Section 394.4 Of Article 12. Consumer Protection From California Public Utilities Code >> Division 1. >> Part 1. >> Chapter 2.3. >> Article 12.
394.4
. Rules that implement the following minimum standards shall
be adopted by the commission for electric service providers offering
electrical services to residential and small commercial customers and
the governing body of a public agency offering electrical services
to residential and small commercial customers within its
jurisdiction:
(a) Confidentiality: Customer information shall be confidential
unless the customer consents in writing. This shall encompass
confidentiality of customer specific billing, credit, or usage
information. This requirement shall not extend to disclosure of
generic information regarding the usage, load shape, or other general
characteristics of a group or rate classification, unless the
release of that information would reveal customer specific
information because of the size of the group, rate classification, or
nature of the information.
(b) Physical disconnects and reconnects: Only an electrical
corporation, or a publicly owned electric utility, that provides
physical delivery service to the affected customer shall have the
authority to physically disconnect or reconnect a customer from the
transmission or distribution grid. Physical disconnection by
electrical corporations subject to the commission's jurisdiction
shall occur only in accordance with protocols established by the
commission. Physical disconnection by publicly owned electric
utilities shall occur only in accordance with protocols established
by the governing board of the local publicly owned electric utility.
(c) Change in providers: Upon adequate notice supplied by a
electric service provider to the electric corporation or local
publicly owned electric utility providing physical delivery service,
customers who are eligible for direct access may change their energy
supplier. Energy suppliers may charge for this change, provided that
any fee or penalty charged by the supplier associated with early
termination of service, shall be disclosed in that contract or
applicable tariff.
(d) Written notices: Notices describing the terms and conditions
of service as described in Section 394.5, service agreements, notices
of late payment, notices of discontinuance of service, and
disconnection notices addressed to residential and small commercial
customers shall be easily understandable, and shall be provided in
the language in which the electric service provider offered the
services.
(e) Billing: All bills shall have a standard bill format, as
determined by the commission or the governing body, and shall contain
sufficient detail for the customer to recalculate the bill for
accuracy. Any late fees shall be separately stated. Each electric
service provider shall provide on all customer bills a phone number
by which customers may contact the electric service provider to
report and resolve billing inquiries and complaints. An electric
service provider contacted by a customer regarding a billing dispute
shall advise the customer at the time of the initial contact that the
customer may file a complaint with the commission if its dispute is
not satisfactorily resolved by the electric service provider.
(f) Meter integrity: An electric customer shall have a reasonable
opportunity to have its meter tested to ensure the reasonable
accuracy of the meter. The commission or governing body shall
determine who is responsible for the cost of that testing.
(g) Customer deposits: Electric service providers may require
customer deposits before commencing service, but in no event shall
the deposit be more than the estimated bill for the customer for a
three-month period.
(h) Additional protections: The commission or the governing body
may adopt additional residential and small commercial consumer
protection standards that are in the public interest.