NOTICES

INDEPENDENT REGULATORY REVIEW COMMISSION

Action Taken by the Commission

[41 Pa.B. 3064]
[Saturday, June 11, 2011]

 The Independent Regulatory Review Commission met publicly at 10 a.m., Thursday, May 19, 2011, and announced the following:

Action Taken—Regulation Disapproved

 Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission #57-265: Standards and Billing Practices for Residential Utility Services (amends 52 Pa. Code Chapter 56)

Disapproval Order

Public Meeting held
May 19, 2011

Commissioners Voting: Silvan B. Lutkewitte, III, Chairperson; George D. Bedwick, Vice Chairperson; Arthur Coccodrilli; John F. Mizner, Esq., by phone; Lawrence J. Tabas, Esq.

Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission—
Standards and Billing Practices for Residential Utility Services;
Regulation No. 57-265 (#2743)

 On February 4, 2009, the Independent Regulatory Review Commission (Commission) received this proposed regulation from the Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission (PUC). This rulemaking amends 52 Pa. Code Chapter 56. The proposed regulation was published in the February 14, 2009 Pennsylvania Bulletin with a 65-day public comment period. The final-form regulation was submitted to the Commission on April 7, 2011.

 This regulation implements that portion of the law commonly known as Chapter 14 or the Responsible Utility Customer Protection Act. It includes provisions necessary to administer and enforce Chapter 14, as well as language added as a result of the PUC's review of Chapter 56 in its entirety.

 On May 13, 2011, the PUC submitted a letter that asked this Commission to disapprove the rulemaking. The PUC stated that certain sections of the regulation may be inconsistent with Chapter 14. The sections of the rulemaking cited by the PUC are:

 • §§ 56.2 and 56.252, pertaining to the definition of ''household income'';

 • §§ 56.17 and 56.267, pertaining to advance payments;

 • § 56.111, pertaining to general provision;

 • § 56.191, pertaining to payment and timing; and

 • Appendix B, pertaining to medical emergency notice.

 Without support from the promulgating agency, this regulation does not meet the reasonableness criterion set forth in the Regulatory Review Act and is not in the public interest. 71 P. S. § 745.5b(b)(3).

 In addition, we have other concerns with the rulemaking. First, in our comments on the proposed rulemaking, we asked the PUC to explain its statutory authority for promulgating Subchapters L through V. We have reviewed the PUC's response to this comment and request further explanation of its statutory authority for Subchapters L through V. 71 P. S. § 745.5b(a).

 Second, our comments on the proposed rulemaking asked for a more detailed cost-benefit and fiscal impact analysis of the regulation. We appreciate the time and effort spent by the PUC in preparing Attachment Three of the final regulatory package, entitled ''Revisions to Chapter 56 That Will Promote Greater Efficiencies and Cost-Savings.'' However, an analysis that includes actual dollar amounts is needed to determine the true economic or fiscal impact the regulation will have on the Commonwealth, political subdivisions and the private sector. 71 P. S. § 745.5b(b)(1).

 Third, commentators have expressed concern with sections of the rulemaking not included in the PUC's letter of May 13, 2011. These commentators share similar concerns pertaining to the manual reading of utility meters and a utility communicating with non-English and non-Spanish speaking customers. The sections cited by the commentators are:

 • § 56.12, pertaining to meter reading, estimated billing and customer readings;

 • § 56.91, pertaining to general notice provisions and contents of termination notice;

 • §§ 56.93 and 56.333, pertaining to personal contact;

 • §§ 56.201 and 56.431, pertaining to public information; and

 • § 56.331, pertaining to general notice provisions and contents of termination notice.

 The commentators believe that the language in these sections does not adequately protect the public health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the Commonwealth. In light of these comments, we question whether these sections could have a detrimental effect on the well-being of some citizens of the Commonwealth. In the report submitted with the revised final regulation, we ask the PUC to analyze the sections noted above in conjunction with the comments and explain how the regulation adequately protects the public health, safety and welfare of the citizens of the Commonwealth. 71 P. S. § 745.5b(b)(2).

 Our fourth and final concern relates to clarity and lack of ambiguity. 71 P. S. § 745.5b(b)(3)(ii). Under § 56.13, a cross-reference to § 56.83(3) would improve the clarity of the regulation. Also, under § 56.36, the comment and response document submitted with the final regulation states that references to ''customer'' in Subsection (b)(1) were deleted. However, the references are still in the regulation.

 Having considered the PUC's request for disapproval of the regulation and all of the criteria of the Regulatory Review Act, we find promulgation of this regulation is not in the public interest.

By Order of the Commission:

 This regulation is disapproved.

SILVAN B. LUTKEWITTE, III, 
Chairperson

[Pa.B. Doc. No. 11-993. Filed for public inspection June 10, 2011, 9:00 a.m.]

---

No part of the information on this site may be reproduced for profit or sold for profit.

This material has been drawn directly from the official Pennsylvania Bulletin full text database. Due to the limitations of HTML or differences in display capabilities of different browsers, this version may differ slightly from the official printed version.

---