04 NCAC 11 R22-05. UTILITIES COMMISSION

R22-05  BILLS OF THE PROVIDER

(a)  Bills for electric service sent by the provider to the tenant shall contain all of the following information:

(1)           the Supplier's Unit Electric Service Bill for the unit and the amount of charges allocated to the tenant during the billing period;

(2)           the name of the supplier;

(3)           the beginning and ending dates for the usage period and, if provided by the supplier, the date the meter for the unit was read for that usage period;

(4)           the past-due date, which shall not be less than 25 days after the bill is mailed or otherwise delivered to the tenant;

(5)           the name of the provider and a local or toll-free telephone number and address of the provider that the tenants can use to obtain more information about the bill;

(6)           the amount of administrative fee and the late payment charge approved by the Commission and included in the bill, if any; and

(7)           a statement of the tenant's right to address questions about the bill to the provider and the tenant's right to file a complaint with, or otherwise seek recourse from, the Commission if the tenant cannot resolve an electric service billing dispute with the provider.

(b)  The provider or the provider's billing agent shall equally divide the actual amount of the Supplier's Unit Electric Service Bill for a unit among all the tenants in the unit and shall send one bill to each tenant.

(c)  The amount charged shall be prorated when a tenant has not leased the unit for the same number of days as the other tenants in the unit during the billing period.

(d)  Each bill may include an administrative fee no greater than the amount authorized in Rule R18-6 for water service and, when applicable, a late payment charge no greater than the amount authorized in Rule R12-9(d).

(e)  A late payment charge may be applied to the balance in arrears after the past-due date.

(f)  The provider shall not charge the cost of electricity from any other unit or common area in a tenant's bill.  "Common area" means parts of the rental property outside the individually metered unit where the tenant dwells.

(g)  No provider shall charge or collect any greater compensation for the costs of providing electric service than the rates approved by the Commission.

(h)  The Provider may, at the provider's option, pay any portion of any bill sent to a Tenant, in accordance with the provisions of the lease; provided, however, that (i) the provider must still send each tenant bills in accordance with the other provisions in Rule R22-5; the provider must credit tenant bills or otherwise refund to tenants the amount, if any, by which the amount specified in the lease exceeds the amount actually owed by the tenant for electricity usage in the immediately preceding month; and (ii) the provider must comply with G.S. 62-140 regarding non-discrimination in billing for utility service.

 

(NCUC Docket No. ER-100, Sub 0, 08/17/11; NCUC Docket No. ER-100, Sub 0, 04/19/2012; NCUC Docket No. ER-100, Sub 1, 09/04/13; NCUC Docket No. ER-100, Sub 0, 03/31/14; NCUC Docket No. ER-100, Sub 0, 08/27/14.)