Florida Senate - 2025 SB 330
By Senator Berman
26-00272A-25 2025330__
1 A bill to be entitled
2 An act relating to residential utility disconnections;
3 creating s. 366.043, F.S.; defining terms; prohibiting
4 an electric utility, a public utility, or a water
5 utility from disconnecting service to residential
6 customers for nonpayment of bills or fees under
7 specified circumstances; requiring such utilities to
8 waive reconnection fees and late fees in certain
9 circumstances; requiring such utilities to refer to
10 the National Weather Service for the forecasted heat
11 index and forecasted temperatures; prohibiting such
12 utilities from disconnecting service to residential
13 customers for nonpayment of bills or fees on specified
14 days; prohibiting such utilities from recovering from
15 customers any fee or expense incurred in complying
16 with the act; requiring such utilities to provide, in
17 a specified manner, their policy for disconnection for
18 nonpayment to residential customers; requiring an
19 electric utility to publish alerts informing
20 residential customers of certain disconnection
21 suspensions; specifying language requirements for such
22 notice; requiring such utilities to deliver notice of
23 nonpayment of bills or fees to residential customers
24 within a specified timeframe using specified methods
25 of notice and including certain information;
26 prohibiting such utilities from disconnecting service
27 for nonpayment of bills and fees until an account is
28 past due by at least a specified number of days;
29 providing construction; authorizing such utilities to
30 voluntarily suspend disconnections in order to protect
31 the health and safety of customers and the reliability
32 of services; providing penalties and remedies;
33 providing an effective date.
34
35 Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
36
37 Section 1. Section 366.043, Florida Statutes, is created to
38 read:
39 366.043 Disconnection of utilities.—
40 (1) As used in this section, the term:
41 (a) “Extreme weather event” means any event in which
42 weather, climate, or environmental conditions present a danger
43 to life or property, including, but not limited to, heavy
44 rainfall, flooding, storm surge, strong winds, a tropical storm
45 or depression, a hurricane, or a tornado.
46 (b) “Forecasted heat index” means the predicted measure of
47 how hot it feels to the human body when the effects of humidity
48 are added to high temperatures.
49 (c) “Water utility” means a water or wastewater utility
50 including every person, lessee, trustee, or receiver owning,
51 operating, managing, controlling, or proposing the construction
52 of a system, which provides, or proposes to provide, water or
53 wastewater service to the public for compensation.
54 (2) An electric utility, a public utility, or a water
55 utility may not disconnect service to any residential customer
56 for the nonpayment of bills or fees if:
57 (a) The forecasted heat index is at or above 90 degrees
58 Fahrenheit within 48 hours after the scheduled disconnection;
59 (b) The forecasted temperature is at or below 32 degrees
60 Fahrenheit within 48 hours after the scheduled disconnection; or
61 (c) A state of emergency is declared for an extreme weather
62 event or public health emergency 24 hours before or after the
63 scheduled disconnection, until 24 hours after the state of
64 emergency is lifted.
65 (3) An electric utility, a public utility, or a water
66 utility must waive reconnection fees and late fees for any
67 residential customer attempting to reestablish utility service
68 after being disconnected for nonpayment if:
69 (a) The heat index is at or above 90 degrees Fahrenheit on
70 the day of disconnection; or
71 (b) The temperature is at or below 32 degrees Fahrenheit on
72 the day of disconnection.
73 (4) To ascertain the forecasted heat index and forecasted
74 temperature as provided in this section, each respective
75 electric utility, public utility, or water utility shall refer
76 to the weather forecast provided by the National Weather Service
77 for the zip code area where the customer scheduled for
78 disconnection is located.
79 (5) An electric utility, a public utility, or a water
80 utility may not disconnect service to any residential customer
81 for nonpayment of bills or fees on a Friday, Saturday, Sunday,
82 state holiday, or day immediately preceding a state holiday.
83 (6) An electric utility, a public utility, or a water
84 utility may not recover from its customers any fee or expense it
85 incurs in complying with this section.
86 (7)(a) An electric utility, a public utility, or a water
87 utility must provide its residential customers with a copy of
88 its disconnection for nonpayment policy:
89 1. When a new residential account is established;
90 2. When any disconnection for nonpayment of bills or fees
91 is scheduled. The utility’s notice of disconnection must include
92 a copy of the policy with the notice; and
93 3. By publishing the disconnection for nonpayment policy on
94 the utility’s website.
95 (b) An electric utility must publish alerts informing its
96 residential customers of the suspension of the disconnection of
97 services due to a forecasted heat index above 90 degrees
98 Fahrenheit, forecasted temperatures below 32 degrees Fahrenheit,
99 or an extreme weather event.
100 (c) An electric utility, a public utility, or a water
101 utility must provide all notices required by this section in
102 English and Spanish. If 2 percent or more of the population of
103 the county in which the utility provides service speaks a
104 language other than English or Spanish, the utility must provide
105 notice in such language. Such required notice must include
106 information regarding payment plans and any state or federal
107 energy assistance programs.
108 (d) An electric utility, a public utility, or a water
109 utility must deliver notice of nonpayment of bills or fees to
110 its residential customers after each missed payment and 10 days
111 before the scheduled disconnection by using at least two of the
112 following methods:
113 1. Mail.
114 2. E-mail.
115 3. Text message.
116 4. Telephone call.
117 5. Door hanger.
118 (8) All notices of nonpayment of bills or fees must offer
119 bill payment assistance and instruction on how to arrange a
120 payment plan or provide information to the customer on other
121 available bill payment assistance or energy assistance programs.
122 (9) An electric utility, a public utility, or a water
123 utility may not disconnect service for nonpayment of bills or
124 fees for residential customers until a customer account is at
125 least 60 days past due.
126 (10) This section may not be construed to limit an electric
127 utility, a public utility, or a water utility from voluntarily
128 suspending scheduled disconnections during other extreme weather
129 events, emergency conditions, incidents pursuant to s. 366.15(5)
130 or (6), or circumstances in which it determines that such
131 suspension is necessary to protect the health and safety of its
132 customers and the reliability of its service in this state.
133 Further, this section may not be construed to prohibit emergency
134 disconnections for health and safety purposes or the occurrence
135 of an automatic service suspension associated with prepaid
136 utility service.
137 (11)(a) An electric utility, a public utility, or a water
138 utility that violates this section is liable to the unlawfully
139 disconnected residential customer for actual and consequential
140 damages or $1,000, whichever is greater, and court costs,
141 including attorney fees, in addition to any penalties imposed
142 pursuant to s. 366.095. Subsequent or repeated violations
143 unrelated to the initial violation are subject to separate
144 awards of damages. Any applicable sovereign immunity is hereby
145 waived for the purposes of this section.
146 (b) A violation of this section constitutes irreparable
147 harm for the purposes of injunctive relief.
148 (c) The remedies provided by this section are not exclusive
149 and do not preclude a disconnected residential customer from
150 pursuing any other remedy at law or equity which may be
151 available to the customer.
152 Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2025.