(a) Obligation to offer.
A utility shall provide a written notice offering a voluntary levelized payment plan designed to reduce fluctuations in payments caused by seasonal patterns of consumption to its eligible customers at least once in each 12-month period.
(b) Eligibility.
A utility shall be required to offer a levelized payment plan to all customers except:
(1) customers who have less than 12 months of billing history at the premises;
(2) seasonal, short-term or temporary customers;
(3) customers who have arrears;
(4) interruptible, temperature-controlled, or dual-fuel customers;
(5) customers who, for any reason, ceased being billed on a previous levelized payment plan before the end of the plan year in the past 24 months; or
(6) customers whose pattern of consumption is not sufficiently predictable to be estimated on an annual basis with any reasonable degree of certainty.
(c) Utility procedure.
A utility shall establish a written procedure and billing system to implement this section, which procedure:
(1) sets forth a method for establishing an eligible customer's monthly or bimonthly levelized payment amount which shall take into consideration the best available relevant factors, including the utility's standard estimation factors, projected rates, fuel adjustment charges, and taxes;
(2) sets forth a method for comparing the actual cost of service rendered, as determined by actual meter readings and any rate increases or decreases, to the levelized payment amount, and for adjusting upwards or downwards the levelized payment amount to minimize the adjustment required on the final settlement bill, which comparison shall be done not less than two nor more than four times annually, and at the end of the plan year;
(3) provides that each levelized bill clearly identifies the total of the levelized payment amounts billed and the total of the actual dollar value of the consumption used during the period covered by the current bill;
(4) provides that a final levelized settlement bill, which is rendered at the end of the plan year, when the customer requests removal from the levelized payment plan, or when the utility removes the customer from the levelized payment plan:
(i) sets forth a reconciliation between the total levelized payment amount billed, the cost of service actually used and the amounts paid during the plan period; and
(ii) if payment was received in excess of the cost of service actually used during the plan period, advises the customer of the utility's policy regarding return of the excess payment, which policy may not permit the utility to credit to the customer's account more than the levelized payment or estimated amount of the next cycle bill, and must provide for the issuance of a refund check for any balance within 30 calendar days of the rendering of the final levelized settlement bill;
(5) requires that when the levelized payment amount is revised, the customer be provided with a general description of such revision calculation, and a telephone number to call at the utility for a more detailed explanation of the revision; and
(6) limits enrollment to the plan to a time of year when the customer will not be subject to undue disadvantage.
(d) Removal of levelized payment plan.
(1) A customer may request that the utility remove the customer from the levelized payment plan and reinstate regular billing at any time, in which case the utility may immediately render a final levelized settlement bill, and shall do so no later than by the time of the next cycle bill that is rendered more than 10 business days after the request.
(2) A utility may only remove a customer from its levelized payment plan if the customer becomes ineligible under subdivision (b) of this section, and provided that the utility has given the customer an opportunity to become current in payment, if delinquency is the cause of the customer's ineligibility, provided further that such opportunity need only be given once in any 12-month period.
(e) Utilities shall comply with this section no later than March 18, 1988.