(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.
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