Cold Weather
Disconnects
...and the Law
The following is Section 216B.097 of
the Minnesota statutes pertaining to cold weather utility disconnection.
The 2003 Legislature enacted an amendment to this statute stating, "for
the purpose of this section, 'disconnection' includes a service or load
limiter or any device that limits or interrupts electric service in any
way."
Beltrami Electric uses power
limiters in lieu of disconnecting the electrical service during the Cold
Weather Law period. The cooperative's credit policy #209 deals with the
use of power limiters by the cooperative. Should a power limiter be
installed, the normal reconnection fees apply to have the power limiter
removed during and after business hours.
Subdivision 1.
Application; notice to residential customer.
(a)
A municipal utility or a cooperative electric association must not
disconnect and must reconnect the utility service of a residential
customer during the period between Oct. 15 and April 15 if the
disconnection affects the primary heat source for the residential unit
and all the following conditions are met:
(1) the customer has declared shut off protection on forms provided by
the utility. For the purposes of this clause, a customer that is
receiving energy assistance is deemed to have shut off protection;
(2) the household
income of the customer is less than 50 percent of the state median income;
(3) verification
of income may be conducted by the local energy assistance provider or the
utility, unless the customer is automatically eligible for protection
against disconnection as a recipient of any form of public assistance,
including energy assistance that uses income eligibility in an amount at
or below the income eligibility in clause (2);
(4) a customer
whose account is current for the billing period immediately prior to Oct.
15 or who, at any time, enters into a payment schedule that considers the
financial resources of the household and is reasonably current with
payments under the schedule; and
(5) the customer
receives referrals to energy assistance programs, weatherization,
conservation, or other programs likely to reduce the customer’s energy
bills.
(b) A municipal
utility or a cooperative electric association must, between Aug. 15 and
Oct. 15 of each year, notify all residential customers of the provisions
of this section.
Subdivision 2.
Notice to residential customer facing disconnection.
Before
disconnecting service to a residential customer during the period between
Oct. 15 and April 15, a municipal utility or cooperative electric
association must provide the following information to a customer:
(1) a notice of
proposed disconnection;
(2) a statement
explaining the customer’s rights and responsibilities;
(3) a list of
local energy assistance providers;
(4) forms on which to apply for
shut-off protection, which can include verification of income if needed;
(5) a statement
explaining available time payment plans and other opportunities to secure
continued utility service.
Subdivision 3.
Restrictions if disconnection necessary.
(a) If a residential customer must be involuntarily
disconnected between Oct. 15 and April 15 for failure to comply with
Subdivision 1, the disconnection must not occur:
(1)
on a Friday , unless the
customer declines to enter into a payment agreement offered that day in
person or via personal contact by telephone by a municipal utility or
cooperative electric association;
(2)
on
a weekend, holiday, or the day before a holiday;
(3)
when utility offices are
closed;
(4)
after the close of business
on a day when disconnection is permitted, unless a field representative
of a municipal utility or cooperative electric association who is
authorized to enter into a payment agreement, accept payment, and
continue service, offers a payment agreement to the customer.
Further, the disconnection must not occur until at
least 20 days after the notice required in subdivision 2 has been mailed
to the customer or 15 days after the notice has been personally
delivered to the customer.
(b)
If a customer does not respond to a
disconnection notice, the customer must not be disconnected until the
utility investigates whether the residential unit is actually occupied.
If the unit is found to be occupied, the utility must immediately inform
the occupant of the provisions of this section. If the unit is
unoccupied, the utility must give seven days’ written notice of the
proposed disconnection to the local energy assistance provider before
making a disconnection.
(c) If, prior to disconnection, a customer appeals a
notice of involuntary disconnection, as provided by the utility’s
established appeal procedure, the utility must not disconnect until the
appeal is resolved.
If electric disconnection occurring
between Oct. 15 and April 15 would affect your primary heat source and
you are unable to pay your electric bill, please contact Beltrami
Electric Cooperative credit manager Dan Dow at 444-2540 or 800-955-6083.
Several agencies provide financial assistance to
qualifying households. We urge you to check with them for details on
available programs. To avoid electric service disconnection,
arrangements for bill payment need to be made before the line crew is
sent to collect. Do not disregard your bill. It is your responsibility.
If you have financial difficulties, please contact the cooperative’s
credit manager to discuss payment arrangements. The cooperative now
offers the 10 percent repayment plan for
members who are unable to make other arrangements.
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