UTILITY PROTECTION/INFORMATION H.B. 4662 (H-1):
COMMITTEE SUMMARY
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House Bill 4662 (Substitute H-1 as passed by the House)
Sponsor: Representative Tim Melton
House Committee: Energy and Technology
Senate Committee: Energy Policy and Public Utilities
Date Completed: 4-2-09
CONTENT
The bill would amend Public Act 3 of 1939, the Public Service Commission (PSC) law, to require an electric or natural gas provider to supply information regarding certain protections to its customers at least twice a year.
The required information would include all of the following:
-- Medical emergency protections.
-- Military shut-off protections.
-- Low-income protections.
-- Senior citizen protections.
The information could be supplied in or on a customer's bill, in a bill insert, in a newsletter issued to the utility's customers, a public forum, newspaper announcement, or electronic communication, or, for a cooperative electric utility, in a periodical issued by an association of rural electric cooperatives.
The information could be transmitted in the same manner as the customer's billing. The PSC could supplement the methods of providing the required information.
("Provider" would mean an electric utility, municipally owned electric or natural gas utility, cooperative electric utility, or alternative electric supplier, or an investor-owned natural gas utility whose rates are regulated by the PSC.)
Proposed MCL 460.9j Legislative Analyst: Julie Cassidy
FISCAL IMPACT
The bill would have no fiscal impact on State or local government.
Fiscal Analyst: Elizabeth Pratt
Maria Tyszkiewicz
Analysis was prepared by nonpartisan Senate staff for use by the Senate in its deliberations and does not constitute an official statement of legislative intent. hb4662/0910