Shutoff and reconnection rules, billing disputes and meter errors, service outages and credits, easements for lines and poles, robocalls, and number portability.
Federal rules require internet providers to display a standardized consumer label at the point of sale showing monthly price, contract length, fees, data allowances and typical performance figures. The label is enforceable as a disclosure obligation, but speed figures are stated as typical rather than guaranteed, which shapes what a dispute can achieve.
State service regulations limit the deposit a utility may require, cap it by reference to estimated usage, and require it to be refunded with interest after a period of prompt payment. They also compel the utility to offer deferred payment arrangements on arrears and impose seasonal, medical and notice protections before disconnection.
State one-call statutes require excavators, including homeowners, to notify a notification center before digging, wait a prescribed period, and hand-dig within a tolerance zone around marked facilities. Failure to notify shifts liability for damage, restoration and consequential loss to the excavator and can carry civil penalties.
Utilities clear vegetation under recorded easements, statutory franchise rights and mandatory reliability standards that require defined clearances around conductors. Owners retain remedies where work exceeds the easement, where notice rules are ignored, or where trimming is performed negligently, but they rarely prevent the clearing itself.
State service rules give customers a right to dispute a bill, require the utility to investigate, and generally suspend disconnection for the disputed portion while the investigation runs. A meter test can be demanded, backbilling for undercharges is limited by rule, and unresolved disputes proceed to the commission.
State public utility commissions handle customer complaints through an informal consumer division that contacts the utility and applies the filed tariff, and through a formal adjudicative process before an administrative judge. Informal review resolves most disputes quickly, while formal complaints create an appealable record and can reach questions of general practice.
Utility liability for outage losses is limited by filed tariffs that exclude consequential damage absent gross negligence, and storms are commonly treated as events beyond the utility's control. Separate performance rules in some states require automatic bill credits for extended or repeated outages, and those are claimed administratively rather than in court.
Early termination charges must be disclosed at sale and are typically prorated across the remaining term, while equipment charges depend on proof of return that the customer must preserve. Number portability, autopay cancellation and final billing all follow a required order, and disputed final balances are contested with the provider before they reach a collector.
Interconnection governs whether a solar array may operate in parallel with the distribution system, while a net metering or net billing tariff governs what exported energy is worth. Applications are screened for system impact, credit structures vary sharply by state, and legacy protection for existing systems is limited and time-bound.
Federal law obliges carriers to permit number portability, and rules limit the information a losing carrier may demand and the time a simple port may take. Requests fail most often on address or account number mismatches, and separate authentication rules protect accounts against unauthorized port-out and device transfer.
Federal law prohibits caller ID spoofing undertaken with intent to defraud or cause harm, and separate rules require voice providers to authenticate calls, block traffic from known bad sources, and participate in traceback to identify the originating provider. Consumers have a private right of action for certain unlawful calls but not for spoofing itself.
