(A) Except as provided in subsection (B) of this section, an electric cooperative must not interrupt electric service to any residential customer for nonpayment of a bill until twenty-five days have elapsed from the date of billing.
(B) An electric cooperative may interrupt electric service to a residential customer who has voluntarily enrolled in a prepay program if the prepay program allows the customer to monitor his consumption of electricity and his account balance on a daily basis and the balance of that customer's prepay account is zero, provided that the following conditions are met:
(1) at the time the residential customer enrolls in the prepay program, the residential customer is informed and agrees that his electric service may be interrupted when the balance of his prepay account reaches zero;
(2) electric service must not be interrupted before 10:00 a.m. on the next business day following an attempt by the electric cooperative to give the customer notice of the impending interruption by telephone or electronically; and
(3) service must not be interrupted except during hours when the electric cooperative is accepting cash payments. For purposes of this subsection, a business day is any day in which the electric cooperative, or an agent, is accepting cash payments.
(C) Nothing contained in this section must be construed so as to relieve an electric cooperative of the requirements of Act 313 of 2006.
(D) A person aggrieved by a violation of this section must make a complaint to the Office of Regulatory Staff for redress in accordance with applicable law. If the matter is not resolved after making a complaint to the Office of Regulatory Staff, the person may petition the courts of this State for redress.
HISTORY: 2010 Act No. 258, Section 4, eff June 11, 2010; 2019 Act No. 56 (H.3145), Section 3, eff January 1, 2020.
Editor's Note
2019 Act No. 56, Section 16, provides as follows:
"SECTION 16. Where the provisions of new or revised 1976 Code sections or subsections contained in this act conflict with provisions of the bylaws of an electric cooperative, the provisions of this act control and the cooperative, as permitted by Section 33-49-280, shall amend and conform its bylaw provisions accordingly."
Effect of Amendment
2019 Act No. 56, Section 3, in (B), made nonsubstantive changes; in (C), substituted "in this section must" for "herein shall"' and rewrote (D), providing that complaints must be made to the Office of Regulatory Staff and then, if necessary, the courts.