SB-1310, As Passed House, July 1, 2010

SUBSTITUTE FOR

SENATE BILL NO. 1310

A bill to amend 1939 PA 3, entitled

"An act to provide for the regulation and control of public and

certain private utilities and other services affected with a public

interest within this state; to provide for alternative energy

suppliers; to provide for licensing; to include municipally owned

utilities and other providers of energy under certain provisions of

this act; to create a public service commission and to prescribe

and define its powers and duties; to abolish the Michigan public

utilities commission and to confer the powers and duties vested by

law on the public service commission; to provide for the

continuance, transfer, and completion of certain matters and

proceedings; to abolish automatic adjustment clauses; to prohibit

certain rate increases without notice and hearing; to qualify

residential energy conservation programs permitted under state law

for certain federal exemption; to create a fund; to provide for a

restructuring of the manner in which energy is provided in this

state; to encourage the utilization of resource recovery

facilities; to prohibit certain acts and practices of providers of

energy; to allow for the securitization of stranded costs; to

reduce rates; to provide for appeals; to provide appropriations; to

declare the effect and purpose of this act; to prescribe remedies

and penalties; and to repeal acts and parts of acts,"

(MCL 460.1 to 460.11) by adding section 9d.

THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF MICHIGAN ENACT:

Sec. 9d. (1) If a utility observes an unsafe electric or

natural gas service connection at a customer's location caused by

unauthorized use of electric or natural gas service, the utility

shall implement measures consistent with good utility practices

intended to cure or to otherwise address the unsafe connection and

may take appropriate action to deter future unauthorized use of

electric or natural gas service at that location, including, but

not limited to, installation of additional utility facilities.

(2) At any customer location where a utility has shut off

electric or natural gas service 2 or more times during the prior 24

months because of unauthorized use of electric or natural gas

service, a utility may refuse to provide electric or natural gas

service to that location notwithstanding any other administrative

rules or statutes if the utility determines that denying electric

or natural gas service at that location will prevent the

reoccurrence of the unauthorized use.

(3) A utility shall reestablish electric or natural gas

service at a customer location if the person requesting service

does 1 of the following:

(a) Proves that the person is the legal owner of the property

by providing property ownership information and, prior to

reconnection of service, pays for the actual cost to repair the

utility's equipment and facilities located on the owner's property,

all fees and deposits required under the utility's approved

schedule of rates and tariffs, and all charges due to the utility

for the prior unauthorized use that occurred during his or her

ownership.

(b) Proves that the person is the legal owner of the property

by providing property ownership information and provides a signed

lease agreement that has been certified by the landlord that

establishes the identity of the tenant responsible for the prior

unauthorized use.

(4) If the legal owner cannot provide documentation

establishing the identity of the tenant responsible for the prior

unauthorized use and the owner does not agree to pay for the

charges due to the utility for the prior unauthorized use, a

utility may still reestablish electric or natural gas service if

the owner proves that the owner is the legal owner of the property

by providing property ownership information and agrees to payment

of the additional fee for reestablishing electric or natural gas

service at the location with multiple prior occurrences of

unauthorized use as specified in the utility's approved schedule of

rates and tariffs.

(5) If a person requesting electric or natural gas service

cannot provide property ownership information, a utility may

reestablish service if the person can provide all of the following:

(a) Residency information.

(b) All documentation, fees, and deposits required by R

460.106, R 460.109, R 460.110, and R 460.144 of the Michigan

administrative code.

or natural gas service at a location with multiple prior

occurrences of unauthorized use as specified in the utility's

approved schedule of rates and tariffs.

(6) A property owner shall provide notice to a utility within

30 days after the owner abandons or surrenders a property. If a

property owner does not provide notice to the utility within 30

days after the property owner's abandonment or surrender of a

property, that property owner is liable, jointly and severally, for

any unauthorized use that occurs at the property after the owner's

abandonment or surrender of the property.

(7) Within 150 days of the effective date of the amendatory

act that added this section, electric and natural gas utilities

serving 1,000,000 or more customers shall establish and maintain a

service in which landlords of rental properties in the utility's

service territory who have registered with the utility for shut-off

notifications are notified of locations where electric and natural

gas services have been shut off because of unauthorized use.

(8) This section only applies to the unauthorized use of

electric or natural gas service and does not apply to the providing

of a telecommunication service or cable service or the attachment

of facilities by a telecommunication or cable service provider to

the utility poles, ducts, conduits, or trenches owned or controlled

by an electric or natural gas utility. This section does not

supersede, modify, or affect the validity of any statutes,

administrative rules, utility tariffs, contracts, commission

orders, or common law governing the rates, terms, and conditions of

the use of electric or natural gas utility poles, ducts, conduits,

and trenches.

(9) As used in this section:

(a) "Bypassing" means unmetered service that flows through a

device connected between a service line and customer-owned

facilities.

(b) "Meter tampering" means any act that affects the proper

registration of service through a meter and affects the flow of

energy.

license or identification card issued by this or another state, a

military identification card, a passport, or other government-

issued identification containing a photograph.

(d) "Property ownership information" means a recorded warranty

deed, notarized closing papers, tax records, mortgage payment book,

or copy of an insurance policy for the address identifying an

individual or entity as the owner.

(e) "Residency information" means all of the following:

(i) Positive identification information.

(ii) A signed lease agreement that has been certified by the

landlord for the location where electric or natural gas service is

being requested.

(iii) Any first-class mail sent to the person requesting

electric or natural gas service within the last 3 months at that

person's previous residence.

(f) "Unauthorized use of electric or natural gas service" or

"unauthorized use" means theft, fraud, interference, or diversion

of electric or natural gas service, including, but not limited to,

meter tampering, bypassing, and service restoration by anyone other

than the utility or its representative.

(g) "Utility" means an electric or natural gas utility