Wyoming Consumer Rights & Responsibilities

Wyoming Consumer Rights & Responsibilities - Residential

Summary of Wyoming utility consumer’s rights and responsibilities
Rocky Mountain Power and the Public Service Commission of Wyoming have prepared this summary of your rights and responsibilities when you apply for an account with or are a current customer of a utility company in Wyoming.

Customer responsibilities

Use services safely and pay for them promptly
Contact Rocky Mountain Power when you have a problem with payment, service, safety, billing or customer service
Notify Rocky Mountain Power about billing or other errors
Contact Rocky Mountain Power when you anticipate a payment problem to try to set up a payment plan
Notify Rocky Mountain Power when you are moving to another location
Notify Rocky Mountain Power about stopping service in your name or about stopping service altogether
Allow safe, unobstructed access to your property for meter reading, tree trimming and other essential Rocky Mountain Power personnel and equipment
Provide notice to Rocky Mountain Power if you are making any significant change that may affect the electrical character of your load affecting you or others

Establishing credit

You can establish credit if any of the following apply:

You are a former Rocky Mountain Power customer and for at least 12 consecutive months prior to the date you apply for service, you received no disconnection notices.
You had service from a utility of the same type and had a good payment record.
You provide some other form of security agreed to by us.

Deposits

If a deposit is required, the amount will not be more than an estimated 90 days billing at your service address. You may be asked to make a deposit if:

You are not able to establish credit.
Your electric service has been disconnected because you didn’t pay your bill.
You owe Rocky Mountain Power an overdue amount for service.

If you can’t pay all the required deposit, you can arrange to pay in installments.
Call our customer service center at 1-888-221-7070 to make payment arrangements.
Interest is paid on deposits at the rate set yearly by state Law, if we keep your deposit for six months or more.Your payment record is reviewed each year and your deposit refund – complete with interest – will be sent to you as soon as you have paid your electric bill by the due date for 12 consecutive months. Even if your deposit is not refunded at the 12-month review, the interest will be credited to your account.

If you move you will also get your deposit back, with interest (if we have held it for six months or more), minus any amount owed to us.

Billing
You will receive a bill for electric service each month, based on the number of kilowatt-hours of electricity registered on your electric meter during the billing period. Your bill will show the date when your payment is due, the applicable rate schedule and the amount of the bill. You may ask that another person receive your bills and notices if you are unable to receive or understand them.
Our Equal Payment Plan is available if you’d like to spread your payments evenly out over a full year. The plan divides the total cost of electricity used each year into 12 equal monthly payments. Every year your account is reviewed to determine if your usage has changed. Any price changes will automatically be figured in the Equal Payment amount.

If you cannot pay a bill in full, we will try to work out a payment arrangement with you – taking into account your ability to pay, the amount you owe, your payment history and the reasons why you may not have been able to pay.

Disconnection notices
Electric service can be disconnected if your bill isn’t paid. Here are the procedures and the rules governing how this would happen:
Each bill shows a payment date. After that date, the bill is considered past due. Before your service will be disconnected, we will send you a written notice mailed at least seven business days before the date we will disconnect service. A Rocky Mountain Power representative will always accept cash payment of your delinquent account and not disconnect your electricity. However, there may be a disconnection visit charge of $20 to pay the cost of the representative’s visit. The representative will not make change. Any overpayment to them will be applied to your next bill.

If your service is disconnected, to reconnect we will require payment of a disconnection visit charge and a reconnect charge. A service charge may be collected by Rocky Mountain Power for each check returned to us by a bank because of insufficient funds.
No service will be disconnected after 4 p.m., Monday to Thursday, or on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays, legal holidays or the day before legal holidays.

Special circumstances
We will not disconnect service if the disconnection endangers health because of such factors as extreme weather, if you provide written proof that you are unable to pay your electric bill and you are actively seeking or have used up available government assistance or you are only able to pay in installments (from November 1 - April 30). Rocky Mountain Power will assist elderly and disabled persons who cannot pay their electric bills, in determining available government assistance and will not require written proof of the inability to pay.
You may ask that another person receive a copy of your bills and notices. This “third party” will be sent a copy of the notices, but will not be responsible for paying your bill.
You can also ask us to provide notices in another language if you do not understand English.
Service can also be disconnected or refused for the following reasons:

Use of electricity for a property or purpose other than described in your application for service.
Failure to maintain, in good order, service entry facilities or equipment.
Tampering with Rocky Mountain Power’s service wires, meter, seal or other facilities.
Permanently or temporarily moving without notifying us.
Equipment use that interferes with service to other customers.
Refusal to allow us reasonable access to your property so we can inspect the facilities, or test, read, maintain or remove meters.

We may also disconnect without notice for safety or health reasons, to cooperate with civil authorities, because of fraudulent use or any other reason granted in the Commission’s rules or Wyoming laws.

Moving
You need to let us know as soon as possible if you plan to move. It’s a good idea to do this yourself and not depend on someone else to do it for you. We can’t close your account or process your closing bill until you provide us with your move-out date.

Complaints and disputes
We will promptly investigate every complaint or dispute we receive, and we’ll report to you on the results. Contact us through our toll-free number at 1-888-221-7070. This number is also printed on your bill. If you’re not satisfied with the assistance you received from the first person you talked to at Rocky Mountain Power, you have the right to request that your problem be handled by that person’s supervisor, and we’ll give you the supervisor’s name and how he or she can be reached. If you talk to the supervisor and still aren’t satisfied, you can call or write the Public Service Commission of Wyoming. Their toll free phone number is 1-888-570-9905, and their address is 2515 Warren Ave., Hansen Bldg., Suite 300, Cheyenne, WY, 82002. Rocky Mountain Power will not knowingly disconnect your service while you are honestly pursuing a complaint with a supervisor or the Commission.

We’ve tried to tell you in a way that’s easy to understand what Wyoming’s laws say about your rights and responsibilities as a utility customer. Copies of these rules and Rocky Mountain Power’s filed tariffs, including rate schedules and general rules and regulations, in their original wording, are available to you by calling 1-888-221-7070.

We aim to provide you a certain level of service. Learn more about our Customer Service Guarantees.