(3)
Water meter
requirements.
a.
Water meter
installation. Each water utility shall adopt a written standard method
of meter installation, copies of which are available upon request. All meters
will be set in place by the utility.
b.
Records of water meters and
associated metering devices. Each water utility shall maintain for
each meter and associated metering device the following applicable data:
(1) Meter identification.
1. Manufacturer.
2. Meter type, catalog number, and serial
number.
3. Meter
capacity.
4. Registration unit of
measurement (gallons or cubic feet).
5. Number of moving digits or dials on
register.
6. Number of fixed zeros
on register.
7. Pressure rating of
the meter.
(2) Meter
location history.
1. Dates of installation and
removal from service.
2. Location
of installations.
3. All customer
names with readings and read out dates.
Remote register readings are to be maintained identical to
readings of the meter register.
c.
Registration devices for
meters. Where remote meter reading is used, the customer will have a
readable meter register at the meter.
d.
Water meter readings.
(1) Water meter reading interval. Reading of
all meters used for determining charges to customers will be scheduled at least
quarterly. An effort will be made to read meters on corresponding days of each
meter reading period. The meter reading date may be advanced or postponed no
more than ten days without adjustment of the billing for the period.
(2) Customer water meter reading. The utility
may permit the customer to supply the meter reading information by telephone,
or electronically, provided a utility representative reads the meter at least
once every 12 months and when there is a change of customer.
(3) Estimated bill. An estimated bill may be
rendered in the event that access to a meter cannot be gained and a meter
reading form left with the customer is not returned in time for the billing
operation. Only in unusual cases will more than three consecutive estimated
bills be rendered.
(4) When a
customer is connected or disconnected, or the regular meter reading date is
substantially revised causing a given billing period to be longer or shorter
than usual, the bill will be prorated on a daily
basis.
(5)
Extensions to
customers.
a.
Definitions. The following definitions apply to the terms used
in this subrule:
"Advances for construction costs" means cash
payments or surety bonds or an equivalent surety made to the utility by an
applicant for an extension, portions of which may be refunded depending on any
subsequent connections made to the extension. Cash payments, surety bonds, or
equivalent sureties include a grossed-up amount for the income tax effect of
such revenue.
"Agreed-upon attachment period" means a
period of not less than 30 days nor more than one year mutually agreed upon by
the utility and the applicant within which the customer will attach. If no time
period is mutually agreed upon, the agreed-upon attachment period is deemed to
be 30 days.
"Contribution in aid of construction" means
a nonrefundable cash payment covering the costs of an extension that are in
excess of utility-funded allowances. Cash payments will be grossed-up for the
income tax effect of such revenue. The amount of tax is reduced by the present
value of the tax benefits to be obtained by depreciating the property in
determining the tax liability.
"Customer advance for construction record"
means a separate record established and maintained by the utility, which
includes by depositor:
1. The amount
of advance for construction provided by the customer;
2. Whether the advance is by cash or surety
bond or equivalent surety;
3. If by
surety bond, all relevant information concerning the bond or equivalent
surety;
4. The amount of refund, if
any, to which the depositor is entitled;
5. The amount of refund, if any, that has
been made to the customer;
6. The
amount unrefunded; and
7. The
construction project on which, or work order pursuant to which, the extension
was installed.
"Estimated annual revenues" means an
estimated calculation of annual revenue based upon the following factors,
including but not limited to:
1. The
size of the facility to be used by the customer;
2. The average annual amount of service
required by the equipment; and
3.
The average number of hours per day and days per year the equipment will be in
use.
"Estimated construction costs" means an
estimated calculation of construction costs using average costs in accordance
with good engineering practices and based upon the following factors:
1. Amount of service required or desired by
the customer requesting the extension;
2. Size, location, and characteristics of the
extension, including all appurtenances; and
3. Whether the ground is frozen or whether
other adverse conditions exist.
The average cost per foot is calculated utilizing the prior
calendar year costs, to the extent such cost basis does not exceed the current
costs using current construction cost methodologies, resources and material,
and working conditions, divided by the total feet of extensions by size of pipe
for the prior calendar year. In no event will estimated construction costs
include costs associated with facilities built for the convenience of the
utility.
"Extensions" means a distribution main
extension.
"Similarly situated customer" means a
customer whose annual consumption or service requirements, as defined by
estimated annual revenue, are approximately the same as the annual consumption
or service requirements of other customers.
b.
Terms and conditions. The
utility shall extend service to new customers under the following terms and
conditions:
(1) The utility will provide all
water plant additions at its cost and expense without requiring an advance for
construction or contribution in aid of construction from customers or
developers except in those unusual circumstances where extensive plant
additions are required before the customer can be served or where the customer
will not attach within the agreed-upon attachment period after completion of
construction. In such instances, the utility will require, no more than 30 days
prior to commencement of construction, the customer or developer to advance
funds that are subject to refund as additional customers are attached. A
contract between the utility and the customer that requires an advance by the
customer to make plant additions will be available for commission
inspection.
(2) Where the customer
will attach within 30 days after completion of the distribution main extension,
the following applies:
1. If the estimated
construction cost to provide a distribution main extension is less than or
equal to five times the estimated annual revenue calculated on the basis of
similarly situated customers, the utility shall finance and make the extension
without requiring an advance for construction.
2. If the estimated construction cost to
provide a distribution main extension is greater than five times the estimated
annual revenue calculated on the basis of similarly situated customers, the
applicant for such an extension shall contract with the utility and deposit no
more than 30 days prior to commencement of construction an advance for
construction equal to the estimated construction cost less five times the
estimated annual revenue to be produced by the customer.
(3) Where the customer will not attach within
the agreed-upon attachment period after completion of the distribution main
extension, the customer requesting the extension shall contract with the
utility and deposit no more than 30 days prior to the commencement of
construction an advance for construction equal to the estimated construction
cost.
(4) Advance payments for
plant additions or extensions are subject to refund for a ten-year period and
may be made by cash, surety bond, or equivalent surety. In the event a surety
bond or an equivalent surety is used, the bonded amount shall have added to it
a surcharge equal to the annual interest rate paid by the utility on customer
bill deposits times the bonded amount. The bond will be called by the utility
at the end of one year or when the earned refunds are equal to the bonded
amount, less the surcharge, whichever occurs first. If, upon termination of the
surety bond, there are sufficient earned refunds to offset the amount of the
surety bond, less the surcharge, the depositors shall provide the utility the
amount of the surcharge. If, upon termination of the surety bond, there are not
sufficient earned refunds to offset the full amount of the surety bond, less
the surcharge, the depositors shall provide the utility a cash deposit equal to
the amount of the surety bond, less refunds accumulated during the bonded
period, plus the surcharge, or the depositors may pay the interest on the
previous year's bond and rebond the balance due to the utility for a second or
third one-year period. Upon receipt of such cash deposit, the utility releases
the surety bond. The cash deposit, less the surcharge, will be subject to
refund by the utility for the remainder of the ten-year period.
c.
Refunds. The
utility will refund to the depositor, for a period of ten years from the date
of the original advance, a pro rata share for each service attachment to the
distribution main extension. The pro rata refund will be computed in the
following manner:
(1) If the combined total of
five times the estimated annual revenue for the depositor and each customer who
has attached to the distribution main extension exceeds the total estimated
construction cost to provide the extension, the entire amount of the advance
provided by the depositor will be refunded to the depositor.
(2) If the combined total of five times the
estimated annual revenue for the depositor and each customer who has attached
to the distribution main extension is less than the total estimated
construction cost to provide the extension, the amount to be refunded to the
depositor will equal five times the estimated annual revenue of the customer
attaching to the extension.
(3) In
no event will the total amount to be refunded to a depositor exceed the amount
of the advance for construction made by the depositor. Any amounts subject to
refund will be paid by the utility without interest. At the expiration of the
above-described ten-year period, the customer advance for construction record
will be closed and the remaining balance credited to the respective plant
account.
d.
Extensions not required. Utilities do not need to make
extensions as described in this subrule unless the extension will be of a
permanent nature.
e.
More
favorable methods permitted. A utility may make a contract with a
customer in a different manner, if the contract provides a more favorable
method of extension to the customer, so long as no discrimination is practiced
among customers or depositors.
f.
Connections to utility-owned equipment. An individual,
partnership, or company may construct its own extension; however, it will meet,
at a minimum, the applicable portions of the standards in rule
199-21.5 (476) and such other
reasonable standards as the utility may employ in constructing extensions, so
long as the standards do not mandate a particular supplier. All connections to
the utility-owned equipment or facilities are to be made by the utility at the
applicant's expense. At the time of attachment to the utility-owned equipment
or facilities, the applicant will transfer ownership of the extension to the
utility and the utility will book the original cost of construction of the
extension as an advance for construction, and make refunds to the applicant in
accordance with paragraph 21.3(5)
"c." The utility will be
responsible for the operation and maintenance of the extension after
attachment.
g.
Reimbursement of extension construction cost. If the utility
requires the applicant to construct the extension to meet service requirements
greater than those necessary to serve the applicant's service needs, the
utility shall reimburse the applicant for the difference in cost between the
extension specifications required by the utility and the extension
specifications necessary to meet the applicant's service
needs.
(7)
Location of
meters. Meters may be installed outside or inside as mutually agreed
upon by the customer and the utility.
a.
Outside meters. Meters installed out-of-doors shall be readily
accessible for maintenance and reading, and so far as practicable, the location
should be mutually acceptable to the customer and the utility. The meter is to
be installed so as to be unaffected by climatic conditions and reasonably
secure from injury.
b.
Inside meters. Meters installed inside the customer's building
shall be located as near as possible to the point where the service pipe enters
the building and at a point reasonably secure from injury and readily
accessible for reading and testing. In cases of multiple buildings, such as
two-family dwellings or apartment buildings, the meter(s) will be located
within the premises served or in a common location accessible to the customers
and the utility.
