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Utilities and You


What Vermont Consumers
Should Know About
Disconnections and Deposits

 

Dear Vermonter:

Each year, thousands of Vermont consumers face difficulties paying their utility bills that endanger the continued flow of vital electric, gas and telephone service. Disconnections creates terrible hardship for a household, from the danger of going without heat, refrigeration and light, to the broken connections with schools, employers, friends and community resources. Many of these disconnections are avoidable, if consumers know and exercise their rights and responsibilities.

The Department of Public Service prepared this information so Vermonters will know their rights and responsibilities as utility consumers. If you have any questions about utility collection practices, disconnections or deposits, please contact the Department's Consumer Affairs division.

 

Sincerely,

David O'Brien
Commissioner

This guide is for residential customers of state-regulated utilities.
These include the companies that provide telephone, electric, natural gas, water and cable TV services. Fuel oil or propane gas dealers, and satellite television service providers are not regulated by the Public Service Board, and this information does not apply to them.

Contents

DISCONNECTIONS

Overdue Bills – The Basics

If You Get a Disconnection Notice...

DEPOSITS

Disconnections

This section does not apply to cable TV companies.

Overdue bills-the basics

As an electric or telephone customer, you’ll get a bill every month. You have 30 days to pay the amount that it shows. The same applies to natural gas and many water companies.

On most bills you’ll notice a due date, which is when the company expects you to pay. If the bill doesn’t show a due date, your payment is expected within 30 day of the bill’s postmark–that’s the date, stamped on the envelope, when the bill was sent to you.

If the due date passes and you haven’t paid, the utility will begin a process that could lead to disconnection of your service.
You’ll get a disconnection notice in the mail or left at your house. It will say that your service will be shut off on one of several dates printed on the notice, unless you’ve paid your bill by then, or have made a payment arrangement with the utility.

Do not ignore the shutoff notice! Even if you can’t pay the whole bill, there are things you can do to avoid disconnection. But if you don’t do anything, you will likely get shut off.

If you have paid the bill and you then get a notice, call the utility to make sure your payment was received.

If you can’t pay the whole bill by its due date...

  • Call the company. The number to call, toll-free or collect, will be listed on your disconnection notice.

  • In most cases the utility cannot force you to pay the whole amount all at once. It must work with you to figure out a reasonable payment plan – a schedule of partial payments that both you and the utility can accept. But you must make the effort to call and work something out.

  • If losing your service would cause an immediate and serious health hazard to you or someone else in your home, ask a physician who knows the situation to write a letter to the utility stating this fact. It’s called a “physician’s certificate.” The letter needs to say there is an “immediate and serious health hazard.” For more detail see "What kind of health reasons can protect me from a disconnection?”

  • If you think the utility made a mistake on your bill, call the company and try to solve the problem. If that doesn’t work, call the Consumer Hotline at the Department of Public Service (the numbers are on the covers of this booklet). A consumer advocate may be able to help negotiate with the company and prevent the disconnection.

  • If your overdue utility bill is less than $50, you can’t be shut off – unless you fail to pay a bill below this amount more than any two months in a calendar year.

  • It is important that you take some action! Because unless you do something, you will likely be disconnected. Don’t think, “This is just a piece of paper,” or “That company has thousands of customers – it will never get around to me.” It will.

Won’t it stop a disconnection if I just pay something?

No. If you can’t pay all of your bill you have to get in touch with the utility, and work out a reasonable repayment plan. If you send a partial payment and don’t call the company, you are risking a shutoff.

What is a reasonable repayment plan?

It’s a payment-over-time arrangement that both you and the utility agree to. Basically, your payments need to be small enough that you can make them, and large enough that the utility will accept them. These payments go towards your delinquency. In addition to these payments, the company will expect that new current charges will be paid when due. If you’re having difficulty paying your current charges, please refer to the section on “Budget Billing.”

How do I work out an arrangement?

  • First, figure out how much you can pay on a regular basis – such as when you are paid, or when you receive a monthly check. Be realistic, and be prepared, the utility will want you to agree to specific amounts, and specific dates for paying them.

  • Next, don’t be afraid to call. The call is free. If your disconnect notice hasn’t listed a toll-free number, the utility must accept your collect call.

  • If you couldn’t pay the bill because something unexpected happened, explain that. The company must take into account any unforseen circumstances.

  • If you cannot agree with the person who takes your call, ask to speak with a manager. Often the manger can be more flexible.

  • Try to compromise. You may not get the “deal” you want, but the utility has to be flexible, too. For example, if you only get a paycheck or a benefit check once a month, the utility can’t ask you to pay every week.

  • Once you and the utility have agreed to a repayment plan, don’t miss the payments or send less than 75%! You can be shut off quickly if you do. If something comes up, it’s best to call the company before the payment is due.

What if the utility and I can’t agree on a plan?

Call the Consumer Hotline 1-800-622-4496 at the Department of Public Service. We may be able to negotiate for you.

What kind of health reasons can protect me from a disconnection?

A doctor must certify in a letter to the utility that you, or someone in your household will suffer from immediate and serious health hazard by the loss of the service. Examples include losing electricity would shut off a life-support system, or if you have a chronic, serious condition and losing telephone service would cut you off from emergency help. Most physicians are cooperative about sending such letters for patients in their care.

If the utility receives this physician’s certificate – or, if you call and say that a doctor’s letter will get there within seven days (The letter has to get there!), then the utility can’t disconnect you for 30 days. If you have been disconnected and the company then gets a doctor’s letter, it must reconnect you for 30 days. You have the right to a physician’s certificate two months in a row, but no more than three times a calendar year, unless the Public Service Board orders the company to accept additional notes.

Can a doctor’s letter protect me forever from shutoff?

No. A doctor’s letter is good for 30 days. It can be used up to three times a calendar year with restrictions mentioned above. Even when a doctor’s letter protects you from shutoff, you should pay some amount on your bill, if possible. The doctor’s letter only temporarily protects you from a shutoff, it does not stop the company from continuing to bill you.

Can I be disconnected because someone else in my household didn’t pay a bill?

Yes – but only if the unpaid bill was for service to your current household, and the person who did not pay the bill is still living there.

Can I be disconnected for less than $50.00?

Yes. You can be disconnected if, after any two months in a year, you fail to pay a bill that is less than $50.00.

What are my disconnection rights as a telephone customer?

Your local service cannot be disconnected for failure to pay long distance charges. Long distance companies may disconnect you from its services and may seek other collection actions against you for failure to pay long distance charges.
If you do not currently have telephone service and want it, you cannot be denied local service for an unpaid long distance bill. Your local telephone company must provide you with local service provided you prove credit worthiness or pay a deposit. See Your Rights as a Consumer for more information.

If a utility shuts you off...

It has to do so before 2 p.m. (or 5 p.m. if the company has evening hours) on a weekday, not on a holiday, a day before a holiday, nor a Friday. These rules give you time to arrange for getting your service restored that day, and before the weekend.

First, call the utility. If you can’t pay the whole bill right away, be prepared to discuss how much you can pay, and how often, to get the bill settled.

Service must be restored within 24 hours if you pay at least half of the overdue bill – or if you make a smaller payment that you and the utility have agreed on as part of a repayment plan.

The utility can’t force you to pay reconnection charges “up front.” You will be charged for the reconnection, but the charge will appear on your next bill. Once you’ve been disconnected, the utility may ask for an additional deposit (see "Deposits”).

 

Winter safeguards for electric and natural gas customers.

Utilities can shut you off in winter. But before they do, they’re required to make an extra effort to be sure you know a shutoff is coming. Disconnections can’t happen during times of severe cold, and special protections cover the elderly. These safeguards start on November 1, and run through March 31:

  • Just sending a disconnection notice by mail isn’t enough. The utility must tell you, either by phone or by a personal visit, that you’re in danger of shutoff. If the utility has called you at least three times but got no answer, and if it then visits but you’re not home, it can then disconnect service, and must leave a notice of the shutoff in a safe, obvious place. Note: The utility is required to take this extra step only once during the winter for each household subject to disconnection.

  • The utility can’t shut you off if the temperature is predicted to drop below 10% F, during the next 48 hours beginning on the morning of the disconnection day.

  • If anyone in your house is 62 or older, the utility can not shut you off if the temperature is predicted to fall below 32° F during the 48 hours starting on the morning of the disconnection day. Note: You must notify the utility, before the disconnection date, if someone in your household is 62 or older.

If you’re a tenant...

It is illegal for a landlord to evict a tenant by not paying a utility bill or by asking that the utility service be shut off.

If a landlord discontinues utility service that’s in his/her name, and if it is possible, the utility must give tenants a chance to continue the service in their own names. The utility must mail or deliver a notice to each tenant, ten days, and again at least three days, before the disconnection date, telling tenants how they can continue service.

For disputes between a tenant and a landlord that do not involve a regulated utility, you may wish to contact Vermont Tenants, Inc. at 1-800-287-7971

Budget billing — a way to “even out” your utility costs.

Each electric utility and Vermont Gas Systems, Inc. offer “budget billing” to customers in year-round homes. When you have budget billing, each month you pay for one-twelfth of the year’s average use. Over the year, you’ll pay the same total amount for gas or electricity that you would normally. But because your bills will be about the same every month, you’ll avoid those high wintertime bills that can be a strain on your budget.
You can join a budget billing plan any time of year. The utility will calculate your bills based on the last 12 months’ use at your residence. If that’s not possible, the utility will estimate.

If your energy use is higher or lower than estimated, the utility can adjust your monthly budgeted bills twice at certain points during the first year you are on the budget plan.. After 12 months, it will either bill you or pay you the difference between what you paid for and what you used. If you owe more than $50, you have the option of spreading the balance over the next year’s budget plan.

You can join budget billing even if you owe an overdue bill. If this is your first budget plan, the company will make a repayment plan and add you to budget billing at the same time.

 

Deposits

This section covers utility deposits for primary residences or full-time homes. It does not apply to second homes, camps, or vacation residences.

You’re turning on your phone, electric, water, natural gas, or cable TV service. Before it will connect you, the utility says it wants a deposit. What do you do?

When can a utility ask for a deposit?

  1. If you are an existing customer, the company can seek a deposit when you've been disconnected. Don’t get shut off! See the "Disconnection" section for help.

  2. If you are a new customer placing a service order, the company may seek a deposit.

Demonstrate you’re credit-worthy, and avoid a deposit.

A utility can only require a deposit from consumers who can’t show they will be good credit risks. You can prove you’re a good risk by giving the utility:

  • A reference from a bank, showing that you’ve kept up a checking account for at least the past year, without overdrawing it or any other account;

  • A letter from another utility, in or out of Vermont, stating that you were a customer with a good credit record for the past two years (utilities and cable TV companies in Vermont are required to provide this letter quickly, if you ask);

  • A letter from someone who will guarantee the account. This person must also be credit-worthy. The person should say how long he or she will keep this guarantee, and how large a payment–up to what amount–he or she will pay, if necessary.

  • Any other reasonable proof that you’re credit-worthy.

If you think either the request for a deposit or its amount is unfair, you can contact Consumer Affairs at the Department of Public Service.

 

How does a company figure out what my deposit should be?

The utility figures out how much service you’re expected to use by averaging out the past years’ usage. It then takes two months’ worth, and that’s the deposit amount.
The utility has to reasonably estimate what you will use – taking into account changes from what someone who lived before you at your house or apartment used (For example, if the previous tenant was a family of 12, and you’re single, the utility may be asked to look at the usage of other residences similar to what yours will be in order to determine the deposit amount.)

 

Can I pay my deposit in installments?

Yes. If paying the deposit in full is a hardship, the utility has to offer you the chance to pay the deposit in three equal pieces. You’ll pay one-third right away, one-third in 30 days, and the final third in another 30 days.

 

When and how do I get my deposit back?

If you’ve been a customer for one year and you haven’t been disconnected, and you’ve received no more than three disconnection notices, the utility must refund your deposit, with the interest it’s earned.

If you’re billed every second or third month (generally, only water companies bill this way), you should get your deposit back if you’ve had no more than two disconnect notices, and haven’t been disconnected, during a year of service.
If you stop the utility’s service before you’ve been a customer in good standing for a year, you’ll get your deposit back, plus interest.

 

If I owe the utility money, can it deduct that from my deposit?

Yes. When you’ve met the requirements listed above for getting your deposit back, the utility must send it to you within 30 days – but, if you still owe all or part of a bill, the utility can take that off your deposit.

 

Telephone Lifeline Exemption

If you are enrolled in the Lifeline telephone discount program and agree to blocks on your toll service, you will not have to pay a deposit for your basic telephone service. Click here for information about Lifeline, or contact the Economic Services Division (ESD) of the Vermont Department for Children and Families (formerly called PATH) at 1-800-287-0589. If you are 65 or older, you can also call the Senior Helpline at 1-800-642-5119 for Lifeline information.

112 State Street, Drawer 20, Montpelier, VT 05620-2601
Phone: 802-828-2811  |  Fax: 802-828-2342  |  Consumer Hot Line: 800-622-4496