(a) A gas or electrical corporation shall not disconnect service for nonpayment by a residential customer receiving a medical baseline allowance pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 739 who is financially unable to pay for service within the normal payment period, who is willing to enter into an amortization agreement with the corporation pursuant to subdivision (e) of Section 779 with respect to all charges that the customer is unable to pay, and who meets any of the following criteria:
(1) The customer or a member of the customer’s household is under hospice care at home.
(2) The customer or a member of the customer’s household depends upon life-support equipment, as defined in paragraph (2) of subdivision (c) of Section 739.
(3) The customer or a member of the customer’s household has a life-threatening condition or illness, and a licensed physician, a person licensed pursuant to the Osteopathic Initiative Act, a physician assistant practicing within his or her scope of practice in compliance with the Physician Assistant Practice Act (Chapter 7.7 (commencing with Section 3500) of Division 2 of the Business and Professions Code), or a nurse practitioner certifies that gas or electric service is medically necessary to sustain the life of the person or prevent deterioration of the person’s medical condition.
(b) The commission may identify strategies for reasonable cost recovery by a gas or electrical corporation for costs incurred in providing gas or electric service to customers whom the gas or electrical corporation was unable to disconnect due to compliance with this section.
(c) A gas or electrical corporation may institute a verification process to implement this section.
(Amended by Stats. 2018, Ch. 518, Sec. 2. (SB 1338) Effective January 1, 2019.)