2. Background and Procedural History
2.1. Order Instituting Rulemaking (OIR)
The Commission opened this rulemaking to reduce the number of residential gas and electric service disconnections due to nonpayment by customers of the state's four largest energy utilities--Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E), San Diego Gas & Electric Company (SDG&E), Southern California Edison Company (SCE), and Southern California Gas Company (SoCalGas). In doing so, the Commission indicated that it was reexamining utility disconnection rules and practices and that it wanted to "identify more effective ways for the utilities to work with their customers and develop solutions that avoid unnecessary disconnections without placing an undue cost burden on other customers."2
In the OIR, the Commission required the utilities to immediately implement these interim practices:
1. Customer service representatives (CSRs) must inform any customer that owes an arrearage on a utility bill that puts the customer at risk for disconnection that the customer has a right to arrange a bill payment plan extending for a minimum of three months the period in which to pay the arrearage. CSRs may exercise discretion as to extending the period in which to pay the arrearage from three months up to twelve months depending on the particulars of a customer's situation and ability to repay the arrearage. Each utility may implement a repayment plan schedule that exceeds 12 months, but no utility is required to extend the schedule beyond three months. CSRs may work with customers to develop a shorter repayment plan, as long as the customer is informed of the three month option. Customers must keep current on their utility bills while repaying the arrearage balance.
2. Once a customer has established credit as a customer of that utility, the utility must not require that customer to pay additional reestablishment of credit deposits with the utility for either slow-payment/no-payment of bills or following a disconnection.
The OIR also authorized the utilities to establish memorandum accounts using Tier 1 Advice Letters to track any significant additional costs, including operations and maintenance charges associated with implementing the customer practices, and any uncollectable expenses that exceed those projected in the utility's last general rate case.
2.2. Decision (D.) 10-07-048
The first phase of this proceeding was resolved by D.10-07-048, which adopted the following provisions:
2 OIR at 1.
