Section 10009 Of Article 1. Acquisition And Operation From California Public Utilities Code >> Division 5. >> Chapter 1. >> Article 1.
10009
. (a) This section applies if there is a landlord-tenant
relationship between the residential occupants and the owner,
manager, or operator of the dwelling.
(b) If a public utility furnishes individually metered residential
light, heat, water, or power to residential occupants in a detached
single-family dwelling, a multiunit residential structure, mobilehome
park, or a permanent residential structure in a labor camp, as
defined in Section 17008 of the Health and Safety Code, and the
owner, manager, or operator of the dwelling, structure, or park is
the customer of record, the public utility shall make every good
faith effort to inform the residential occupants, by means of written
notice, when the account is in arrears, that service will be
terminated in 10 days. The written notice shall further inform the
residential occupants that they have the right to become customers of
the public utility without being required to pay the amount due on
the delinquent account. The notice shall be in English and in the
languages listed in Section 1632 of the Civil Code.
(c) The public utility is not required to make service available
to the residential occupants unless each residential occupant agrees
to the terms and conditions of service, and meets the requirements of
law and the public utility's rules. However, if one or more of the
residential occupants are willing and able to assume responsibility
for the subsequent charges to the account to the satisfaction of the
public utility, or if there is a physical means, legally available to
the public utility, of selectively terminating service to those
residential occupants who have not met the requirements of the public
utility's rules, the public utility shall make service available to
the residential occupants who have met those requirements.
(d) If prior service for a period of time is a condition for
establishing credit with the public utility, residence and proof of
prompt payment of rent or other obligation acceptable to the public
utility for that period of time is a satisfactory equivalent.
(e) Any residential occupant who becomes a customer of the public
utility pursuant to this section whose periodic payments, such as
rental payments, include charges for residential light, heat, water,
or power, where these charges are not separately stated, may deduct
from the periodic payment each payment period all reasonable charges
paid to the public utility for those services during the preceding
payment period.