From staff reports OKLAHOMA CITY – With the arrival of winter in Oklahoma, residents are reminded about the Corporation Commission’s rule governing utility disconnections during periods of severe weather.
If the National Weather Service (NWS) issues a local forecast predicting the temperature will drop below 32 degrees Fahrenheit for any time period during the following 24 hours, a public utility is prohibited from disconnecting a customer’s natural-gas or electricity service if it’s “used for heating purposes.”
The Corporation Commission’s rule mandates that a public utility “must obtain the most recent local forecast for the customer’s location from the NWS reports between the hours of 6:00 a.m. a nd 8:00 a.m. on the morning of the day that the customer ’s shut-off is scheduled. If the NWS issues an updated forecast on the day of disconnection, then such updated forecast shall be used in place of the earlier obtained forecast.”
Beyond weather-specific situations, commission rules also specify disconnection procedures that utilities it regulates are required to follow year-round involving customers who are delinquent in paying their bills.
Utilities are required to delay disconnects for customers who can document situations where a loss of electricity or natural gas would be life threatening, or can demonstrate they have applied for financial aid through federal, state, local agencies to help them pay what the providers are owed.
However, those customers also must be willing to enter into deferred payment agreements with their providers, pledging to pay what they owe over time.
The rule (outside of the weather consideration) does not apply in cases where a disconnect involves customers who tamper with a utility ’s measuring equipment, wires, pipes, meters (or any other equipment), obtain service without a contract or otherwise provide false or misleading information to a utility in a n attempt to prevent a disconnection from happening.
Utility customers with questions regarding disconnection of service during weather extremes are encouraged to contact Oklahoma Corporation Commission Consumer Services at (405) 521-2331 or utilize the online Pub lic Utility Complaints Form.