Pursuant to New York Public Service Commission ("Commission") regulation 16 N.Y.C.R.R. §5.5, the Public Utility Law Project of New York, Inc. requests Con Edison within 10 days to respond to these requests for admission, for purposes of this proceeding only, of the genuineness of the attached documents and the truth of the following statements:
3. A genuine copy of section 31 of the public service law regarding the obligation to provide service to applicants and notice of denial is attached as attachment A.
4. A genuine copy of section 11.3 of the public service commission regulations regarding the obligation to provide service to applicants and notice of denial is attached as attachment B.
5. A genuine copy of Con Edison’s response to PULP Interrogatory Number 83 in this proceeding, regarding provision of service to applicants where a deceased relative has outstanding unpaid charges, dated May 4, 2013, is attached as Attachment C.
6. In PULP Interrogatory 83, Con Edison was asked:
When a customer dies owing money to Con Edison and a relative provides proof of the customer's death and requests service in his or her name, and the relative seeking service does not owe Con Edison for service to a prior account in his or her name, is it a practice or policy of Con Edison to deny service to the applicant unless the applicant pays or makes arrangements to pay the debt owed by the deceased customer? (Emphasis added)
7. In its answer to PULP Interrogatory Number 83, Con Edison stated:
No. Con Edison does not deny service to an applicant under such circumstances. In such cases, the account is closed as of the date on the Death certificate and the representative asks for the address that the final bill should be sent to.
7.1 A genuine copy of Con Edison’s Response to PULP Interrogatory #83 is attached as Attachment C.
8. Con Edison witnesses on its Customer Operations Panel testified at page 59 of its prefiled rebuttal testimony, at line 7-8, in opposition to Utility Project’s proposals for reducing reliance on service termination as a bill collection measure, that “Discontinuing service remains a last resort for the Company.”
9. In ************, 2013 the residential customer with Con Edison account number ************** died with arrears on his account, some of which had been disputed.
10. Con Edison representatives attempted to collect the arrears owed by the deceased customer with account number **************** from the customer’s spouse, threatening termination of service if $200 is not paid on an installment plan by December 20, 2013. The surviving spouse’ request for a copy of any written deferred payment agreement was refused.
11. The surviving spouse of the deceased customer with account number ************ does not owe Con Edison any money from any prior account in her name. She and two children are facing very difficult financial circumstances with the reduction of household income due to her husband’s death.
12. After receiving the shutoff threats, the spouse of the deceased customer with account number ************* went to Con Edison walk-in office at 1 Metrotech Center, Brooklyn with her spouse’s death certificate and papers to discuss the situation and establish service in her name.
13. Con Edison was required by Commission Order to maintain customer service walk-in centers where customers and applicants of service could do business with the utility in person- Joint Petition of the Public Utility Law Project of New York, Inc., Local 1-2 of the Utility Workers of America, A.F.L.-C.I.O., and Save Our Services for a Commission Order that Consolidated Edison Company of New York, Inc. Cease Closing Customer Service Offices and Re-Open Customer Service Offices Already Closed. ORDER APPROVING JOINT PROPOSAL (Issued and Effective March 27, 2001).
13.1 The Order states:
Each Walk-in Center will have sufficient staffing and resources to allow customers to transact any and all normal business with the company promptly and efficiently. Customers will be able to speak with the Con Edison representative in person. The centers will have bilingual representative as required by the community served....
The same level of service formerly provided by the Customer Service Centers will continue to be provided at the Walk-in Centers, and customers will be able to place service orders, discuss billing disputes, negotiate payment arrangements, make bill payments, and transact other business in the same manner as they always have.
14. Con Edison in its last compliance progress report filed November 17, 2003 in Case 99-M-0851 stated that “four customer service professionals” would staff its 1 Metrotech Center location.
15. Con Edison has not petitioned the Commission for relief or to modify the Order in Case 99-M-0851 requiring on-site customer assistance staff at its walk-in service centers.
16. The customer service center at 1 Metrotech Center, Brooklyn had no worker there to assist the applicant for service who is the spouse of the deceased customer with account number ************, and she was referred to a house telephone in the lobby.
16.1 When she used the phone she spoke to an representative who threatened her with service termination if she did not pay the bills of her deceased spouse.
16.2 The Con Edison representative did not close the account of the deceased customer and open a new account as indicated in Con Edison’s answer to PULP IR 83.
16.3 The representative’s last name was ***************** (sp).
17. The spouse of the deceased customer with account number *-************* called Con Edison again to request service to an account in her name.
17.1 She did not receive assistance from Con Edison in establishing an account for service in her name.
17.2 She was told, in substance, that she could not apply for service until she had paid the arrears on her deceased spouse’s account.
17.3 Her request for any payment plan that her deceased spouse had signed was denied.
17.4 She said she was going to contact the Department of Public Service, and was told by the Con Edison representative, in substance, not to bother, that it would be a waste of her time to call the PSC’s Office of Consumer Services, because they would do nothing and would support the position of Con Edison and that if she did not pay the amount demanded, her service will be terminated.
17.5 The customer was not provided notice of the factual and legal basis for the denial of service.
18. Con Edison routinely records and transcribes conversations between its customer service representatives and applicants for service.
18.1 The conversations summarized above were recorded and can be transcribed.
19. The spouse of the deceased customer with account number ************ called the Department of Public Service Office of Consumer Services on December 16, 2013 and spoke to someone named ********** (sp) who would not give his last name and did not take a complaint or take steps to address the continued provision of service, but suggested she might send an online complaint to the PSC.
20. The Public Service Commission has never commenced a penalty proceeding against Con Edison for failing to comply with the Home Energy Fair Practices Act (HEFPA).
21. None of the customer service performance metrics in the current rate plan measure compliance with HEFPA, including
.1 meeting time limits for provision of service,
.2 timely provision of denial notices,
.3 payment to customers of amounts due them for untimely provision or reconnection of service
.4 timely reconnections after payments sufficient to restore service are made,
.5 accepting proof of identity through means other than Social Security numbers,
.6 forbearing from termination of customers with serious medical conditions that would be worsened by termination,
.7 termination of service for breach of “oral” deferred payment agreements, or
.8 the duty to proffer written deferred payment agreements prior to termination.
22. Con Edison’s answer to PULP’s Interrogatory No. 83 is false.
22.1 Con Edison does have a practice or policy to deny service to an applicant unless the applicant pays or makes arrangements to pay the debt owed by a deceased customer.
13. (a) Every gas corporation or electric corporation furnishing utility services shall provide the following call center customer assistance receiving inquiries on: customer financial responsibility; receiving requests to initiate or terminate service; receiving requests for emergency services; determining deposit required or billing rate; receiving meter and service orders and access to meter requests; explaining company rates, regulations, policies, procedures, and common practices; initiating trouble order forms and high bill investigations; handling payment and other credit arrangements such as obtaining deposits, financial statements and payment plans; and referring customers to social service agencies and other assistance programs.
(b) No gas or electric corporation shall close a call center or other facility providing the customer assistance set forth in paragraph (a) of this subdivision or relocate such customer assistance to another area of New York state or outside of New York state without notice and hearing before the commission. (c) This subdivision shall not apply to the collection of debt where by utility company policy such debt is directed to a collection agency or similar service companies.
Operationally, as proposed by SDG&E, a participating customer would be disconnected if his or her Prepay account balance drops below zero, and if at least one of the following conditions is met: 1) the customer’s balance has been below zero for four consecutive days; or 2) the customer’s balance is at or below -$20.00. If at least one of the above conditions is met, a remote disconnection would be scheduled for the next business day during normal business hours.The National Consumer Law Center (NCLC), The Utility Reform Network (TURN), the Center for Accessible Technology and the Greenlining Institute intervened in the case and jointly opposed the "pilot" project. They argued the "pilot" would be illegal under California law because pre-pay customers would not receive the 15-day advance notice of a termination required by California statute; that service could be shut off during an investigation of a complaint disputing the amount of charges for the pre-paid service; that customers may not receive proper notice of available low-income discount rate programs prior to termination; and that customers might not knowingly waive these rights.
We also take note of Consumer Groups’ logical inference that, depending on the communications means chosen (e.g., text message, automated phone message, or e-mail), customers on the proposed Prepay Program might receive no advance notice of termination at all since customers who are behind on their electric bills may also behind on their internet or phone bills. We find that such an outcome is unacceptable.The ALJs also faulted SDG&E because it had "not consulted with likely affected customers as it developed its proposal." In conclusion they flatly rejected the company's proposal for prepaid service with remote shutoffs: "We do not find SDG&E's proposed Prepay Program . . . in the public interest."
The Commission’s approval of Verizon’s revised SQIP in December 2010 established a new reporting paradigm for the company. The revised SQIP was intended to provide focus on repairs for Lifeline customers, special needs customers, or customers who do not have competitive wireline options. It eliminated reporting on certain service quality performance to more closely reflect the realities of competition by moving closer to comparable treatment for competing providers, thereby allowing the market to dictate service quality.In the "Performance Regulation" style for oversight of utilities now in vogue at the Public Service Commission, regulators set a price or revenue limit and purport to measure results, not inputs. This is thought to encourage the utilities to reduce expenses and keep the added profit from that without reducing their revenues, so long as they provide adequate service. A failure to meet the criteria can result in financial sanctions. Critical to this style is that enough of the right things are measured, and that it is not efficient for the utility to breach the standards. It is becoming obvious that the potential adverse consequences to Verizon for missing the Commission's performance regulation targets are less than the cost of expending the funds and effort to satisfy the standards.
The company’s performance for network reliability, as measured by the companywide CTRR metric, missed the threshold for this metric every month in the third quarter of 2013 and the two-year trend continues to decline. . The company met the Commission’s two timeliness of repair metrics for core customers in each of five geographic areas during each month in the third quarter of this year, with the exception of the OOS>24 threshold being missed in the New York City area in July. The company’s repair service answer bureau missed the threshold for the call center answer time metric every month in the third quarter of 2013, however, the two-year trend is improving. Consumer complaints to the Department were slightly worse during the third quarter of 2013 as compared to one year earlier, despite having lost over 500,000 lines, over that same period. However, the two-year trend shows slight improvement. Staff meets monthly with the company concerning service quality and consumer complaints and will continue to monitor the company’s performance in these regards and report back to the Commission.
Neustar administrates the North American Numbering Plan, the authoritative directories that manage virtually all telephone area codes and numbers, and enables the routing of calls among thousands of competing Communications Service Providers (CSPs). All telecommunications service providers (TSPs) that offer telecommunications services to the public at large must access the Neustar clearinghouse to properly route virtually all of their customers’ calls. Also, Neustar provides clearinghouse services to emerging CSPs, including Internet service providers (ISPs), mobile network operators, cable television operators, and voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) service providers.The company created and operates the Number Portability Administration Center (NPAC), which enables US and Canadian consumers to keep their phone number when they switch carriers. Each time a consumer attempts to transfer their number from one phone company to another, Neustar is involved. In this role, "Neustar manages changes to telephone number routing information when subscribers change service from one local telephone service provider to another and keep their existing telephone number — whether the service is wireline, wireless, voice over IP (VoIP) or cable."
[R]ates charged by a Con Edison electric and gas are too high and too volatile for many low-income families. Second, with regard to the use of service interruption as a collection tool, the Company relies too much on this practice and not enough on better practices for engaging with payment-troubled customers who lack the resources to pay in full and on time. Third, steps should be taken to expand the reach and effectiveness of the low-income affordability program.Usually quick to invoke confidentiality of customer information, in this situation Con Edison appears to be taking inoculatory PR measures to justify the interruption of service that preceded the fire and deaths: According to a CNN report,
"The account had a significant amount of arrears -- well into the thousands of dollars," Consolidated Edison spokesman Allan Drury told CNN. "We try to avoid turning service off to customers. We'll put them on payment plans to work with them to avoid turnoff, but this account had substantial arrears."The situation, where service was off while the customer sought public assistance, is similar to a 2005 incident involving the death of a New York City child in a fire started by a candle while power was shut off. It was reported that the customer had made payment arrangements sufficient to be reconnected, the reconnection was scheduled for the next day, but the 2005 fire occurred during the intervening night:
"[A] Con Ed spokesman ... confirmed electricity to the apartment had been cut off at 1:45 p.m. Monday. Two hours later, [the customer] appeared at a local Con Ed branch to pay $700 - almost half the outstanding bill. [A]n order to restore electricity within 24 hours was issued two hours later. Tragically, it was not in time - firefighters responded to the scene of the fatal fire at 10:45 p.m."
“We are saying ‘no’ to Time Warner’s request to waive our rules regarding when it would be authorized for suspensions and terminations of its telephone customers,” said Commission Chair Audrey Zibelman. “The Commission’s rules applicable to Time Warner are consistent with the hours of operation of the Commission’s consumer call center which receives consumer complaints’ and requests for assistance. To ensure telephone consumers’ rights are protected, especially core customers such as the elderly and disabled, it is essential customers are afforded the opportunity to contact our call center if their telephone service is threatened with a potential suspension or termination.”Time Warner also sought a waiver of Commission regulations requiring service repair quality reports, arguing that competition and the ability of customers to switch telephone service providers now makes reporting of service repair time and other data unnecessary. The Utility Law Project pointed out in its comments that the ability to switch providers is not an adequate substitute for enforcement of minimum service quality standards, and that even if one believes real competition makes service quality regulation unnecessary, phone service is oligopolistic and not truly competitive.
Finally, the Commission conditionally granted Time Warner’s request for a waiver of its monthly service quality reporting requirements because, in Time Warner’s case, the need for regulatory action to ensure timely repairs for voice service has diminished due to the prevalence of competitive alternatives and the ability of residential and business customers to move to a different service provider.
As this progression from landlines to VoIP occurs, Colorado cannot be left without the power to regulate such an important technology. Should the need arise, regardless of movement at the federal level, the PUC must have the latitude and authority to regulate the price, quality of service, and availability of VoIP in order to prevent significant harm to the consumers of this State.Colorado Governor Vetoes VoIP Deregulation Bill, June 11, 2010.
Hurricane Sandy devastated this barrier island community of multimillion-dollar homes, but in Peter Flihan’s view, Verizon Communications has delivered a second blow: the telecommunications giant did not rebuild the landlines destroyed in the storm, and traditional telephone service here has now gone the way of the telegraph. **** The changing landscape has Verizon, AT&T and other phone companies itching to rid themselves of the cost of maintaining their vast copper-wire networks and instead offer wireless and fiber-optic lines like FiOS and U-verse, even though the new services often fail during a blackout.The vision I have is we are going into the copper plant areas and every place we have FiOS, we are going to kill the copper,” Lowell C. McAdam, Verizon’s chairman and chief executive, said last year.On a New Jersey Islet, Twilight of the Landline, NY Times Oct. 14, 2013
National Fuel’s earnings level indicates that its gas rates may be higher than needed to provide safe and adequate service, particularly in light of the recently allowed ROE and earnings sharing provisions established for other utilities. Further, absent action, National Fuel’s deferral balances may continue to escalate during a period of time that the Company is earning a return in excess of its cost of equity. These circumstances may result in National Fuel customers paying higher rates than are just and reasonable.
Notwithstanding any general or special law, rule or regulation, the commission shall have the power to provide for the refund of any revenues received by any gas or electric corporation which cause the corporation to have revenues in the aggregate in excess of its authorized rate of return for a period of twelve months. The commission may initiate a proceeding with respect to such a refund after the conclusion of any such twelve month period.
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