)
(4) Each applicant for stray voltage program services may be assessed a fee not to exceed $300.
PSC 113.0506(5)
(5) Reasonable fees, based on actual costs, may be assessed for services rendered other than those for the on-farm site-related fees in
subs. (1) and
(4). The fees collected in this paragraph shall be credited to the appropriation account under s.
20.155 (1) (L), Stats.
PSC 113.0506 History
History: Cr.
Register, July, 2000, No. 535, eff. 8-1-00.
PSC 113.0507(1)(1) If the commission finds that any conduct or aspect of a transaction directed against a customer by a utility is unconscionable, it may refuse to enforce any unconscionable aspect or conduct to avoid any unconscionable result.
PSC 113.0507(2)
(2) Without limiting the scope of
sub. (1), the commission may consider, among other things, the following as pertinent to the issue of unconscionability:
PSC 113.0507(2)(a)
(a) That the practice unfairly takes advantage of the lack of knowledge, ability, experience or capacity of customers.
PSC 113.0507(2)(b)
(b) That those engaging in the practice know of the inability of customers to receive benefits properly anticipated from the goods or services involved.
PSC 113.0507(2)(c)
(c) That there exists a gross disparity between the price of goods or services and their value as measured by the price at which similar goods or services are readily obtainable by other customers, or by other tests of true value.
PSC 113.0507(2)(d)
(d) That the practice may enable merchants to take advantage of the inability of customers to reasonably protect their interests by reason of physical or mental infirmities, illiteracy or inability to understand the language of the agreement, ignorance or lack of education or similar factors.
PSC 113.0507(2)(e)
(e) That the terms of the transaction require customers to waive legal rights.
PSC 113.0507(2)(f)
(f) That the terms of the transaction require customers to unreasonably jeopardize money or property beyond the money or property immediately at issue in the transaction.
PSC 113.0507(2)(g)
(g) That the natural effect of the practice would reasonably cause or aid in causing customers to misunderstand the true nature of the transaction or their rights and duties thereunder.
