P.R. Laws tit. 22, § 1054z
(a) Before resorting to the Energy Commission to request review of an electricity bill, every person shall exhaust, before the Authority or any certified electric power service company issuing the same, the informal administrative procedure established in this section and the regulations adopted by the Commission. The provisions of §§ 2151—2170a of Title 3, part of the Act known as the “Uniform Administrative Procedures Act”, shall not apply to this informal administrative procedure.
(1) Any customer may dispute or contest any charge, erroneous rate classification, mathematical calculation, or adjustment in an electricity bill and request an investigation by the certified electric power company within thirty (30) days from the date on which said bill was mailed or sent to the customer by electronic mail. Notwithstanding the foregoing, no customer may use this procedure to dispute or contest the current rate or the transition charge of the securitization structure billed by the Authority. In order to object the bill and request the appropriate investigation, the customer shall pay the amount corresponding to the average of the undisputed bills corresponding to the last six (6) months. The certified electric power company shall not be required to initiate such investigation until the established amount has been paid. Public entities or instrumentalities shall have forty-five (45) days to dispute their bills and request an investigation by the electric power service company.
(2) The objection and request for investigation may be notified to the certified electric power company by certified mail, telephone, fax, or electronic mail, provided that such objection and request are submitted through the specific contacts provided therefor by the certified electric power company, and that the date of the remittal of the objection and request for investigation can be established with certainty.
(3) Once the dispute has been notified and the corresponding amount deposited, the certified electric power company shall initiate the investigation or the appropriate adjudication process within a term of thirty (30) days from the date on which the customer notified his/her dispute. In the event that the certified electric power company fails to initiate the process within said thirty (30)-day term, the dispute shall be adjudicated in favor of the customer. The certified electric power company shall conclude the investigation or administrative procedure, issue the corresponding resolution, and notify the results to the customer within sixty (60) days counted from the date on which the investigation or adjudication process began. If the certified electric power company fails to issue the referred to resolution or to notify the same to the customer, the dispute shall be adjudicated in favor of the customer. When notifying the results of the investigation, the electric power service company shall inform the customer of his/her right to request reconsideration of said results and the term within which such reconsideration shall be requested.
(4) If the customer is not satisfied with the result of the certified electric power service company’s investigation, he/she shall request said company, in writing, to have the initial decision reconsidered by a higher ranking officer. All requests for reconsideration shall be filed within a term of twenty (20) days from the notice of the certified electric power service company’s decision on the result of the investigation. The customer may submit and notify his/her request for reconsideration to the electric power service company by certified mail, fax, or electronic mail, provided that the same is submitted through the specific contacts provided therefor by the company.
(5) The certified electric power service company shall have thirty (30) days after the filing of the request for reconsideration to evaluate the same and notify, in writing, its final decision on the results of the investigation to the petitioner. If the certified electric power company fails to issue the referred to notice in writing within the thirty (30)-day term, the dispute shall be adjudicated in favor of the customer. All final decisions shall clearly state the right of customers to file a request for review with the Commission and a brief description on how to file the same.
(b) Every invoice that a certified electric power service company issues to its customers shall conspicuously advise all customers that they have thirty (30) days to dispute the same, pay the amount corresponding to the average of undisputed bills during the last six (6) months, and request the electric power service company to conduct an investigation, all of this without affecting the service.
(c) The filing of an objection of a bill and a request for investigation with a certified electric power company shall not release objecting customers from their obligation to pay future electricity bills issued by such company.
(d) When submitting complaints to the Commission, petitioning customers shall ensure that they have met the requirements of this section. Likewise, the respondent electric power service company shall establish in its first appearance before the Commission that it has faithfully met the requirements of this section.
(e) The Commission shall review de novo the certified electric power company’s final decision on the objection and the result of the investigation.
(f) If the customer fails to pay the bill and to follow or exhaust the procedure established to dispute bills, the certified electric power company may suspend the electric power service until the customer pays the bill. Prior to suspending the service, the certified electric power company shall send the customer a written warning regarding the eventual service suspension. The certified electric power company shall not mail such warning before the thirty (30)-day term the customer has to pay or object and request an investigation of the bill pursuant to subsection (a)(1) of this section.
(g) The certified electric power company shall suspend the service ten (10) days after the issuance of the suspension warning but never on a Friday, Saturday, Sunday, or holiday, nor on a business day before a holiday.
History May 27, 2014, No. 57, § 6.27; Feb. 16, 2016, No. 4, § 21.