Section 40. Limitations on service termination to residential customers

A. Following the issuance of a notice of intent to terminate service pursuant to § 56-247.1 A 4 or 6 of the Code of Virginia, an investor-owned electric utility, electric cooperative, or public utility providing water service shall, upon request from a residential customer who has a Serious Medical Condition Certification Form filed with the utility, delay termination of service for a minimum of an additional 30 calendar days beyond the expiration of the notice.

B. Following the issuance of a notice of intent to terminate service pursuant to § 56-247.1 A 4 or 6 of the Code of Virginia, an investor-owned electric utility, electric cooperative, or public utility providing water service shall, upon request from a residential customer who does not have a Serious Medical Condition Certification Form filed with the utility, delay termination of service for 10 calendar days upon oral or written notification from a residential customer that such customer or a family member residing with the customer has a serious medical condition. The 10-calendar day delay in service termination shall commence on the date the investor-owned electric utility, electric cooperative, or public utility providing water service receives notification. At the time of such notification, the investor-owned electric utility, electric cooperative, or public utility providing water service shall:

1. Advise the residential customer that service termination will be delayed for 10 calendar days pending receipt of the Serious Medical Condition Certification Form;

2. Provide the customer access to the Serious Medical Condition Certification Form via its website or advise the consumer that access can be obtained via the Commission's website;

3. Not later than two business days after receiving notification, mail, email, or deliver via facsimile transmission a copy of the Serious Medical Condition Certification Form upon a request from the customer; and

4. Not later than two business days after receiving notification, mail the customer a letter advising the customer:

a. The date notification was received;

b. The date that the 10-calendar day delay expires; and

c. That upon receipt of a Serious Medical Condition Certification Form within the 10-calendar day time period provided for in this subsection, it will delay the termination of service 30 calendar days from the date of termination initially noticed.

Upon receipt of a Serious Medical Condition Certification Form within the 10-calendar day time period provided for in this subsection, an investor-owned electric utility, electric cooperative, or public utility providing water service shall provide the 30-calendar day delay in termination of service required in subsection A of this section. An investor-owned electric utility, electric cooperative, or public utility providing water service shall not be required to provide a 10-calendar day delay in service termination pursuant to this subsection more than once in a 12-month period.

C. In the event an investor-owned electric utility, electric cooperative, or public utility providing water service has terminated service to a residential customer within the preceding 14 calendar days, the investor-owned electric utility, electric cooperative, or public utility providing water service shall promptly restore service upon (i) receipt of a Serious Medical Condition Certification Form, or confirmation of such a form on file; and (ii) a request from the customer to reconnect service. The investor-owned electric utility, electric cooperative, or public utility providing water service shall not be permitted to require any payment as a condition to reconnect; however, it may charge the customer, on the next monthly bill, any applicable reconnection fees that are on file in its State Corporation Commission approved tariffs and terms and conditions of service. Following the reconnection of service, the investor-owned electric utility, electric cooperative, or public utility providing water service shall delay termination of service for a minimum of 30 calendar days from the date it reconnects the customer.

D. An investor-owned electric utility, electric cooperative, or public utility providing water service shall permit a residential customer to delay termination of service under this chapter two times within a 12-month period. The 30-calendar day delays may be consecutive. Nothing in this chapter shall prohibit an investor-owned electric utility, electric cooperative, or public utility providing water service from providing to a customer additional delay from the termination of service beyond the delay required.

E. During the delay in service termination pursuant to subsections A and C of this section, the investor-owned electric utility, electric cooperative, or public utility providing water service shall:

1. In the event the investor-owned electric utility, electric cooperative, or public utility providing water service is able to establish payment arrangements with the customer, mail to the customer a letter detailing the agreement not later than three business days after the agreement on payment arrangements is made; or

2. In the event the investor-owned electric utility, electric cooperative, or public utility providing water service is unable to establish payment arrangements with the customer, mail the customer a letter, not later than 10 calendar days prior to the expiration of the 30-calendar day delay required by this chapter, advising the customer of (i) the date that service may be terminated and (ii) any payment arrangements available to the customer. The letter shall also advise the customer of his right to delay service termination pursuant to this chapter twice within a 12-month period.

F. The investor-owned electric utility, electric cooperative, or public utility providing water service shall (i) maintain a copy of any letters required under this section for a minimum of 12 months and (ii) provide such copies to the State Corporation Commission's Division of Energy Regulation upon request.

Historical Notes

Derived from Volume 28, Issue 05, eff. October 31, 2011.

Statutory Authority

Chapters 500, 662, and 673 of the 2011 Acts of Assembly.