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TITLE 16ECONOMIC REGULATION
PART 2PUBLIC UTILITY COMMISSION OF TEXAS
CHAPTER 25SUBSTANTIVE RULES APPLICABLE TO ELECTRIC SERVICE PROVIDERS
SUBCHAPTER GSUBMETERING
RULE §25.142Submetering for Apartments, Condominiums, and Mobile Home Parks

  (4) Disconnection under special circumstances.

    (A) Disconnection of ill and disabled. A mobile home park owner shall not disconnect electric service to a pad site tenant when that tenant establishes that disconnection of electric service will cause some person residing at the tenant's mobile home to become seriously ill or more seriously ill;

      (i) Each time a pad site tenant seeks to avoid disconnection of electric service under this subparagraph, the tenant must accomplish all of the following by the stated date of disconnection:

        (I) have the person's attending physician (for purposes of this subsection, the term "physician" shall mean any public health official, including medical doctors, doctors of osteopathy, nurse practitioners, registered nurses, and any other similar public health official) call or contact the mobile home park owner by the stated date of disconnection;

        (II) have the person's attending physician submit a written statement to the mobile home park owner; and

        (III) enter into a deferred payment plan.

      (ii) The prohibition against electric service termination provided by this subparagraph shall last 63 days from the issuance of the electric bill or a shorter period agreed upon by the mobile home park owner and the customer or physician.

    (B) Disconnection of energy assistance clients. A mobile home park owner shall not disconnect electric service to a pad site tenant for a billing period in which the mobile home park owner receives a pledge, letter of intent, purchase order, or other notification that the energy assistance provider is forwarding sufficient payment to continue service; and

    (C) Disconnection during extreme weather. A mobile home park owner shall not disconnect electric service to a pad site tenant on a day when:

      (i) the previous day's highest temperature did not exceed 32 degrees Fahrenheit, and the temperature is predicted to remain at or below that level for the next 24 hours, according to the nearest National Weather Service (NWS) reports; or

      (ii) the NWS issues a heat advisory for any county in which the mobile home park is located, or when such advisory has been issued on any one of the preceding two calendar days.

(f) Submeters.

  (1) Submeter requirements.

    (A) Use of submeter. All electrical energy sold by an owner shall be charged for by meter measurements.

    (B) Installation by owner. Unless otherwise authorized by the commission, each owner shall be responsible for providing, installing, and maintaining all submeters necessary for the measurement of electrical energy to its tenants.

  (2) Submeter records. Each owner shall keep the following records:

    (A) Submeter equipment record. Each owner shall keep a record of all of its submeters, showing the tenant's address and date of the last test.

    (B) Records of submeter tests. All submeter tests shall be properly referenced to the submeter record provided in this section. The record of each test made shall show the identifying number of the submeter, the standard meter and other measuring devices used, the date and kind of test made, by whom made, the error (or percentage of accuracy), and sufficient data to permit verification of all calculations.

  (3) Submeter unit indication. Each meter shall indicate clearly the kilowatt-hours consumed by the tenant.

  (4) Submeter tests on request of tenant. Each owner shall, upon the request of a tenant, and if the tenant so desires, in the tenant's or the tenant's authorized representative's presence, make a test of the accuracy of the tenant's submeter. The test shall be made during reasonable business hours at a time convenient to the tenant desiring to observe the test. If the submeter tests within the accuracy standards for self-contained watt-hour meters as established by the latest edition of American National Standards Institute, Incorporated, (ANSI), Standard C12 (American National Code for Electricity Metering), a charge of up to $15 may be charged the tenant for making the test. However, if the submeter has not been tested within a period of one year, or if the submeter's accuracy is not within the appropriate accuracy standards, no charge shall be made to the tenant for making the test. Following completion of any requested test, the owner shall promptly advise the tenant of the results of the test.

  (5) Bill adjustment due to submeter error. If any submeter is found not to be within the accuracy standards in subsection (f)(4) of this section proper correction shall be made of previous readings. An adjusted bill shall be rendered in accordance with subsection (d)(6) of this section. If a submeter is found not to register for any period, unless bypassed or tampered with, the owner may make a charge for units used, but not metered, for a period not to exceed one month based on amounts used under similar conditions during periods preceding or subsequent thereto, or during the corresponding period in previous years.

  (6) Bill adjustment due to conversion. If, during the 90-day period preceding the installation of meters or submeters, an owner increases rental rates, and such increase is attributable to increased costs of electric service, then such owner shall immediately reduce the rental rate by the amount of such increase and shall refund all of the increase that has previously been collected within the 90-day period.

  (7) Location of submeters. Submeters, service switches, or cut-off valves in conjunction with the submeters shall be installed in accordance with the latest edition of ANSI, Standard C12, and will be readily accessible for reading, testing, and inspection, with minimum interference and inconvenience to the tenant.

  (8) Submeter testing facilities and equipment.

    (A) Qualified expert. Each owner engaged in electric submetering shall engage an independent qualified expert to provide such instruments and other equipment and facilities as may be necessary to make the submeter tests required by this section. Such equipment and facilities shall generally conform to the ANSI, Standard C12, unless otherwise prescribed by the commission, and shall be available at all reasonable times for the inspection by its authorized representatives.

    (B) Portable standards. Each owner engaged in electrical submetering shall, unless specifically excused by the commission, provide or utilize a testing firm which provides portable test instruments as necessary for testing billing submeters.

    (C) Reference standards. Each owner shall provide or have access to suitable indicating instruments as reference standards for insuring the accuracy of shop and portable instruments used for testing billing submeters.

    (D) Testing of reference standards. All reference standards shall be submitted once each year or on a scheduled basis approved by the commission to a standardizing laboratory of recognized standing, for the purpose of testing and adjustment.

    (E) Calibration of test equipment. All shop and portable instruments used for testing billing submeters shall be calibrated by comparing them with a reference standard at least every 120 days during the time such test instruments are being regularly used. Test equipment shall at all times be accompanied by a certified calibration card signed by the proper authority, giving the date when it was last certified and adjusted. Records of certifications and calibrations shall be kept on file in the office of the owner.

  (9) Accuracy requirements for submeters.

    (A) Limits. No submeter that exceeds the test calibration limits for self-contained watt-hour meters as set by the ANSI, Standard C12, shall be placed in service or left in service. All electrical current transformers, potential transformers, or other such devices used in conjunction with an electric submeter shall be considered part of the submeter and must also meet test calibration and phase angle limits set by the ANSI Standard C12 and the ANSI Standard C57.13 for revenue billing. A nameplate shall be attached to each transformer and shall include or refer to calibration and phase angle data and other information required by the ANSI Standard C12 and the ANSI Standard C57.13 for revenue billing. Whenever on installation, periodic, or other tests, an electric submeter or transformer is found to exceed these limits, it shall be adjusted, repaired, or replaced.

    (B) Adjustments. Submeters shall be adjusted as closely as possible to the condition of zero error. The tolerances are specified only to allow for necessary variations.

  (10) Submeter tests prior to installation. No submeter shall be placed in service unless its accuracy has been established. If any submeter is removed from actual service and replaced by another submeter for any purpose whatsoever, it shall be properly tested and adjusted before being placed in service again.

  (11) Testing of electric submeters in service. Standard electromechanical single stator watt-hour meters with permanent braking magnets shall be tested in accordance with the ANSI Standard C12 for periodic, variable interval, or statistical sampling testing programs. All other types of submeters shall be tested at least annually unless specified otherwise by the commission.

  (12) Restriction. Unless otherwise provided by the commission, no dwelling unit in an apartment house or mobile home park may be submetered unless all dwelling units are submetered.

  (13) Same type meters required. All submeters which are served by the same master meter shall be of the same type, such as induction or electronic.


Source Note: The provisions of this §25.142 adopted to be effective August 11, 1999, 24 TexReg 6031; amended to be effective January 6, 2011, 35 TexReg 11854; amended to be effective June 10, 2013, 38 TexReg 3568

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