Texas Retail Provider Enters Settlement With PUC Staff Concerning Alleged Disconnection Violations -- EnergyChoiceMatters.com

Texas Retail Provider Enters Settlement With PUC Staff Concerning Alleged Disconnection Violations

February 21, 2024

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Copyright 2010-23 EnergyChoiceMatters.com
Reporting by Paul Ring • ring@energychoicematters.com

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MI Texas REP 1, LLC (MTR) would pay $81,750 under a settlement with Staff of the Public Utility Commission of Texas to resolve MTR's alleged violations of 16 TAC § 25.483, related to disconnection of service.

Under 16 TAC § 25.483(c)(1), a REP with disconnection authority may authorize the disconnection of a customer’s electric service after proper notice and not before the first day after the disconnection date in the notice for any of the following reasons [sic] for failure to pay any outstanding bona fide debt for electric service owed to the REP or failure to make deferred payment arrangements by the date of disconnection stated on the disconnection notice.

The settlement states, "Between October 2022 and June 2023, MTR violated 16 TAC § 25.483(c)(1) by authorizing the disconnection of service without proper notice for an outstanding bona fide debt for electric service on 109 occasions."

MI Texas REP 1 provided the following statement concerning the matter:

"MI Texas REP 1 takes its responsibility to its customers very seriously and has fully cooperated with the PUCT with respect to this ACH chargeback issue.
"For additional context, MI Texas REP 1 had been contacted by individuals that their identities and bank accounts were used to enroll residential meters in Texas without their knowledge or consent. In an effort to protect against this fraud, MI Texas REP 1 considered accounts where the first ACH payment resulted in a chargeback to be fraudulently enrolled, driving decisions around expedited disconnection.
"We appreciate the ongoing dialogue with the PUCT, and we are consistently working to improve our internal processes. We have taken the steps outlined as corrective action in the settlement as well as additional proactive steps to safeguard against any future instances of untimely disconnection."
--- Statement from MI Texas REP 1

The settlement states, "MTR also asserts that, on June 28, 2023, it adjusted its practices to no longer authorize disconnection without notice upon receiving a chargeback on a customer’s first bill and has implemented additional practices to contact and work with customers to resolve chargebacks on first bills in accordance with the measures described in 16 TAC § 25.483(c)(1)."

The settlement states that MTR has implemented the following protective measures to prevent violations of 16 TAC § 25.483 (c)(1) from occurring, and will maintain such measures going forward:

a. Upon receipt of a chargeback from the bank on a customer’s first bill, MTR will first cancel the payment in MTR’s billing system. MTR will then place an outbound telephone call to the customer to inform the customer of the chargeback and resolve the issue by immediately collecting payment via credit card. If the customer is not reached, a voicemail is left explaining the situation and asking for a call back.
b. If the customer has an active disconnect notice and does not contact MTR to resolve the chargeback by the end of the following business day, the disconnect notice will proceed in accordance with 16 TAC § 25.483 (c)(1).
c. If the customer does not have an active disconnect notice upon receipt of a chargeback which causes the account to go past due, MTR will immediately send a standard disconnect notice that will proceed in accordance with 16 TAC § 25.483 (c)(1).

Docket 56210

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