Sec. 14.15. Contents of bills

(a) Every utility bill must state:

(1) the name and address of the corporation, partnership or person responsible for supplying the service;

(2) where the bill can be paid;

(3) the service classification on which the charges are based, if applicable;

(4) the name of the customer, the account number and the address of the premises where the service was supplied;

(5) the start and end date of the billing period;

(6) the amount of service billed with a separate itemization for minimum charges and usage, a statement of the cost of any other tariff charges and applicable taxes, and the total of the current charges, displayed in a vertical format;

(7) the date payment is due, as long as the date is not before the bill is hand-delivered to the customer or less than three calendar days after the bill is mailed;

(8) the date of the latest payment received or the date through which payments have been credited, and the balance carried over from the prior bill, if any;

(9) whether any charge will be imposed for late payment, if applicable, and the date payment must be received by the utility, in order to avoid a late payment charge;

(10) the amount of any late payment charge applied during the current billing cycle, if applicable;

(11) an explanation of any abbreviation or symbol used that is not common English usage;

(12) a telephone number to call at the utility if the customer has any questions about the bill; and

(13) for metered accounts:

(i) whether the bill is based on a reading obtained from the meter itself or from a remote registration device, a customer reading, or an estimation, and if estimated, the reason for the estimation;

(ii) the next scheduled meter reading date, if applicable; and

(iii) if the bill is for previously unbilled unmetered service, that the bill is for an estimated amount of service used but previously not billed, the reason the bill was not rendered at the time the service was used, the basis used for calculating the amount of service billed, and the period of the unmetered service.

(b) Nothing in this section prevents a utility from providing pertinent messages and information on the bill, as long as such information does not interfere with the presentation of the information required by this section.